Chapter 2: Firedance
Quistis walked toward the entrance of the Fire Caverns with cadet Michelle Howe chattering nervously beside her.
"So, um.. I junctioned all the ice magic I could, and I have like, a ton of firaga spells on my elemental defense. Did I miss anything?" the girl asked anxiously.
"Did you draw any curative or support magics?" Quistis asked her in turn.
The girl groaned, smacking herself on the forehead, "I knew I'd forget something!"
"Here," Quistis took her hand briefly and transferred several cure spells to her.
The cadet smiled in relief, saying, "thank you Instructor Trepe."
Quistis paused before approaching the entrance and asked the girl, "Are you ready? Double check your junctions if you aren't sure."
The girl did as suggested, her brown eyes losing focus for a moment. She blinked and shook her head, causing a lock of black hair to fall into her eyes before she brushed it back and focused her attention back to Quistis.
Taking a deep breath, she said, "Ready."
Nodding, Quistis approached the Garden Faculty member that stood guard outside the cavern with the cadet, Michelle, trailing along behind her.
"Instructor fourteen, Quistis Trepe and cadet Michelle Howe, student ID number 98856." Quistis told the faculty member, who stepped aside to allow them entry, starting the timer at the same time.
As they passed through the mouth of the cave and into the complex itself, Quistis hung back and told the girl, "Okay Michelle, its your show. I'll be here as backup but you're on your own from now on."
Nodding, the girl readied her weapon and took the lead, trotting along the trail toward the trail's end and the final test. Trailing along behind her, Quistis snapped her whip at a couple of red bats that swooped in on them, knocking them out of the air.
As she followed the girl along the trail, Quistis felt Ifrit's amusement at the whole process. It was actually a pretty powerful GF, but after being the final test for countless cadets over the years, it had learned to gauge the strength of each cadet and battle accordingly. This was not to say that the Guardian took it easy on the kids, quite the opposite. Ifrit approached every battle with the intent to win. It would not junction to a cadet that hadn't fairly beaten it.
Another child for the testing? It asked her.
Yes. Quistis answered.
Very well. Let us see what she is made of. Ifrit responded.
The guardian appeared before them, leaping out of its molten lair in a spectacular shower of sparks, growling. Then it issued its challenge to the cadet.
"SO YOU SEEK TO CHALLENGE ME?" Ifrit asked in impressively dramatic fashion.
"Yes. I do." The cadet answered firmly. Quistis had to give her points for courage. Most cadets would be shaking by now. Ifrit could be frightening when it wanted to be. Quistis had to hide a smile however as she sensed the guardian's enjoyment of the drama. Ifrit was a huge ham.
Don't play it up too much, she might not take you seriously. Quistis warned.
Very well, although I DID have a very impressive speech planned. Ifrit responded.
Quistis had a hard time holding back a laugh at that and sent severely, you nearly made me laugh! I've a good mind to sic Shiva on you!
GODS! Anything but THAT! Okay, let's do this… Ifrit sent.
Roaring and throwing off sparks, Ifrit demanded, "SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT YOUNGLING!"
And the battle was joined. Quistis aided the cadet when needed, but this test was mostly for her, so Quistis stayed out of it as much as possible.
The girl started off by casting protection spells on herself first, then started lobbing the strongest blizzaga spells that she could at Ifrit.
Ifrit responded with devastating fire-based attacks, which were only partially blocked by the protect spell. The cadet reeled back from the onslaught, and desperately cast Regen and tried a different tack, raising her weapons and running at the guardian, intent upon a physical attack.
Ifrit snarled and swiped at her with its clawed hand, but the girl dodged aside, avoiding the blow. Then she whirled, razor sharp sword in each hand, blocking Ifrit's attacks while simultaneously slashing at the guardian, backing it up nearly to the edge of the crater it had emerged from.
Quistis watched the girl proudly, impressed with her facility in mastering the two-blade technique. It was not an easy thing to learn, even if one were ambidextrous. And cadet Michelle Howe was not. It was a testament to her drive to succeed that her use of the swords gave no sign that she was almost exclusively right-handed.
Ifrit of course gave as good as it got, but in the end acknowledged its defeat and allowed the cadet to junction it, saying, "WELL DONE CADET! I WILL JOIN YOU."
