A/N - I started this while I was working on a different FF8 story. By the time I had time to come back to this, I'd run out of steam on the FF8 fandom.
This one is a Final Fantasy VIII alternate universe, but very similar to the universe of the game; the biggest 'off the bat' difference that you'll notice are that Squall and Ellone were raised by Laguna and that Rinoa is just friends with Squall and fine with it. The main pairing would have been Seifer/Squall.
Twisting Destiny - Not Quite Fate
Rinoa sighed and propped her feet up on the empty chair beside her. Her new shoes were clutched in her hands as she whimpered pitifully.
"I told you not to wear those."
"You have no pity in your heart." Rinoa sighed again, more pathetically this time. "I should have listened. Happy?"
"Not really. Concrete retains heat, Rin. You'll have burned feet feet as well if you don't put those shoes back on when we head out." Squall paused for a moment as Rinoa began to transform her expression into that of a 'puppy' pout. "Don't even think about asking me to carry you."
"Fine, fine... I'll think of something to keep my feet from killing me. As it is, I'm not looking forward to dealing with these." She reached up to poke one of the puffy blisters on her feet only to have her hand smacked away by Squall.
"You'll only hurt worse doing that right now." Squall rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, huffing in annoyance. He had no idea how cute he looked when he did that, but Rinoa wasn't going to bother telling him. After embarrassing herself in front of him over her crush the year before, Rinoa was quite pleased at how they'd managed to salvage their friendship and settle back into being best friends without a hitch. But comments about how Squall looked still made the brunet feel awkward, so Rinoa had begun steering clear of them.
"Do you see Zone or Watts anywhere?" Rinoa craned her neck around, eyes peeled for the two men who were supposed to meet them at the cafe.
"No."
"Squall..."
"..." Squall quirked an eyebrow, as if to say 'what?'
"Hyne as my witness, one day you will learn to be social," she declared.
"You've been saying that for years," Squall observed. "It's yet to take."
"You suck," Rinoa grumbled, mock pouting again.
"Whatever." There was a moment of silence before Squall asked, "so, tell me more about these 'Forest Owl' friends of yours."
"Well, I told you about how they're fighting to free Timber from Galbadian tyranny, right?" She paused as a waitress walked up and took their orders – iced teas in take away cups, which arrived a few moments later.
"Yeah, you may have mentioned their noble cause once or twice or a couple of dozen times," Squall drawled. "It'd be nice to finally have a few specifics on what I'm supposed to be helping you with."
"Right, right..." Rinoa nodded eagerly. "Our base is a train, so when we're active we're always on the move. Though we'd prefer to find a peaceful way to liberate Timber, that's not really an option at the moment. So we hit military targets and annoy the hell out of local Galbadian troops in order to keep them occupied until one of the cells around here can find a weakness that can be exploited in order to finally topple Galbadian control in this country."
"That's great."
"You don't sound enthused."
"Imagine that."
"Squall..."
"You know that the only reason I'm here is because you, my best friend... my only friend who isn't my sister, asked very nicely." Squall paused and then added, "Timber's current political state isn't really all that important to me at the moment. What is important is returning to the university at the end of summer and completing my degree a year early."
"Ugh, you spend too much time in school as it is, mister." Rinoa made a disgusted noise. "You finished high school way, way early, now you're gonna complete a BS in only three years, and you still found time to train in the use of gunblades; you're even an expert with those crazy things. Prodigy doesn't even begin to describe you..." she scowled. "Can I borrow part of your IQ for the next school year? I nearly bombed pre-cal and calculus is gonna kill me this year; I know it will."
"I'll tutor you via webchat," Squall promised.
"That'll have to do," Rinoa conceded. "Oh, hey, look, there's Zone. Huh... I wonder where Watts is."
"He's probably on that train of theirs," Squall muttered, turning to look at Zone.
They'd met once before, about a week earlier when Squall had arrived in Deling to meet up with Rinoa. He was on summer break from the University of Esthar and had been told by his father, Laguna, that he needed to go out and embrace the world. Though his father had completely different ideas than Squall as to what 'embracing the world' was supposed to mean, Laguna had wholeheartedly approved of his sixteen-year-old son visiting Galbadia without a protector. Considering that Squall was traveling under the name of Leonhart, which had no known connection to the Loire name, he ought to have been safe from misguided Galbadians deciding to use him as a pawn against Esthar. Anyone who did find out Squall's true identity would also meet the business end of Lionheart, Squall's favored gunblade.
