Squall hated waiting, he really did. Yet that is what he did most of his worthless time here. Currently, he was exhibiting immense self-control by restraining himself from bashing his head into a wall, multiple times, until unconscious. 'Patiently' waiting outside of the Master's interrogation room while He and Shadow discussed the proposition at hand was quiet boring. Not to mention the stares he got. He had been standing there for hours, and people were definitely starting to get suspicious. He had already missed breakfast.
There was one guard who managed to walk by every fifteen minutes as if waiting for Squall to do something wrong so he could hit him. Honestly, didn't the guy have better things to do?
"Hey you. The prisoner with the scar on his face. What are you doing here?" The stalker man asked.
'Finally something to do." Squall thought when he raised his head to meet his questioner's stare.
"I'm waiting." He stated in a bored matter.
"Smart mouth for something completely useless." He sneered, "Why don't you put that to better use." He spat with a laugh.
Meanwhile, Shadow listened through the door, having just finished speaking with the Master. He was interested as to how Squall would react.
"Fuck off." Come the bored reply. 'Well, at least now I know why he was stalking me.'
"Oh, I plan too," Come the cocky response. "Are you new here? 'Cause I'm gonna enjoy beating some manners into you." The guard took a step forward, his predatory eyes locked on Squall.
"Oh, I've been here a while. Trust me when I say that you don't want to mess with me." Squall glared at the approaching man with venom.
Shadow chose this time to intervene. Both figures looked over, one with fear, the other with expectance. "Hands off my pet." Shadow spoke with a deadly glare.
The now deeply frightened guard sprinted down the halls trying to get away with his life from the Master's number one assassin.
"We have come to a decision, Squall" Shadow started evenly. "You may join Dragshire and Cloud for speed and endurance training after lunch in the gym.
Squall was surprised for a moment, then his eyes narrowed in suspicion "What's the catch?"
"No catch," Shadow said with a tired expression. "But your training will be changing to fit more… difficult circumstances.
"What do you mean?" Squall countered.
"The Master," Shadow started, "wishes for you to become his servant, a guard, an assassin." Shadow's expression became a clearly strained one.
"Why?" Squall's eyes widened in confusion.
"Your power, which is why I was wary to use such a skill in the test. He wants it. I was afraid of this. I knew this day would come." Shadow's eyes darkened with remorse.
"No." Came the simple answer.
"Squall, this is not a choice. We can't be together forever, you know this. The answer is yes or death." Shadow reasoned.
"So be it." Squall's eyes hardened. "It has been to prolonged to much for my liking already."
The two were now debating walking down the corridor to Shadow's chambers. "Squall, please, listen to me." Shadow was begging at this point. "At least we could still be close. I would train you for the position. We would still have contact with each other. It will take time to prepare anyways. You may reconsider at a different time. But just go through with it for now. Please?"
"No." Squall stated, "I've spent the last two years of my life waiting for my death, and you expect me to put others through this as well?" Anger rose within him at the thought.
"You could spend at least a year before you got to that stage. Then you could decide to throw your life away. Just a little longer… for me?" Shadow asked, his eyes pleading.
"I couldn't," Squall looked away, unable to hold his gaze when Shadow gave him that look. Squall could barley contain his emotions.
"Please, just try…" Shadow whispered as he rapped Squall in a tight embrace.
Squall placed his head in the crook of Shadow's neck as if seeking an answer in the man's scent.
The truth was that Shadow did love Squall. But he could never express such a forbidden emotion. He knew that his pet's heart belonged to another. He also knew that was why his pet was here and that tore him apart with anger and grief.
"Alright," Squall said in an almost inaudible voice. "But don't expect me to actually go through with it."
Shadow felt every ounce of tension leave his body at his pet's surrender. He pulled away then quickly closed the gap with a grateful kiss.
Squall melted into the kiss, loving the sensation he got from it. Sometime during the conversation they arrived at Shadow's bedroom chambers. Shadow pressed Squall up against the door and ran his tongue along Squall's bottom lip. Squall opened his mouth expectantly, needing to taste more of Shadow's sin.