Quistis' awareness of Ifrit faded as it junctioned with the cadet. Ifrit would stay with the girl until she'd either passed or failed her field exam, then it would be released back to Garden, either to test the next crop of cadets or to junction with whichever SeeD needed it.
In spite of its somewhat community property status, Ifrit did have a marked preference for certain SeeDs. It appeared more quickly and worked better with those SeeDs that it had the highest affinity for, Zell and Quistis among them. It would also only speak to those SeeDs, and no one else. Guardians could be capricious like that sometimes.
Quistis grinned over at the cadet and said, "That was quick! Good job!"
"Thanks, instructor Trepe." The girl smiled back, and they started toward the entrance of the caverns. The remaining denizens of the caverns were easily dealt with, Quistis snapping the occasional red bat out of the sky with her whip while Michelle took care of the bombs and other monsters with her blizzaga and physical attacks.
They arrived back at Balamb Garden out of breath, and Quistis smiled at her student, saying, "Well, we're done until your field exam. So you can do pretty much whatever you want until then. I would suggest spending some time in the training center to stay sharp."
"Okay. Well, talk to you later." The cadet said, and they parted company once they entered garden.
Quistis headed toward her apartment, intent upon a shower. A few minutes in the fire caverns was guaranteed to leave one grimy and sweaty. Afterward, well… she didn't know, really. It was a bit early yet for lunch, she'd already had a workout today, and her students who weren't participating in the field exam were transferred to another instructor for the day so that Quistis could accompany cadet Howe into the fire caverns.
In short, she really didn't have anything to do.
Oh, she supposed she could visit with Rinoa or Selphie and catch up with them; she hadn't visited with them in a while. Deciding that she would do exactly that after her shower, she entered her apartment and started undressing.
She turned on the shower and adjusted the spray to a temperature she preferred and stepped into it, sighing. The warm water soothed and relaxed her, draining away the tension left behind by the battles in the fire caverns.
It had been two days since her intense make-out session with Nida in the secret area, and she hadn't seen him since. She knew he'd been busy, so had she, but she worried nonetheless. She wondered if he still intended to take her out on Friday. She hoped so. She was really looking forward to it.
More than looking forward to it, she thought with a delicious shiver. Positively craving it. It had been so long since she'd been kissed like that, touched like that. So long since she'd wanted to respond in kind and make someone else's nerve endings sing like they'd done to her.
Nida's restraint, while admirable, had made Quistis want to scream and rip his clothes off. Fortunately (or not) common sense reasserted itself as he walked her back to her room and she realized that she didn't want things to start out that way with him either. She wasn't like that, and Nida had risen several notches in her estimation of his character by offering proof positive that he didn't think of her that way.
But a tiny, wicked part of her wanted him to.
The pathway her mind had wandered had left a physical aftereffect that tempted Quistis to reach manually for the release she ached for. Instead, she cursed in frustration and flipped the hot water tap off; gasping, as she was drenched in cold water. It might have temporarily satisfied her, but it was a hollow exercise in futility. She would wait.
She only hoped it would be worth it. Judging by the way Nida had kissed her; Quistis thought that it would be.
Then she remembered the way he had looked at her, and began to feel nervous again. Unlike Squall's difficult to read expression, Nida was an open book. There had been more than just lust in his eyes. Passion was there, plain to see, but there was also longing, and something softer… something that had prompted him to back off respectfully and offer to take her out on a date. Something that Quistis felt it was too early to put a name to, but was there all the same.
She shut the water off and got out of the shower, toweling herself dry and getting dressed. Noting the time, she decided to head to the cafeteria and get some lunch.
"Hey Kris! Hand me that spanner, will you?" Nida called down to the one of the SeeDs that had come with him into the bowels of Garden. He currently stood upon a none too stable ladder, arm hooked over a rung, reaching down with his other hand for the requested tool.
"Which one?" Kris asked.
"The eight-millimeter." Nida answered. The SeeD he'd addressed, Kris, rummaged through the toolbox, locating the tool and handing it up to Nida.
"Thanks." He said once he took the tool, then applied it to the offending bolt on that ladder that threatened to work loose, again, while he was checking and changing all of the air filters in this Hyne-forsaken place.