Of course, Laguna didn't know about Rinoa's 'freedom fighters,' but what the old man didn't know couldn't give him a heart attack.
"You know, I'm only going to be here about three months," Squall said abruptly. "We're already a week into that time frame."
"I know. Why?"
"It's just... I don't know... it's not really a lot of time," Squall shrugged. "If you intend for me to make good use of my gunblade skills, then you must have some specific target in mind."
"Uh..." Rinoa shrugged. "I might; it depends on a few things. I'll tell you about it later, I promise."
By then Zone was collapsing into a chair complaining about his ulcer again – why the man didn't just buy a healing potion was beyond Squall's understanding. Sure, potions were expensive but it was stupid to leave an ulcer unchecked the way Zone seemed to be. Squall shrugged it off; the older man's problem was none of Squall's business anyway.
"Rinoa!" Zone beamed at her. "Squall," he added belatedly. Squall shrugged, taking no offense.
"We were wondering when you'd get here," Rinoa teased.
"Well, we ran into a few problems, but Watts is handling it." Zone pulled up a chair and dropped dramatically into it. Considering how the man was acting, Squall was finding it a little hard to believe that Zone was older than him by five years; Zone just didn't seem mature enough to be twenty-one. But then... Squall had always been far too mature for his age. "Our train should be pulling up over there," he gestured to a set of tracks on the opposite side of the street from the cafe, "any minute."
Watts came racing up and slumped against the back of the chair Rinoa had her feet propped up on. "I lost'em," he gasped.
"Lost who?" Squall asked.
"The reporters," Watts grinned as Rinoa reluctantly moved her feet out of his way. He took a seat and grinned. "Word's out that you're back, Princess. The reporters from that underground paper want to talk to you again; you've turned yourself into a local hero. But we're on a schedule, so I ditched them."
"Thanks, Watts." Rinoa favored the older teen with one of her brightest smiles. "I hate talking to reporters. I never know what to say."
"So, Squall... ready to take on the Galbadian military?" Watts asked, leaning forward eagerly.
"It's what I'm here for," Squall replied gamely, which seemed to please the two Timber natives. "Looks like your train is here," he added as a beat up, three car train pulled into the station, the words 'Forest Owls' and 'Liberate Timber' spray painted on the side. "It isn't exactly subtle," he added, giving Rinoa an amused look.
She blushed. "It represents our hatred of Vinzer Deling."
"You must really, really hate him, Rin."
"Oh, shut up."
The inside of the train was a lot nicer than the outside. The first car of the train was the engine – an electric contraption a few years out of date, but in good enough condition that Squall suspected that at least one of the Owls was an engineer of some considerable talent – and the other two were filled with six rooms each. Counting Squall, there were currently six Forest Owls on board, which meant that everyone got their own room to sleep in on the third car. The middle car had two rooms converted into a single conference room and three more turned into an open area where they could stretch out and relax a little. The final room of the car had been converted into a tech room, which was apparently Watts' domain. No one else went in there but him and no one else wanted to spend time in a room made even more cramped than it'd started by cramming it full of computer equipment.
According to Rinoa, there were two other Forest Owls, but they weren't likely to show up until towards the end of summer. Squall was hopeful that he wouldn't have to deal with the two late-comers at all; one of the two Owls already on the train when he'd arrived with Rinoa, Zone, and Watts was a little too perky for Squall's tastes and he didn't relish the idea of being confined to a train with all the Owls for days on end.
Pessimistically, Squall wondered if it was too late to sneak off to Winhill to visit his mother's grave and spend his summer getting to know a few of his relatives. He'd given Rinoa his word that he'd help out, so Squall didn't give the idea much in the way of actual consideration... though he did hope to visit the small town at some point. Winhill was fairly close to Timber's borders, so it wasn't completely unlikely that he'd be able to get away for a day or two in order to make the visit.
"This'll be your room, Squall," Watts told him, sliding the door open to reveal a small, nondescript cabin. There was a twin bed squashed into the space under the window across from the door, two shelves lined the walls on the left and right, and what was likely a fold away toilet beneath a sink. There were three drawers visible under the bed, which was where Squall figured he could stash the stuff in his duffel. It wasn't bad, though it made him long for the tiny dorm room he had at the university. "I know it's not much, but..."
