A/N As mentioned, nothing is owned by me except original creations.
Capitulo Dois : Field Exam~Part I
As she walked through the Garden, Katrin felt uneasy with the short skit. She could feel almost the breeze in her legs. She wasn't used to skirts this short! It went mid-thigh, and that was short enough for her. Her skirts should, at least, reach her knee. How were they supposed to fight in this without showing around unwanted parts?
However designed this uniform, had to be a man. A perverted man, for that matter.
Trying to get used to it, Katrin walked to the directory, and into a blonde.
Quistis Trepe.
She slowed up her pace, and watched the young woman. Sure thing, she was beautiful and now Katrin knew why Quistis had such a big and famous fan-group.
Not one I would join up, that's for sure.
She wasn't the kind of person who gets obsessed by something to even be, or create, a group of that same 'something'.
But Quistis seemed a little older than she really was. Just her face told Katrin that she seemed in her twenties. Clearing her throat, Katrin approached her, silently. For the corner of my eye, she could see two blonds disputing and one brunet watching.
"Instructor Trepe?" she asked, slowly and low. Katrin could have sworn that she had jumped. She turned to Katrin, her eyes curious.
"Yes? What can I do for you?" she asked, trying to compose herself. Katrin straightened herself and made the SeeD salute.
"I'm Katrin Nightroad, ma'am. Headmaster told me to be here at 1600 hours for the Field Exam." she was talking slowly, afraid that her voice would falter. Her eyes widened a little at the mention of the Head.
"Oh, really? Well then, let's see…" she consulted a paper she had in her hands, a pen driving all the way down at, what Katrin assumed, she looking for the younger woman's name. suddenly, a small smile appeared in her features. "This is interesting…." She whispered, and Katrin raised an eyebrow. Somehow, she had a bad feeling, a really bad feeling about this. All her bad feelings turned reality in the moment she raised her head and her eyes locked into Katrin's.
"You're in Squad B."
If it was possibly, Katrin's jaw could have hit the ground. All she could master, however, was opening a little her mouth, eyes widening.
In her head, Bahamut was laughing his butt off, just seeing, well, rather sensing, her reaction. Which, for her, wasn't funny at all.
"It can't be changed." She said, looking at my reaction. Katrin wasn't really sure how to react to that. She hadn't really said anything.
Quistis then turned ahead, and Katrin, swallowing up her recent reaction, followed her line of vision. The two blonds' and the brunet she had seen earlier, turned out to be Squall, Seifer and Zell.
"Listen up!" she called. All three faces turned towards their instructor. "This is your new member, Katrin Nightroad." And then the three pairs of eyes turned to the brunet who wanted, above everything in that moment, to get a hole to hide herself. She wasn't really a fan of unwanted attention. Bahamut was, again for her displeasure, laughing his ass off.
Do Guardian Forces even have an ass though?
Trying to be at least look nice, Katrin smiled a little, not thrusting her own muscles. To her, Seifer seemed arrogant, Squall looked cold as ice and Zell seemed like a Chocobo with that hair of his. She suppressed a laugh.
Seifer was wrong all along. He was no Chicken-Wuss. He was a Chocobo chick!
"Hi." Seifer a top-to-toe look smirking, Squall didn't even flinch and Zell grinned to Katrin, giving her his hand to shake. At least, he seemed nice and that helped a little with the tension she was feeling.
"Zell Dincht. Please to meet ya." Katrin could only smile, still not trusting her own voice, which sounded pretty to the girl. He then proceeded to the presentations, seeing that none of the others moved. "This is Squall Leonhart," still no reaction from the brunet "and this bastard here is…"
"Problem in saying my name Chicken-wuss?" asked Seifer smirking. Zell reacted immediately.
"WHAT DID YOU CALLED ME?!" and raised his fists in the air, while Squall sighed, and Katrin rolled my eyes.
Their little dispute couldn't continue due the headmaster starting his speech. Katrin didn't her part of it due to her nervousness. She tried to calm down, a deed harder than it appeared, mainly due to the constant watchful eyes of Seifer, who was smirking at the girl. She only noticed that the headmaster had finished because Quistis had told them to move out.
Katrin stayed in the back, trying to avoid Seifer's glare and to take the chance to think about things through. They soon reached the parking lot and entering the car, Katrin noticed that there were only two places left: one between Seifer and Quistis and the other between Squall and Zell. Choosing the last, Katrin seated, somewhat receiving another smirk of Seifer.