The kiss lasted for a while before the two broke apart, and laid down on the bed, arms tangled around one another in a desperate need for touch. Squall laid his head down on his master's chest, listening to his heartbeat in a calmed state. Squall was in a trance-like state of restfulness, half-awake, half-asleep. They stayed like that for a long while, just enjoying the other's company, a rare experience.
"Squall," Shadow said softly.
"Mhmm…" Came the sleepy reply.
"It's time for lunch. Come on, get up, you're eating in the cafeteria as always." Shadow spoke louder in an attempt to rose the other for his slumber.
Squall nuzzled closer to the other for a second; enjoying the rare warmth the other was emitting, before sitting up and stretching. 'No chains feels like heaven.' He thought. He let a happy grin fall into the usually somber face before it vanished completely.
Shadow, seeing the other's expression, put on an elegant smile of his own. Both moods had improved greatly. Shadow was worried Squall had formed some sort of resentment for pushing the matter of his training. He slung an arm around Squall's shoulders and led him out of the room and toward the cafeteria.
"Remember, to the gym directly after lunch." Shadow whispered into his ear. "Come back to me after that and we'll eat dinner together."
"Whatever," Squall replied in an emotionless voice. However, the raised eyebrow showed Shadow that he was curious as to what the other was planning.
Squall walked into the cafeteria expecting the normal. He was badly mistaken. As soon as the door opened dead silence immediately followed. 'Brilliant, fucking brilliant. They all know.' He growled in his head. 'God damn it.' He shot a glare at a particularly awed group.
He turned around; all of a sudden he wasn't to hungry, despite missing breakfast. That's what not eating on a regular basis did to you. He pulled open the door to find Dragshire standing casually there with a tense Cloud. 'Oh boy, not good' He grimaced.
Dragshire looked at him, his expression, and then noted the dead silence behind him. Cloud looked over Dragshire's shoulder, and noticed the same things and blinked. 'That's weird,' He thought.
Squall strode quickly out of the cafeteria hoping to just wait in the gym. However, fate was not so kind today. A hand shot out and grabbed Squall's arm just before his intended departure.
"Squall, please accompany Cloud to lunch, it would be appreciated." Dragshire spoke in a firm voice.
'If it wasn't Dragshire…' Squall gave it a fleeting thought before turning to face what, with how he was acting, appeared to be death row. He let out a sigh and turned to back around. Eyes closed he stalked across the cafeteria and could hear Cloud's footsteps behind him.
Complete silence, 'what the hell? Couldn't they keep their eyes to themselves for once in their pathetic existence as humans?' Apparently, Cloud felt the same way.
"What the hell are you staring at? We aren't a freak show!" He shouted. The eyes immediately vanished. However, the talking did not resume.
They proceeded to get their food, and then Squall muttered "Come on, I know of a place where we can eat." He walked out of the café, and Cloud followed, assuming that Squall knew what he was doing.
They went down to the infirmary. Cloud was a little confused, but stayed quiet, so Squall didn't bother to explain. As they walked through the door, Yuna immediately greeted them.
"Squall, Cloud, how nice to see you not gushing blood." She laughed lightly at her own joke. "I can imagine why you're here. Café not too friendly huh? Well help yourselves to a table and enjoy!" With that she disappeared behind the back door, leaving the two alone.
"Chipper one, isn't she?" Cloud said. A low grunt came as his reply. They sat down and 'enjoyed' a lunch with no spectators.
"So…" Cloud started, hating the silence. "Do you know what's going on? You know, with the helping with my training and everything." Squall shot him a look.
"Yes." Came the short reply.
"Are you going to explain it to me?" The question.
"No." The answer.
"Why?" Came from a slightly irritated Cloud.
"Because." Squall answered in a bored manner.
"Because why?" Cloud was getting angry.
"Because I am not sure I am allowed to divulge the information to parties outside of immediate confrontation." Squall answered back heatedly.
Cloud lowered his eyes shamefully, "You should have said that the first time."
"Whatever," came the controlled reply. They continued eating in silence.
"So are you going to be hard on me or what?" Squall's eyebrow twitched at the continued interruptions of silence. Being a prisoner for two years made you enjoy times that were not full of screams.
"If you keep this up, maybe." Squall replied.