"It's fine," Squall assured him. "I don't have much stuff to clutter the space with, anyway."
"Ah... right..."
"I'm not quite what you were expecting, huh?" Squall asked, a sly smile appearing on his face that he was glad Watt's couldn't see as he had already stepped in the room and was dropping his duffel on the bed.
"Well... no. Not really," Watts replied, going with the honest route. "You're Rinoa's best friend and... I suppose I was expecting someone a little more like her. Not so... quiet."
"I get that a lot," Squall told him.
"It's kind of a relief, really. Rinoa is prone to exaggerate when it comes to friends but seeing how you are makes it less likely she's exaggerated your fighting skills. If we're gonna do even half the things she wants us to this summer, then we're gonna need you to be better than the best."
"I know what you mean about Rinoa's tendency to overstate things," Squall agreed. He turned and pinned Watts with a steely look that had the older teen squirming uncomfortably. "I can assure you that in this case, she doesn't know just how skilled I really am."
"Watts! Squall! Come on! Jules just told me about the Galbadian checkpoint at the Eastern Forest being low on supplies!" Rinoa's voice echoed loudly down the cramped hallway. "This is the perfect time to hit it!"
Squall followed Watts down the hall and into the second train compartment where Rinoa was. "Doesn't the Eastern Forest connect Timber to Galbadia Garden?" Squall asked, wanting to confirm his knowledge of the local terrain.
"Yeah, it does. A lot of SeeDs and Cadets travel by car that way to reach nearby towns in Timber for vacations and shopping trips; it's cheaper than taking the train to Deling... or at least it was. The checkpoint makes travel between Timber and Galbadia nearly impossible unless you're on foot and bypass the checkpoints altogether. You've got to have special permits to pass through the checkpoints, otherwise you have to take the trains everywhere. This really hurts the economy here in Timber; just another way Galbadia is trying to crack down on this country." Rinoa paused and then added, "I know you just got here, Squall, but this is a really good opportunity. Their supplies will arrive tomorrow, so if we're gonna take down the checkpoint, it's gotta be today."
Shrugging, Squall told her, "it's your show, Rinoa. If you want to hit them, then I'll be at your side."
Rinoa grinned impishly and clapped her hands. "Great. Watts, if you'll go change our route, then we can get underway. Is everyone else okay with this change?"
The rest of the group nodded effusively, so Watts scurried off to change the train's course. Squall rested a hand on his gunblade while his free hand rubbed the bridge of his nose, as though to ward off a headache. Assuming this was how all Forest Owl business was conducted, and knowing Rinoa it probably was, Squall knew he was in for a long summer.
He missed Esthar already.
Seifer couldn't believe that he missed Balamb, but the checkpoint guards – pigheaded ass-wipes that they were – were making him think longingly of the nice, friendly atmosphere that pervaded the entire country of Balamb. Timber was a pleasant enough place, if you could ignore the constant presence of Galbadian soldiers reminding everyone that Timber was no longer a free country but instead an annexed territory now under the 'protection' of Galbadia.
Though he didn't particularly care one way or the other about Timber's situation, there was something about the Galbadian military that rankled Seifer. The younger ones were ex-Garden cadets, for the most part, all hailing from Galbadia Garden, which was more of a feeder school for the Galbadian military than for SeeD. Seifer knew that relations between Galbadia Garden and Balamb Garden were tense – you couldn't live in Balamb Garden and not notice once a year when representatives from Galbadia Garden and Trabia Garden showed up to have a weeks' worth of conferences with Headmaster Cid and Garden Master NORG – but he was starting to see just why that was. Galbadia certainly didn't need to control Timber and the citizens of Timber quite clearly didn't want Galbadia in charge. Rumor had it that over half the nation's population were involved in 'terrorist' activities in the name of liberating their homeland. Seifer didn't doubt it.
Still, he'd have brushed the whole situation off as none of his business and gone on to Galbadia Garden as his next stop on the way to Deling if it weren't for one thing.
"What do you mean our passports won't let us through the border?" Seifer demanded, glaring at the border guard. Fujin and Raijin were glaring at the soldier too and the combined force of their stares made the man shift nervously.