You'd have thought it would be difficult to find SeeDs willing to venture down there, but Nida had not had any trouble with it. Despite the oppressive heat, the grimy rust and the dirt, the more gung-ho of the SeeDs in Garden actually relished a trip down there. The sheer variety of the vermin that populated the MD level was enough for any SeeD worth his rank to want to test his skills against.
If you were a cadet training for your field exam, then the training center was perfect for that. However, if you were a full SeeD that had seen a campaign or two, the training center was decidedly tame. It was why they had to draw names for the extermination teams to clear out the worst of the monsters, and it was why Nida never had any trouble finding volunteers to keep his hide intact while he did his part to maintain the hulking edifice they resided in.
The ladder now more secure, Nida stuck the tool into the back pocket of his pants and continued his climb upward toward the vent he was aiming for. He'd long since discarded his shirt, hating the clammy feel of the sweat-soaked cotton against his skin. Over one shoulder was slung a canvas bag carrying the new filters he'd be installing in the vents.
He'd been at this for hours, him and another one of the maintenance guys. Nida wasn't fool enough to think he could take it on entirely by himself. Not if he wanted to actually be finished in two weeks.
Finally reaching the vent, he opened it and pulled out the filthy, dust-covered filter and put the new one in. Leaning over the other side of the ladder, he did the same thing with the other vent, sticking both used filters into his bag to be discarded later. He could simply have dropped them, he supposed, but it would be terribly rude to rain used air filters down on the heads of the SeeDs that were helping him with his task.
Climbing back down the ladder, he discarded the used filters and paused, trying to think of what needed to be done next. He'd completed his section of the MD level, changing out all of the air filters that needed it, and the other guy was working on his section and likely done or nearly so as well.
Going over to where he'd left his shirt draped over his tool kit and supplies, he grabbed his water bottle, sucking down the lukewarm contents thirstily, swiping his forearm over his sweaty brow. A growl from his midsection prompted him to check his watch, discovering that it was later than he'd thought.
"Hey, guys?" Nida called out to the scattered SeeDs, "Let's knock off for a bit and get some lunch. Anyone game to run up and grab something from the cafeteria for us?"
"I'll go." A slim, dark haired girl spoke up.
"Thanks Kessie." He smiled at her, and then turning toward the rest of the SeeDs, asked them, "Any preferences? Let Kessie know what you want."
"Aside from you stud muffin? Just a sandwich for me Kess." An older SeeD, a violet-eyed blond woman, said with a wink at Nida.
Nida snorted, "I thought Kessie was more your type Reya."
The woman smiled at him and replied, "Ordinarily yes. But you keep strutting around with your shirt off like that and I might consider switching teams again."
Nida rolled his eyes at that, and said to Kessie, "Sandwich for me too Kess. And bring some cold drinks down here too. I don't know about the rest of you guys but I'm roasting right now."
The SeeDs with him nodded. The males, like Nida, had largely discarded their shirts, much to the delight of most of the females that had come along. Of course, Reya then had to make the comment that it wasn't fair that the girls couldn't get away with going shirtless too. That opened a can of worms that Nida was hard-pressed to get rounded up and put back to rights.
Before things went too far, Nida had thrown his hands up in exasperation, saying, "Do what you want, but we didn't come down here to simply stare at each other! In case you've forgotten, there are monsters here that have a nasty habit of killing people. Can we focus please?"
"But Nida, it's hot down here!" Reya had said in an exaggerated whine, fanning herself with her hand and batting her eyes at Kessie.
"Okay, you know what? I'm all for equality but this is ridiculous. Girls, keep your shirts on. Guys, do what you want. Next time Reya, I'll put you in charge of this and you can have the girls go topless if you want, as long as nobody gets so distracted they die." Nida had said then, shaking his head.
It had taken several minutes and an oilboyle attack to bring the focus back to what they'd actually come down to the MD level to do. Until then, the ribald jokes and risqué comments that the SeeDs tossed back and forth got bad enough to irritate Nida.
That irritation didn't last long however as his mind focused on the work he had to do. Quite simply, he was too busy to think about the preceding silliness.
Kessie got the rest of the group's orders and left, with Reya sighing at her departing back.
"She's such a cutie. Too bad she isn't into girls." She said.