"I'm sorry okay! I'm just a little nervous. Not only is it only my second week here, but also all of a sudden I have a person, who I thought was my friend, planning to beat me up in less than an hour. You'd be nervous too." Cloud blurted out.
"First, don't make friends here because they will die. Probably in front of your face because people here like public executions. Second, I don't know what you consider difficult; all I know is Shadow, and Shadow's difficult was yesterday. Third, I've never trained anybody in my life so I cannot possibly pass judgment." Squall explained with barley-controlled anger.
"Oh…" Cloud seemed a little embarrassed, and shut up for the rest of the time, much to Squall's delight.
After 'lunch' (he used the term lightly, because he wasn't so sure it could be considered a meal) the two headed down to the gym.
Squall opened the door with one arm, and then looked straight ahead to the center of the gym, where Dragshire was standing with a cold expression on his face. This was the expression he wore for sessions.
Squall walked to the center, in front of Dragshire, did a standing bow (he did not know if this was necessary, better to be safe than sorry, especially in this case) and stood at his side, wearing the same expression.
Cloud approached the two cautiously, preformed an awkward kneeling bow, and stood at attention. Dragshire took this time to circle Cloud observing the growth of mussel mass and the decrease in body fat, unhealthily so. Cloud had seemingly passed the inspection and felt a small amount of tension leave his body.
It was Squall's turn. He really didn't want to do this. He really didn't want to do this. 'Let's get this started' he thought grimly.
"Dragshire, what will Cloud be performing today?" He asked in a professional voice.
"Why don't we start off small hmm? Let's start with sword handling basics. I'm sure you know those quite well." Dragshire said over his shoulder as he walked to the edge of the crudely marked sidelines. He then took a seat. As if thinking about it more he added "The Buster Sword will do."
Squall nodded to himself, and headed over to a cabinet where he knew the weapons would be located. The door unlocked, and he helped himself to two Buster Swords. Being familiar with all sword handling, he mentally drew out a plan for how this was going to go.
He tossed one to Cloud while shouting directions. "Do not overcompensate for its weight. It will be punished. Use the rotation of your body to give more power to your swings, and never let your guard down." Apparently he felt this was warning enough, as he charged with incredible speed at his opponent.
Stunned Cloud only managed to feebly put up his own sword as a counter. Overburdened with greater strength and speed, Cloud could not manage to hold his own sword as it flew across the arena and impaled into the wall. He let out a cry as he felt his arm being ripped out of its socket by the force of the blow.
Squall frowned with displeasure. He might not want to do this, but he wasn't going to do it half-assed and be punished for it. He'd rather die than continue suffering the way he has. And so, with little regret, he grabbed Cloud's arm non-too gently and popped it back in. Wincing as he heard another strangled scream.
"Go get the sword, strap it to your back, than sprint around the gym, because you obviously need to improve your speed." Cloud looked shakily up at him with fear in his eyes, and then quickly did as he was told. Squall took the time to glance over at Dragshire's approving gaze, and tried not to shiver in disgust at himself.
As the training went on, Cloud picked things up rather quickly. And he only collapsed four times. Finally, as they were about to start another dual, Dragshire stepped in.
"Alright Squall, I believe that's enough for a day. You did well. I will review your performance with Shadow. I will alert him of our next session, where you will pick up where you left off with his sword training. You are free to leave." Dragshire walked calmly into the center of the gym, where they were standing.
"Yes sir." Squall bowed, then headed for the exit. He didn't look back, not wanting to see Cloud in the state of exhaustion he had put him in.
On the way back to Shadow's chambers, he had time to think. This was never a good thing in Squall's case, and today was not an exception. The look of fear in Cloud's eyes as he told him his punishment kept on being replayed in his head. If this is what being a guard meant then he wasn't sure if he even wanted to be trained for the position.
His footsteps echoed down the empty hall, now nears his master's chambers. His thoughts traveled deeper, to when the pain in Cloud's eyes had once mirrored his own.
Flashback
"Hey Leon! You won't guess who I'm meeting tomorrow!" Sora cried as he burst through the shop's doors. Sora had been working at Leon's store, Headlines, which sold weaponry, for a couple of years now.