"Right now, all traffic between Timber and Galbadia has been limited to the trains running between Timber City, the capital city of Dollet, and Deling City. If you wish to travel from Timber to Galbadia, then you must return to the city and take the train." The soldier, who couldn't be much older than Seifer and his posse, refused to back down. Seifer had to at least respect the man for that, even if he was getting particularly pissed off.
"We're Garden cadets," Seifer snarled, pleased to see the Galbadian flinch. "If we could afford to take the train, we'd have already bought tickets."
"Then I hope you enjoy the rest of your vacation in Timber."
Fujin bristled and narrowed her eyes. "RAGE," she growled.
Patting the albino woman's shoulder gingerly, Raijin said, "Timber City wasn't that bad, ya know? Maybe we should just save up better this year so that next summer we can check out Deling, ya know?"
"UNACCEPTABLE!"
"Yeah, with any luck I'll be SeeD next summer, you'll be on your way to FH to learn the fishing trade, and Fuu will have finally decided what college she wants to attend and what major she wants to study." Seifer turned and glared at the soldier again. "This is the only chance we'll have for a long time to visit Galbadia."
"SHOPPING," Fujin lamented.
"These travel restrictions weren't something we were made aware of when planning our vacation," Seifer added. "We were informed, by Galbadia's tourism industry, that travel between Timber and Galbadia was completely unhindered."
"That was true until recently," they were told firmly. "The level of terrorist activity in Timber has risen in the past few weeks and Galbadian citizens demanded a higher level of protection from the possibility of terrorist attacks happening on the Galbadian side of the border. As a result, free travel between Galbadia and Timber has ceased, except for the trains to and from Timber City, which are monitored heavily. I'm sorry this inconveniences the three of you, but orders are orders. I cannot put the safety of Galbadia's citizens below the concerns of three alleged vacationing cadets from Balamb Garden."
"Whatever," Seifer snapped, turning and walking back over to where they'd parked the car. He didn't check to see if Fuu and Rai were following; he could hear their footsteps behind him.
"Pompous ass," Seifer grumbled softly. He knew the guy was only doing his job, but... that didn't make him any less pissed off that his vacation was effectively ruined. Timber was worth exploring a little longer, but not two months and three weeks longer. They might as well check back into their hotel for another week and then book passage on the train back to Balamb by way of Dollet, which was the only way they could afford to return home without stranding themselves halfway there. If they took the train to Deling instead, they'd only be able to make it as far as Dollet before running out of cash.
They'd counted on being able to drive themselves around Timber and Galbadia, which was considerably cheaper than taking the train, and now... now they'd basically rented the car for no reason at all. It was a fucking waste of money. Yanking the door open, Seifer fully intended to get back in the driver's seat and slam the door for all it was worth. Except he caught sight of a face just beyond the treeline.
It was just a flash, barely visible for all of a handful of seconds, but Seifer was left with the impression of chestnut colored hair and stormy eyes. He stood there, the door open and forgotten, staring into the forest in hopes of catching another glimpse. Something big was about to go down; Seifer could feel it.
"Something wrong, Seifer?" Raijin asked, peering at the forest as though it would reveal what Seifer was thinking.
"I thought I saw someone back there." Seifer gestured in the direction where he'd seen the face. "I must have been imagining things." He tried to shake off the feeling and make himself get into the car, but... he couldn't. He shut the door instead.
"SEIFER?" Fujin stepped forward, her hands reaching for the large chakram she kept latched to her back.
"You never imagine things, ya know?" Raijin muttered, pulling out the extendable wooden staff he preferred. "You're actin' like something's about to go down."
"I've just got a weird feeling..." Seifer trailed off as five people leaped out of the forest in tandem. His hand went for his gunblade even as his eyes were drawn to the person he'd seen in the forest.
The brunet was a man about Seifer's age, a gunblade gripped with both hands with familiar ease. He was taller than Fujin, but not by much, and there was a certain grace to him even as he stood completely still. He wasn't quite threatening the guards, but it was clear that he could attack at any second.
"Huh, I guess the Galbadian soldier was right about escalating attacks," Seifer remarked, his tone amused.
"We gonna just watch this?" Raijin asked.
"AFFIRMATIVE," Fujin snapped before Seifer could respond. She was stilled pissed off her shopping trip had been canceled.
"Like the lady said," Seifer agreed. "We're not gonna hinder the liberation front from doing their part to harass the Galbadian Military. This isn't our problem."