"How do you know? Have you asked her?" Kris asked.
She shook her head, "No, but I haven't heard anything about her dating girls." Nida snorted, half-sitting, half-leaning against the bottom rung of the ladder he'd just climbed down.
"You know how accurate the rumor mill around here is. For years, everyone was convinced Squall was gay, quite ignoring the fact that he never dated. Period." Nida said.
"Too bad he turned out straight and got married. Took himself completely off the market before anyone even had a chance at him. Talk about unfair." Kris sighed. "You don't know how badly I wanted to melt that Ice Queen, only to find out that he was nothing of the sort."
"You know what's weird about that? There are some people that are still convinced that Squall and Seifer have a thing going on despite the fact that they're both happy with their current relationships." Another girl said, frowning.
"Has any of this gotten back to him Nida?" Reya asked him curiously.
"Yeah. He hates it but really can't control it so he just ignores it. Besides, if you're around garden long enough, you'll see him and Rinoa together. It's not like they're trying to hide anything." Nida said.
"I think they're cute together." Another of the girls said with a smile.
"What about you Nida? I haven't heard of you getting together with anyone lately." Reya asked him with a smile.
Nida shrugged noncommittally, "I've been busy."
"Well, hate to break it to ya kiddo, but with our commander off the market, you just went to the top of the list of most eligible SeeDs." Reya grinned at him.
Nida stared at her, "Me? What about Irvine?" The girls laughed, and Nida frowned. Poor Irvine. This would definitely put a dent in his self-esteem if he got wind of it.
"Please. With that cocky attitude? And his incessant flirting? He wishes." Reya snorted. The rest of the girls nodded in agreement.
Nida shrugged. He had to give that one to the girls. Irvine did tend to lay things on a bit thick, but he had a good heart and he genuinely liked females of all kinds. He wasn't quite the player he tried to make himself out to be either. At least not lately.
"Zell?" Nida asked, puzzled.
"Nope. The hot dog fetish is a little off-putting. I'll give him points for being genuinely nice though, if a tad hyper." Reya smiled.
Nida groaned, "Who thinks up these things?"
"It was an online poll that popped up in the Garden Network a few days after Commander Leonhart got married." One of the female SeeDs answered, thinking privately that Nida was plenty cute enough to take the commander's place at the top of the "Most eligible SeeDs in Balamb list".
Nida shook his head wearily. Then a slithering sound echoed from the shadows in the cavernous underbelly of Garden. The SeeDs fell silent, their manner instantly alert.
"Look alive guys." Nida warned as he quickly retrieved and drew his sword, facing the direction he'd heard the sound coming from. The other SeeDs each had their weapons ready, and each faced a different direction, each guarding the backs of the others. In the echoing confines of the MD level, sounds could be deceptive. There was no way to be sure from which direction the attack would originate.
More slithers, and a sibilant hiss was all the warning they got before the oilboyle attacked.
Quistis was just finishing up her lunch when she saw Kessia in the cafeteria, asking the headwoman for several sandwiches and cold drinks. Dumping the remains of her lunch, she put the tray away and approached her, curious.
"Hello Kessia, how are things going?" Quistis asked her.
"Oh, fine I guess. Hot as blazes down there. We got attacked by an oilboyle and a grendel, almost as soon as we got there, but things quieted down after we took care of them." Kessia answered. The headwoman returned with a huge bag piled high with sandwiches, sides and condiments, and an ice bucket filled with soft drink cans and water bottles.
The girl groaned, thinking of the long trip back down to the MD level burdened with all of that stuff.
"Too bad they won't give you beer." Quistis commented.
"I wish." Kessia replied absently, trying to figure out how to carry both things without crushing the sandwiches or dropping the ice bucket.
"We're on duty though, and it'd be pretty stupid to be drinking when an oilboyle or a triface could attack at any moment." She said.
"Would you like some help with that? I don't have anything going on right now." Quistis offered.
"Oh, would you? Thank you Quistis, I really appreciate this." Kessia said.
Quistis picked up the ice bucket and followed the smaller girl to the lift. It was definitely heavy, and while the girl was strong…she had to be, if she was SeeD…. it was a long way down to the section of the MD level where Nida and his crew were working.
As they rode the lift down, Quistis asked "So what have you guys been doing down there anyway?"