After awhile, in which they were all silent (not that Katrin couldn't exactly tell, since Zell, in her left, couldn't find a comfortable position, Quistis time to time raising her hand to her hair, Seifer with his still smirk upon his face, and Squall silent as a dead man), Zell popped his head to the side.
"Yo Squall, show me you gunblade, will ya?" he asked. Squall pretended he hadn't heard him.
"C'mon man!" again, no reply.
"Just a peek!" he begged, and Katrin almost felt sorry for him.
"Tch fine…" Zell finally said, crossing his arms, and almost pouting like a little child. "Why are you being so selfish?! Scrooge!"
Katrin had to hold her will to laugh.
"At least say something! What's on your mind?" Zell almost yelled. Two voices replied that question.
"Nothing." Squall raised his head to the giggling instructor, and frowned, but said nothing and resumed his watch on the floor. Zell, bored out of his mind, stood up and practised some of his moves. Seifer watched the blond and frowned.
"Stop that, it's annoying…" he said, but suddenly a smirk appeared in his face. "…Chicken-wuss." Now that annoyed Zell.
"WHAT DID YOU CALLED ME?" he yelled, really loud. Quistis rose to her feet, clearly irritated.
"Knock it off!" Zell took a few seconds before seating down, sending Seifer a death glare, but the other blond just chuckled. Several minutes passed and Katrin was grateful for it. Until a low voice on her right spoke.
"…Instructor?" Squall asked, receiving the glares of the four of them. "Who was the girl in the infirmary this morning?"
"Was someone there?" she placed a hand on her chin and looked up, trying to remember if she had indeed seen anyone. "I can't remember." She finally said and looked at the brunet. "Is there a problem?" Squall looked down again.
"…No…Not really."
That made Seifer smirk to the brunet, and every time Seifer, it wasn't a good sign. Katrin could almost hear his thoughts. Squall Leonheart, the stoic gunblader, interested in some girl? Now that was some news! He chuckled which meant, again, bad news.
"This is great. I've got a Chicken-wuss and a boy who just reached puberty in my squad." Well, Zell's gets very pissed at his and he raised to his feet, Quistis shook her head, Squall paid no attention, and Seifer's glare was upon Katrin, again. "Well… at least I have the hottest female cadet in my squad."
Zell looked from the younger girl to Seifer like he was in some kind of tennis game, trying to figure it out what the hell was happening. Katrin was clearly uncomfortable, her face becoming redder by the second. The good thing about this was the car slowing down, which meant that they were probably reaching Balamb Town.
That realization made Katrin's stomach do a flip. Now she was starting to become nervous. Getting out, Katrin's eyes fell first on the ocean, then at the vessels in the docks and her stomach made another flip.
Squall stared at the vessel and Seifer joined him. Trying not to hear to their conversation, Katrin followed Quistis upon a black haired SeeD calling them. When they were all seated, Xu came in, sending Quistis a smile.
"Hi Quistis." She said, in an also cheerful voice.
"Hi Xu." Quistis replied, and her head turned to her squad. "This is Squad B."
The dark-haired girl smiled to all of them. Zell was the first to talk.
"Hey there. I'm Zell Dincht. Pleased to meet ya." Next was Squall that only gave her a nod, and finally Katrin. Like Squall, she only said her name, still nervous. Xu's eyes averted then to Seifer, a little smirk on her face.
"Seifer…" she murmured. "How many times has it been now?"
Seifer just chuckled. "Oh you know me" he started, somehow amused by his private joke "I just love this exams." The sarcasm was evident in both of his voice and smirk. Katrin, suddenly curious, leaned forward, with all the intentions of asking Seifer, when Xu started talking.
"Our client for this mission is the Dollet Dukedom Parliament." Xu began. "A request for SeeD was made 18 hours ago." On the screen, a map of Dollet appeared. "Dollet has been under attack by the G-Army since about 72 hours." The screen showed the advance of the G-Army. "49 hours into battle, Dollet abandoned their position in the inner city. Currently, they have retreated into the nearby mountains and are reorganizing their troops." The screen was showing the Dollet troops. "There are still scattered troops around the city and the beaches. That's the current status. Now, onto the mission objective." Xu tapped a button and the screen showed a large red arrow, indicating the Galbadian forces, was shown moving through the mountains. "According to our reports, the G-Army is mopping up the Dollet troops in the mountain region. We are to make a landing at Lapin Beach, and eliminate the Galbadian army remaining inside the city and liberate it ASAP. Afterwards, SeeD members will intercept any G-forces attempting to make their way into the city from the mountain region.