A petite teen with long, raven locks accented by a streak of tan, dressed in blue and black seemed to be the groups leader. While the others were armed and ready for battle, the girl was equipped only with some sort of wrist mounted launching device and had a dog at her feet, growling at the soldiers.
"We are the Forest Owls, dedicated to the liberation of Timber and the removal of Galbadian control from this nation. Your presence here blocks an important trade route and promotes the stifling of this nation's economy. We demand that you cease such actions at once." The girl's voice was melodious and, under any other circumstances, Seifer probably would have been drawn to her.
Half the point of the vacation was, after all, so that he could have a summer fling and pretend, for a little while, that he was normal. As a Garden raised orphan, he wasn't really in touch with what most teens his age were like, but a little summer romance was an idea he could easily get behind and this girl seemed like she'd be the perfect candidate.
But Seifer barely noticed her. His attention was stuck on the brunet with the gunblade. Part of him was annoyed; this civilian might seem to know what he was doing while holding the weapon, but there was no way the kid had the skills necessary to go head to head with a trained Galbadian soldier, much less the twelve men stationed at the checkpoint. Yet the other part of Seifer... prayed the brunet would be breathtaking fighting with the gunblade. Seifer was the only gunblade specialist at Balamb Garden – there was one at Galbadia Garden and two at Trabia, but none of them were a match for Seifer – and the idea of finding a worthy rival for him to train against was a heady concept.
The checkpoint leader laughed at the Forest Owls. "Little girl, go home before you break a nail. I'd hate to make you cry, sweetie. Maybe if we meet again in town, you can show me a good time and I'll contribute to the Timber economy." The bastard had the audacity to leer suggestively at the girl. She couldn't have been older than sixteen, but the soldier, who had to be well over thirty five, was blatantly propositioning her. It was disturbing to watch and Seifer instinctively let his hand hover over his gunblade.
People like that made Seifer seriously want to gut them with Hyperion.
It seemed the brunet had similar inclinations. "You'll address her with respect or keep your mouth shut," he said calmly, his voice sharp, like cold steel.
"Are you threatening me, little boy?"
"If I was threatening you, there would be no cause for confusion."
"Are you refusing to remove this illegal blockade of Timber's borders?" the girl asked.
"Obviously," the lead soldier replied.
None of the other soldiers, particularly the one who'd stopped Seifer, Fujin, and Raijin earlier, looked pleased with their leader's response, but they had no choice. They had to follow orders.
"Very well. We'll remove this blockade by force, then." The girl sounded sad, as though she'd honestly hoped to reason with the Galbadians.
"Attack!" the lead soldier snarled and the Galbadians jumped into action.
Seifer hated standing there, watching the battle unfold before them. It wasn't their place to fight; doing so might inadvertently involve Balamb Garden. They'd already been identified as Balamb Garden cadets and helping a terrorist cell – or a liberation unit, depending on your point of view – would probably get them kicked out of Garden at best and handed over to the Galbadian government on a platter to appease their wrath at worst.
Still, Seifer itched to pull out his gunblade and fight. Especially now that he could see just how talented the brunet really was. His technique was different from what Seifer was used to, but every bit as deadly and efficient. Seifer longed to fight at his side now and spar him for practice later.
The other Forest Owls were not nearly as talented with their weapons as the brunet was with his gunblade. Yet they were good enough to hold their own. Even their leader, the girl with the dog, was doing well enough. They weren't going for the kill, though, and were leaving their enemies unconscious on the ground.
Five out of the twelve Galbadian soldiers hit the ground, knocked out of the fight. Three of them were courtesy of the gunblader while the dog took down one and an androgynous looking redhead was responsible for the fifth. There were still seven soldiers remaining, however, including the leader.
Letting his subordinates keep four of the Forest Owls busy, the Galbadians' leader grabbed the pretty girl in charge of the Owls and clamped a hand over her mouth, dragging her off towards the woods. Seifer had a sick, sinking feeling about what the man had planned and, without a thought to the consequences, raced off after them.
By the time Seifer caught up to them, the girl was fighting the bastard tooth and nail. Her fingers clawed at his face and she kneed him in the groin. The Galbadian yelped, more startled than pained thanks to his armor, and snarled, ripping the girl's vest with his knives and drawing his gun. He pointed it at her and his finger squeezed the trigger... but Seifer got there in time, his gunblade knocking the man's arms from beneath and causing him to shoot at an angle into the forest.