"Well, mostly just keeping the monsters busy while Nida and Terry climb around the ductworks like monkeys. They were changing out air filters today." Kessia answered.
"Were there a lot of monsters? The last time I was down there was with Squall, and there were dozens of really nasty ones then." Quistis asked.
"There were a few but we do extermination sweeps periodically so there aren't as many as there used to be. The little nuisances like the red bats are mostly gone. The oilboyles, trifaces and grendels are harder to kill, so there's still quite a few there." Kessia answered her.
"Nobody's gotten hurt though, right?" Quistis asked, trying to ignore the anxiety that cropped up in the back of her mind.
"Not so far." The girl replied. The elevator dinged as they reached their destination and they disembarked, walking down the dimly lit, narrow corridor toward where Nida and the rest of the SeeDs were.
Sweat began beading on Quistis' skin almost immediately and she sighed, thinking that she'd need another shower once she got back to her room. The bucket dragged at her arms, and she took a deep breath of the oppressive, steamy air. The corridor was lined with pipes and conduits, steam escaping at various intervals, adding to the humidity.
Their feet clacked upon the metal flooring as they walked, nearly drowning out the faint sounds of battle as they approached their destination. They became more distinct however as Quistis and Kessia got closer, and they both traded an alarmed look, dropped their burdens and ran the remaining distance, readying their weapons, preparing to leap into the fray and help.
By the time they reached the scene of the battle however, it was over and the SeeDs were tending their wounds.
Quistis' eyes tracked wildly around the group, looking for Nida, nearly missing him until she heard him groan and wince in pain as he wiped off his sword and sheathed it. She stood transfixed, simply staring at him, heart pounding. Like the other guys there, Nida was shirtless, and so had blended in with them. That, and the fact that he was liberally smudged with grime and smeared with oil, shiny with sweat and bleeding freely from a wound before he healed it with a cure spell, and it was no wonder Quistis missed seeing him at first. At first.
But she saw him now, and what she saw made her mouth go dry. She knew he was in shape, they all were. It was part of the job. That, plus the fact that Nida was Balamb Garden's resident track star; so yeah, he was fit. What she didn't know was how damn good it looked on him. Until now.
Holy Hyne…She thought, still staring, knees going weak. He wasn't bulky, runners usually weren't. Instead he was lean as a greyhound, and nicely defined. If there was an ounce of fat anywhere on him, Quistis didn't see it. She was too busy following the trail of dark hair arrowing down his chest to the low-slung waistband of the black twill BDU pants he was wearing. And trying not to drool.
Then he looked up and caught her staring and grinned, "Quistis! What brings you down here?" Quistis opened her mouth and tried to find her voice, and hopefully not say anything moronic, but wasn't able to.
Just then, one of the other SeeDs looked around, frowning, and asked, "Hey, Kess? Where's our lunch?"
Quistis exchanged a glance with Kessia and Kessia said, "We'll be right back." Then they both turned and headed back up the passageway to where they'd dropped their packages. Hopefully, none of the resident creatures had consumed it.
After they left, one of the male SeeDs sighed dramatically, "Ah, be still my heart, the lovely Quistis herself? How do we rate?"
Reya snorted, "Kess told me she was helping her carry the drinks down."
Just then Kris gave Nida's shoulder a shove and said, "If you ask me, I think it was Nida she was down here for. Did you see how she was staring at him? Like she'd just run through the desert to find a tall, cool drink waiting at the end."
"Dude. Please, for the love of Hyne, for the rest of us who have pined for Instructor Trepe, please go for it." another of the guys encouraged him.
Nida frowned, feeling uncomfortable, saying, "Guys, knock it off."
"Just sayin'. She looked like she wanted to eat you alive." The young man said.
"God, I wish!" said another of the SeeDs. Nida glared at him, and behind his back, two of the girls exchanged a knowing glance.
The sound of approaching footsteps fortunately put a stop to the comments, for which Nida was immensely grateful. He hadn't missed the hungry look in her eyes, and it was making him wish it were Friday already. He could feel his blood heating just from the slow glance from head to foot she'd given him. It was going to be a long week.
And another goddamned cold shower.