"So," came Seifer's bored voice from Katrin's right, making her almost jump. "what are we supposed to do?"
"SeeD candidates are to eliminate the G-Army inside the city" Xu explained immediately.
"Sounds important." Declared Zell, his eyes widened, like he was some kind of kid that had told him about a really interesting thing. Next to Katrin, Seifer sighed and stretched his arms over his head.
"Sounds boring." He said, and his voice clearly showed what he was feeling. "So, what you're saying is we do all the little dirty work, huh?" by his looks, Katrin asked herself if he had dozed off during the briefing. Maybe he had.
Neither Xu, or even Quistis, said anything at first, and Katrin wondered if Seifer was right with the words. Looking at the two women, she guessed it was just that. Seconds past before Xu cleared her throat.
"Well, it hardly needs to be said, but the order to withdraw takes priority." Her gaze felt upon Seifer, and the last didn't even replied. Looking at his face, he seems sleepy. Maybe Katrin's theory that he had dozed off is right. Xu then turned to the rest of them. "We're almost there. We anticipate a battle as soon as we disembark, so be well prepared. Any questions, ask them to Quistis." And with a cheery "good luck", she left the cabin, leaving the rest of squad B.
Katrin watched her comrades: Zell's nervous and excited eyes, Quistis normal face, Squall's… well, she couldn't tell much of Squall. He had his head down and the hair was covering his face. Seifer looked normal and with the still sleepy face.
Shutting out, Katrin found herself talking with her GF. Bahamut was still cryptic about a lot of things, but he was being a good company for her nervous self. It was only when she heard Seifer's and Zell's loud voices did she turned back to reality.
"My first real battle…." Zell's voice is clearly nervous. "I'm so nervous."
"Better not piss your pants." Mocked Seifer.
"Hah? You talkin' with me?" Zell asked, raising his head. Seifer laughed, gaining another will to kill the arrogant blond from Zell.
"Bastard!"
Quistis had opened her mouth to scold them, but Katrin beat her on it.
"Will you just shut up? I had enough of your bloody hell discussions." That made her gain four pairs of surprised glares. At least, she could tell that Squall was surprised, since he also turned his head to her.
"Well, well… seems we have here a feisty chick…." Seifer said, and Katrn just rolled my eyes. She was completely relaxed now.
Either way, the two of them remained quiet, until Seifer decided to interrupt the silence.
"Squall, go see what's going outside." He said in a commanding tone. For a moment Katrin thought that Squall would say 'no' or don't reply, until he suddenly raised to his feet, muttered an annoyed 'ok', picked up some diagrams that were in the table, and that nobody had even checked out, and left. Seifer smirked.
"Good. Because it's MY order." Seifer sure seemed triumphant and Quistis and Katrin just rolled their eyes.
Minutes passed, and then Squall was back. Seconds after he put a foot in the cabin, the ground under them shook violently. Zell yelled, and Katrin felt the vessel raise a little in the air, before going down again. They all got up and Quistis reached for a button. Clicking it, the doors of the vessel opened, revealing the chaotic battle field in the outside.
"Ready!" she said. "We landed."
The four of the teens left the cabin, and turned once more to the blonde instructor.
"You're to secure the central and set a control post there." She said.
"Come on" came Seifer voice.
"We don't the other squads get all the fun, uh?" Seifer finished and bolted towards the staircase leading to the city, the rest of them hot in his heels.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
After some battles, a few Galbadians, and minutes later, the four teens reached the Central Square. Watching it, Katrin had only two words to describe it: trés chic. Seifer gazed around.
"There may be more." Squall's said. Seifer turned to him and then glared at his colleagues.
"All right. I want you guys to scout the area for enemies."
They nodded and went to look around, Katrin in the back. In a street, not far from the Central Square, obstructed by two tanks, were four more Galbadians soldiers. Squall attacked the closest, Zell the second and Katrin shoot the third. They turned to the fourth, only to see him fall under Hyperion's blade. Seifer smirked to them.