Seifer swung his blade a second time, catching the man across the chest. The soldier's armor protected him from the worst of the blow, but he stumbled back in surprise. This time his gun was pointed at Seifer's chest and the cadet swore softly. If he wasn't fast enough... Seifer didn't even want to think about the result.
The gunblade that blossomed in the center of the man's chest came more of a surprise to Seifer than to the soldier. They both looked down at the end of the blade sticking out of him as it was yanked out and then the soldier crumpled to the ground, dead. Seifer found himself staring into the storm blue eyes of the other gunblader and couldn't move. It was as though the other teen's intensity had grounded him to the spot, making his breathing difficult and causing his blood to pound in his ears.
"I was so scared!" the girl exclaimed, throwing herself into the brunet's arms. "He... he was going to..." she trailed off and shuddered. Turning to Seifer, she smiled. "Thank you, for stopping him."
"It's what any decent person would have done," Seifer told her as he felt, rather than saw, his posse walk up behind him.
"He's right." It was the soldier who'd blocked the posse before. He tossed his sword on the ground in a show of surrender. "No decent person stands by and lets people like that," he gestured to his dead commander, "harm a girl like you... even if you are considered a radical and a terrorist. With him dead, I'm in charge of the checkpoint. We'll retreat for now, but we'll be back with reinforcements in a matter of days. I'm not really sure what you hoped to achieve here, miss."
"With every battle we win, we force the Galbadian Government to take our demands a little more seriously. Eventually they'll come to realize that their hold on Timber isn't worth the constant fight and renounce the unlawful annexation of Timber." The girl sounded so certain and naive.
"I wish the world worked like that, miss," the soldier, a lieutenant from what Seifer could tell, replied. "But you're all just making yourselves wanted criminals. If any of you are ever caught... the punishment for terrorism is execution. We can't identify any of you by name; please, just consider giving this up as foolishness. Eventually Deling's presidency will come to an end. Perhaps you'll have better luck talking things out reasonably with the next regime. Just... think about it, alright."
The lieutenant paused and then turned to Seifer, Fujin, and Raijin. "As far as anyone has to know, the cadets from Balamb Garden were long gone before the Forest Owls showed up." He walked off before Seifer could think of a reply.
The girl burrowed into the brunet's arms again and, for a stunned moment, Seifer felt something twist uncomfortably in his chest at the sight. He quickly shook off the reaction and offered the duo a smile. "Is everything always this exciting with you two?"
The girl laughed and pulled herself away from the brunet. "Only when school isn't in session," she responded. "What's your name? I'd like to know who it is that saved me."
"I'm Seifer Almasy and these are my friends, Fujin Engel and Raijin Colbert. As the Lieutenant said, we're cadets from Balamb Garden." Seifer gestured to each in turn, watching as Fuu and Rai stepped forward and shot each other significant looks. For all that they were a posse, Raijin had always been better at picking up on Fujin's subtleties than Seifer. But he was fairly certain Fuu wanted them to stick with these Forest Owls. They were interesting and held the promise of a summer far more challenging than shopping and, for all that Fujin loved to shop, she loved challenges more than anything.
Seifer hoped he was right about her decision, anyway. If the opportunity to tag along with the revolutionaries appeared in front of him, he had every intention of jumping on it. Seifer wanted a chance to spar with the brunet at least once. Just watching the other gunblader fight had set Seifer's blood on fire; he couldn't wait to find out what it'd feel like to cross blades with the lithe teen.
"Well, Seifer, I'm glad you were here," Rinoa said, smiling brightly at the blonde cadet.
Squall scowled and sheathed his gunblade. He glanced over his shoulder in the direction of the checkpoint. Either Watts or Jules had taken charge of the retreating soldiers, but Squall wanted to go back just in case one of the Galbadians had a sudden change of heart. Even with their commander dead, there were eleven Galbadians and only three teenaged amateurs – lucky amateurs at that – supervising everything. While Squall could handle things if fighting broke out again, he doubted the other three would manage quite as well.
"I'm Rinoa Heartily," Rinoa added, blithely handing out her name as if it were a party favor for anyone to hear about.