The food and drinks were fortunately intact and delivered to the hungry SeeDs. Nida grabbed a cold bottle of water and drank it down, feeling much better for the cool slide of liquid down his throat. The rest of the SeeDs followed suit. Then he grabbed a second bottle and held it out to Quistis.
"Here. You look like you could use this. It's hot down here." He said.
"Thanks," she said, accepting it and taking a sip.
"Nice of you to help Kessie with all that stuff." Nida said, smiling.
"It was no trouble. She looked like she could use a hand." Quistis said with a shrug.
"So I heard you went to the fire caverns this morning. Who'd you go with?" Nida asked.
"Cadet Howe." Quistis answered him.
"How did she do?" He asked her.
"Really well. She's really mastered the two-blade style. It's impressive watching her fight, she didn't summon her GF once." Quistis answered proudly.
Nida raised his eyebrows and asked, "Really? You mean she just beat Ifrit into submission?"
"Essentially, yes." Quistis answered.
"Wow. And cadet Howe, she's the tiny little brunette, right? Five-foot nothing? Hundred pounds soaking wet?" Nida asked her.
Quistis laughed softly at Nida's disbelief and answered, "Yes. It's even more impressive when you take that into account. But she's quick as a cat, that one. She can hold her own against anyone."
"I've no doubt. Well, maybe if she passes her field exam, we'll see if she's interested in joining the fencing team. The SeeD games are coming up soon and they could always use good people. What kind of swords does she use?" Nida asked.
"Twin sabers, but about a hand shorter than the standard. She says it makes it easier to draw them, though she does sacrifice a bit on reach." Quistis answered, then tilted her head slightly, studying Nida, and asked him, "You know, I've never thought of this, but what kind of sword do you use?"
"Basic longsword." Nida answered, retrieving it and pulling it from the scabbard. The plain, unadorned weapon had a basket hilt to protect the wielder's hand and was roughly a meter long, give or take. It was edged, and razor sharp, on both sides and came down to a sharp point.
"It's nothing special, really, but pretty adaptable. I can use it either with a one-hand or two-hand grip, depending on if I'm cutting, slashing or thrusting." Nida said, stepping back and demonstrating with it.
"It's not as heavy as a gunblade, and has a better balance. It's easier to learn to use too, although mastering its subtleties can take easily as long as mastering the gunblade." Nida explained.
Quistis' mouth had gone dry again, watching as Nida demonstrated the various moves he used with his weapon. The shift and flex of his muscles as he moved was mesmerizing, and the easy grace he displayed while going through the movements was…. elegant. Beautiful even.
She knew that once a weapon was mastered, the user could then display surprising elegance even while using it to deadly purpose. Like Squall with his gunblade, or Quistis with her whip. Lethal grace elevated to high art.
Quistis had no idea that Nida was such an accomplished swordsman that he could carelessly display such beauty.
Nida slid the sword back into its sheath, and Quistis shivered at the quiet hiss, her mind seizing the suggestive imagery and running with it. Then she remembered to breathe, her lungs suddenly feeling starved for air.
Fumbling with the cap on her water bottle, Quistis sucked down the contents, hoping to moisten her dry mouth and cool off.
"It doesn't do as much damage as a gunblade maybe, but it can be just as effective in close quarters." He commented, laying the sword aside.
Quistis nodded, thinking, Yeah. I'll bet. VERY effective. She had to get out of there before she melted…both literally and figuratively. And she needed another goddamned cold shower. Now.
"Well, I uh…. I'd better go. Let you eat your lunch, finish your work…" Quistis said, gesturing vaguely back the way she'd come.
"I'm glad you came down." Nida said softly.
Quistis nodded, stepping backward, saying, "I'll see you…"
"Friday." Nida finished.
"Right. Friday." Quistis confirmed, turning around awkwardly and nearly stumbling into a valve wheel before finding her balance and striding confidently away.
Nida let out a slow breath, watching her walk away, and enjoying every second he could before she disappeared into the steamy darkness.
He nearly jumped when a hand punched his shoulder, and Reya grinned at him, "Don't forget to eat loverboy. You need to keep your strength up." He took the sandwich she offered with a bemused smile.
"Thanks, Reya." He said, turning away to find a place to sit down and finally eat his lunch. Yeah, it was going to be a long week. He couldn't wait until Friday.