"Do you think you could take all the fun?" Squall ignored him, and Zell and Katrin just rolled their eyes.
"I think that's all of them." Squall said. They then returned to the Central Square, and Katrin seated in the fountain border, while the others remained up.
"Well then, we're on standby 'til the enemy comes." Seifer said and frowned. "Standby… how boring…"
-.-.-.-.-.-
They had been there Hyne-knows-how-long. There was a dog wandering around and Katrin, finding a way to entertain herself, scratched him behind his hears and by the noises he was making, he seemed to be enjoying it. Zell seated right beside her muttering, endless times, about how bored he was. Squall remained where he was, looking to the sky, and Seifer had his back against the wall, and from time to time, Katrin sensed his glare upon her, and then at Zell and frowned, clearly annoyed by Zell's whining. Everything was silent, until the explosions, gunfire and screams were heard in the distant. The dog escaped from her touch, and they all rose their heads in the direction of the smoke.
"Seems like it's starting." Squall's remarked.
"Bring it on!" Seifer replied. The dog that Katrin had been patting approached him and rubbed his hears at Seifer's pants. Seifer looked at him with a disgustful face. "Get outta here! Scram!" the dog ran off, whining.
"SEIFER!" Katrin yelled. He looked at her she just rolled her eyes. Sure thing he could be bored, but it wasn't necessary to discharge his anger on the poor dog.
"Hey, Galbadian soldiers!" Seifer swung his gunblade around. "What are you waiting for? Come, show me what you got!" and silence ruled again. Several minutes passed, and no soldier or shadow of them. Katrin stood up, and started to walk around, not sure of what she should do. Seifer was leaning against a wall, growing impatient by the minute, demonstrated by his gunblade bouncing lightly on his shoulder. She approached him, when Squall's voice makes her turn.
"…. Nothing."
A loud growl came from Seifer's direction.
"Dam these Galbadians! Still keeping us waiting!" he cursed. "What is this, some kind of dog training!?" the stray dog from before was close to him again, and hearing what Seifer had said, howls.
Footsteps are heard, and Squall and Zell hide behind the fountain, while Seifer and Katrin hide in the buildings shadow. A Galbadian scout appeared, and automatically her hand went to one arrow, but a strong grip on her wrist made her look up.
"Hold on." Seifer whispered to me. Katrin let go of the arrow, and watched as the scout made signal to someone beside him. Seconds later, fifteen soldiers appeared carrying cables, tools, and all sort of technical things. After the soldiers disappeared, the four of them got out from their hiding spots and looked at the direction of where the enemy had went.
"It's the enemy." Muttered Squall, stating the obvious.
"Where the hell are they going?" Zell asked. Squall pointed in the path that the soldiers had taken. Zell's eyes trailed it, until they fell in the cliff near the city, and the metallic tower. His eyes widened. "Hey! What the hell is that up there?"
"Our next destination." Both Zell and Katrin jump from the sudden appearance of Seifer. Zell's eyes widened.
"But that's against orders!" he yelled. Seifer just looked at him.
"Weren't you just saying how bored you were?" he asked, calmly.
"Squall!" Zell's whined, with pleading eyes, searching for the brunet's help, but Squall just sighed.
"I stand by the captain's decision." He said, and Seifer's and Zell's jaw dropped, shocked. Then their eyes fell upon Katrin, who had been watching the fountain's water, not really interested on what they were talking. Sensing the silence, she looked at them, and seeing all of them watching her, trying her most innocent voice, asked.
"What?"
"What do you think?" Seifer asked, expectantly. "You staying here with Chicken-wuss or coming with us?"
She looked to Zell whose eyes were pleading, and Squall, his face clearly stating that he didn't care. Katrin sighed.
"Since you're the captain Seifer, I stand by your decisions."
Seifer gave her a big smile, and put his arm around Squall shoulders.
"You guys want to wreak some havoc too, don't you?"
Squall shoved his arm off him, and narrowed his eyes to Seifer.
"I'm agreeing with you because this is a good opportunity to test out my training." Squall told him, grimly. "Thanks to you, I feel like I can take out everyone. Even if they do fight dirty, like you."
Seifer narrowed his eyes at that and crossed his arms.
"You'll thank me when the time comes."
Squall expression darkened and was about to reply when Zell's voice interrupted him.