"Rin," Squall hissed sharply. Just because Seifer didn't sound Galbadian didn't mean he wasn't actually a plant. The odds of this being a setup were low, but that didn't excuse Rinoa's complete lack of caution.
"Have a little faith," Rinoa responded, seeming to know what Squall was getting at without actually giving his warning any thought. It was times like these that he missed the time when they were children and he could get away with smacking her on the back of her head with pieces of paper or pillows or various other nicknacks when she did something stupid. He never did it hard enough to hurt her even a little, just enough that she'd know he'd thwapped her, but as they'd gotten older Squall had made himself leave the habit behind. It was too bad, though. She could do with having a little sense knocked into her.
Seeming to sense Squall's hostility, Rinoa sighed and shook her head, giving up the argument. "We should get back to the other Owls. It was nice meeting the three of you." She gave Seifer a particularly blinding smile and then turned away to walk out of the forest.
Squall waited a beat and then nodded at Seifer. "Your timing was fortuitous," he said grudgingly. "I appreciate what you did for her." Then he followed after Rinoa. Internally he was fuming. Rinoa's name was not common in Timber; it was quite clearly Galbadian in origin. It didn't help that Rin's pale skin and dark hair were classic signs of a Northern Galbadian. Even her accent was obviously acquired in the city of Deling. She gave too much of herself away; he'd have to talk to her about that.
At least his own appearance was misleading. Squall's chestnut colored hair was common in Timber and Southern Galbadia and his own pale complexion was solely the result of all the time he'd spent indoors during the year studying at the university. He'd be tan enough soon; he'd blend in with everyone else without a worry. Though his accent still slipped into his normal Estharian tones when he wasn't paying attention...
Odd, though... Seifer and Fujin were traditionally Estharian names and, though it was hard to tell where the albino woman hailed from, Seifer's blonde hair wouldn't look out of place in Esthar either. Raijin was stereotypical Balambese through and through, though.
It gnawed at Squalls mind, however, that Seifer had a gunblade. What little he'd seen of Seifer's stance had spoken of someone whose weapon was treated like an extension of his body; if Seifer wasn't already proficient with his gunblade, there was no doubt in Squall's mind the blonde teen had the innate talent to one day challenge him. If Seifer was already well trained, which was likely considering he was a Garden cadet, then maybe he was already a worthy challenger.
Or maybe Squall was grasping at straws hoping that this chance encounter with a stranger would yield for him something he'd desired ever since he'd surpassed his trainer a little over a year ago. Yet Squall couldn't help but take a moment to look back at the blonde, the obsidian bladed weapon still held in the blonde's hand, and wish that he could trust Seifer to be exactly who he claimed to be. He wanted an equal so badly...
It took about an hour to get rid of the Galbadian Soldiers. They were allowed to take food and water with them, more than enough to sustain them on the trek to Galbadia Garden. They were also allowed weapons in order to protect themselves from any wildlife that might choose to harass them. Everything else, however, was left in the Forest Owls' care.
Rinoa intended to have them wait for another local cell to show up and take over the checkpoint. The other cell, the Forest Foxes, was comprised of adults who were better suited to impersonate Galbadian soldiers in order to obtain the supplies set to arrive the next day. Since it'd take the dispatched soldiers about two days to reach the Garden on foot, the Owls weren't worried about their subterfuge being discovered until the entire checkpoint had been packed up, the supplies squirreled away somewhere the Galbadians wouldn't think to look.
At least, Squall hoped that was what would happen. He'd sort of tuned Rinoa out after she mentioned the Forest Foxes and their identification codes.
During the fight against the Galbadian soldiers, Squall had seen their commander grab Rinoa and run off with her. He'd knocked out his latest opponent with a bit of magic – the bracelets he wore concealed beneath the long sleeves of his fur-lined, leather, bomber jacket afforded him the ability to junction magic similarly to the way GF users could, though without the repercussions – and took off running in the direction he'd seen the man take Rinoa. He'd gotten there just in time to see Seifer wreck the Galbadian's aim with a well timed hit with the flat of his blade below the man's arms.
When the soldier aimed his gun at Seifer, Squall had reacted instinctively. Seifer might've had time to fight back, but it didn't matter; Squall had shoved Lionheart through the bastard's chest to rescue the stranger who'd saved his closest friend.
Shock had numbed his reaction to the event at first, allowing him to concentrate on things like keeping their identities secret and overseeing the exodus of the eleven remaining soldiers, but now they had nothing better to do than wait. Watts, Jules, and Andrew were playing go fish and Rinoa was chatting with Zone over their short range radio. Squall, however, was left alone to brood over what had happened.
He'd never killed before and it disturbed him that the first person whose life he ended instilled no feelings of regret within him. Yes, the man had been threatening Rinoa – threatening to do things to Rinoa that would have broken her spirit, or wounded her irreparably – yet Squall still thought he ought to feel something beyond the resolve that should the situation arise again, he would do what had to be done. If that meant killing to protect Rinoa... then that was what would happen.
"Squall?"
He jerked out of his reverie at the sound of Rinoa calling his name. A car full of people, likely the Forest Foxes, had just pulled up. "Time to head out?" he asked.
"Yeah... are you okay, Squall?" Rinoa asked, looking at him worriedly. "You seem a little out of it."
"I'm fine." Squall shrugged. "What about you?"
"Mmm... I guess I'll be okay. I'm still a little freaked out... shaky." She paused and then beamed at Squall with a slightly lopsided grin. "You were really cool, though. So was Seifer. I can't seem to get his face out of my head." She giggled and Squall rolled his eyes. "He's just so... classically sexy, I suppose. His face was so..."
"Rinoa... what have I told you in the past about trying to use me as a sounding board for 'girl talk' stuff?" Squall rolled his eyes. "Do you seriously expect me to have an opinion on someone else being sexy or not?"
"Fair point. Let's just go now, shall we?" Rinoa hurried off while Squall suppressed a smirk.
Shaking his head in amusement, Squall followed after her towards where they'd 'parked' the train. Zone was probably bored since he was all alone there... or he was enjoying being rid of the teens for a few hours. Glancing back at the last place he'd seen the Balamb cadets, Squall couldn't help but think it a little strange that he couldn't get Seifer out of his head either.
Notes:
The story, as I envision it, has three parts to it: Summer, Winter, and Summer again.
Summer - Seifer and his posse go to Timber and winds up falling in with the Forest Owls. Only this time Squall, who lives in Esthar and is friends with Rinoa, has been dragged along for the ride. Instead of having a summer romance with Rinoa like it's implied he did in the game, Seifer finds himself becoming fixated on Squall and the two of them have a summer fling together. At the end of summer, they both go on their separate ways thinking that's the last they'll ever see of each other and regretting it, though their pride keeps them from saying anything at the time.
Winter - Squall and Ellone show up in Balamb. Ellone has convinced Squall that he should stop moping around, pining after Seifer, and try to reconnect with the blond because, odds are, Seifer is just as miserable as Squall is. She's right and winds up calling in Laguna, Kiros, and Ward so that they can try to tempt Seifer away from SeeD and into the Estharian military, or at least somewhere he can be with Squall after graduation. Having failed the SeeD entrance exam twice already and fallen in love with Squall, Seifer already has doubts about wanting to be SeeD after all and is easy to convince, though he does want to finish his education at Garden since there's only one semester left.
Summer - Politics are heating up between Esthar and Galbadia now that a Sorceress has stepped into the scene. Seifer arrives at Esthar city just barely ahead of a team of SeeD hired by the Estharian Council to protect the President and his family. Someone other than Seifer is taken as Ultimecia's Knight (it's either Quistis or Zell) and the 'heroes' have to act fast to defeat the Sorceress before she can achieve time compression. Events of this war will be very different from what happens in the game, however.
Additional notes:
* I tend to headcanon Squall as being demi-romantic/demi-sexual these days, so having part of his reluctance in the first part to keep in touch with Seifer being that Seifer has made Squall question his a-spec identity. Squall is uncomfortable with the implications and needs time to come to terms with this new part of himself, particularly in accepting that being demi doesn't make him a bad aroace or invalidate his previous experiences. He especially doesn't like that he basically has to question his identity all over again.
* Seifer I headcanon as being either gay or bi, so part of his arc in the first part of the story is realizing he's not straight. He's got it a little easier than Squall since this is only the first time he's ever felt the need to question his orientation.
This is one I'd really like to get back to one day, especially as I feel like what I've got here would be worth keeping instead of completely starting over from scratch. I'd need to replay the game and get back into the FF8 fandom, though, and it's been a long while since I last even read an FF8 fanfic.