"What the friggin' hell! I thought you two didn't get along, and you're all, buddy-buddy now. Listen…" he stepped aside, and for the first time, Katrin saw his serious side. "…this ain't no ordinary battle. It's an exam, an important one. I'm telling ya, we should to stick to orders."
"Then you stay here." interrupted Seifer "I don't need any scout boy."
Zell turned to him, furious.
"What was that?" he yelled, bringing up his fists.
Before he could anything, Squall approached the angry blond.
"Don't take him seriously Zell." he then turned to Seifer "Seifer, if we are gonna go, let's hurry."
Seifer smirk appeared again, a clear sign of triumph, and pointed to the path were Katrin knew they were taking.
"The enemy is headed to the facility. We, Squad B, are to secure the summit. Move out!"
Squall nodded. "Alright."
But Zell was still furious. "Tch… fine."
Katrin just shrugged and followed them.
-.-.-.-.-.-
It took them almost twenty minutes to reach the bridge that connected the city with the path that would lead them to the Communication Tower. Seifer was on the lead, but walking with caution. Although they hadn't found any enemy, the gunfire back in the city had kept on remembering Katrin that they were in the middle of a real battle. A few meters ahead, several corpses of falling Dollet troops were on the ground. But a few meters away, they saw a still living soldier. When they approached, the weak soldier looked up and seeing the four of them, panicked.
"AH! Don't kill me." he screamed. None of them attacked him, and the soldier carefully looked up. "W-Who are you?
Squall and Katrin approached the almost dead soldier. She cast a Cure on him.
"We're SeeD candidates. We've been dispatched by Garden to help you." Squall told him. Relief filled the man's face.
"So, what's going on up there?" Seifer asked, while looking around.
"The Galbadian soldiers have entered the communication tower. I don't know why. The place has been abandoned for years." he paused for breath. "It's just a nesting ground for monsters now. If you guys are going up, be caref…" But then he was interrupted by something that grabbed his leg. "HELP ME!" he screamed, a scream that made Katrin's heart stop.
Zell and Squall tried to grab him but the man vanished. Katrin froze in her place as she saw the eyes of an Anacondaur. A strong arm grabbed her by the waist and pulled her out of there, before the snake even had time to attack her. Zell's and Squall's effort to grab the man were futile and the two teens prepare to fight the snake monster.
"You ok?" Seifer lowly asked, right next to Katrin. His arm were still around her waist.
"Perfect…" she whispered, turning to him and nodding. He frowned.
"You sure?" he asked, and she nodded again.
"Go help the others." she told him, and since he didn't move, she breathed deeply and used a commanding voice. "I'm fine, seriously. Now go help the others."
He did what she told him, and Katrin gaze fell in the battle. There were not one, but two Anacondaur!
"Oh, just great…" she muttered under her breath. Picking up a blue arrow, and sensing it was a Blizzara spell she had stocked, Katrin aimed at one of the snakes. She shot it, but it didn't trespassed the snake-like monster. On top of that, the snake turned its head to the girl.
Shit!
Fortunately, Zell and Seifer took the care to distract her. Katrin drew from her several times, and healed her comrades, not knowing other thing that could harm the snakes. Bahamut wouldn't do, since his attack was based on Flare, and Katrin wasn't sure if that meant the snake was immune to it or not. She still had some Blizzards, and so she used them. It seemed to harm the snake and Katrin quickly turned to Squal.
"Squall! Use Shiva!" he nodded, closing his eyes.
Seifer and Zell protected him and Katrin continued her supportive work. She felt really useless, not feeling like she was doing much. Her thoughts were interrupted when the temperature around them suddenly drops and Katrin sensed Shiva. The other two blonds run to find a cover behind a cover and Katrin tried to do the same. Seconds later, the temperature rose again and, taking a peek from her hiding place, Katrin saw the two dead snakes.
"Alright!" she cheerfully yelled, gaining funny looks from the others.
The four of them look at the sight before them: two, very dead Anacondaur and a few Dollet soldiers. The scene was far from adequate to sensitive stomachs.
"Monsters, huh?" said Squall looking to the snakes with disgust.
"That sucks" remarked Zell.
"More fun for us." Seifer countered and then went up. "Come on. Let's go."
It was Zell's turn to make a disgusted face.
"Fun? Pu-lease."
Katrin and Squall just shrugged and followed them.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Next in "Liberi Fatali – The Fated Children": The rest of the Field Exam.