"Let me guess, your mystery boyfriend?" Leon eyes glanced over to Sora from the counter with a lazy expression. Sora had been talking to this kid named Riku online for two months. Leon thought it was a bad idea, but that didn't stop Sora. Riku lived overseas, but he was going to meet Sora, he swore with every fiber of his heart. Or some other sappy love quote.
"Yup! His Dad's flying over here for a business trip, and he convinced his father to let him come along! Oh Leon, I'm so excited!" Leon couldn't help the smile that tugged on his lips as he saw Sora's excited expression.
"And where are you going to meet your prince charming?" Leon inquired with a teasing voice.
"Hey Leon! Stop that, it's nothing like that I swear! I've been talking to this guy for months, and I really like him. Now I finally get to meet him!" Sora pouted at him.
'That look. God, I really am whipped' Leon thought with a grimace.
"Then what are you still doing here? You need to prepare." Leon told him with a smirk.
Sora's eyes widened. "Oh yeah! But wait, I have to work." His shoulders sagged just a tiny bit.
"Don't worry about it," He leaned over as if to whisper, "I'll cover for you if the boss asks for you."
Sora laughed out loud, "Leon you dummy, you are the boss."
Leon pretended to be surprised. "Oh yeah! Right, now you just hurry up and get out of here before I change my mind."
Sora's smile brightened, "Thanks a bunch Leon, I owe you one!" He called over his shoulder as he ran out the door.
Leon sighed. That would be the millionth and one thing Sora owed him. But that's all right, as long as Sora's happy, he's happy.
End Flashback
A door swung out in front of him bringing him out of his thoughts, as he had to dodge the object that was obviously trying to damage his nose. He glared at the said object before turning to face whomever had opened the evil door.
A low ranking guard stood slumped against the doorway as he lazily looked over at Squall. He stumbled a bit before standing up straight; he was obviously drunk.
"Oh, hey there boy, watch where you're going eh?" the man slurred.
Squall wrinkled his nose in disgust, as the man's putrid stench washed over him. "Why don't you watch yourself, idiot."
"What'd you say? I'll teach you some manners boy!" Others in the room, it was some kind of break room, looked up at the man's loud voice.
Three more men filed out of the room as they prepared to watch their friend 'beat some manners into him'.
"Hey Roy, give us a show, hm?" One of the three men proclaimed. They formed a circle around Squall.
Squall used the time they were joking around to take in the surroundings. He was about 250 meters from where Shadow's bedchambers were. He didn't noticeably take a defensive stance, but he prepared himself. He was not going to let this pathetic excuse for a guard damage his pride.
The drunken guard wildly swung out with his fist in a right hook. Squall easily dodged by leaning backwards. Squall shifted his body weight forward and kneed the guy in the gut.
Already nauseas from the alcohol, that little encouragement was enough for the guard to bend over and release his stomach contents all over one of the three men.
"Oh gross man!"
"Disgusting! Oh god, I might puke."
The excessively drunk man then collapsed on top of the man he threw up on.
"Oh ugh! Get him OFF!" Over all they making quiet a bit of commotion.
Squall looked up to find a very bemused Shadow watching from down the hall. Shadow caught his eye and nodded. Squall was about to go to him when an arm caught his shoulder.
"Hey! Where the hell do you think you're going? Not only did you cause Roy to throw up all over Trav, but also you attacked a guard, a crime that is punishable by death. So what the hell do you plan on doing about that, huh? If you beg hard enough, I might just let you get away with being my servant for a year or two, but that's just cause your pretty, alright?" On of the three men said. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that this guy was a rank higher the one he just fought.
"How about I walk away right now, forget this ever happened, and spare your life?" Squall retorted with a dark look.
"I'm afraid I can't do that, and you have no authority to threaten me." The officer sneered.
The next thing the man knew he was on the ground and his stomach hurt like hell. Damn, his vision was failing. He looked up to the strange prisoner to find him speaking calmly with Master's right hand man.
The last of the three men stared down at his Lieutenant, 'No one is strong enough to take down Lieutenant, except for captain, and so quickly as well. I must report this.' With that thought he sprinted down the hallway to where his captain was.
"So, you even had time for a cool down, eh?" Shadow chuckled richly. "You never do fail to amuse me."
"I'm glad I could be of service." Squall deadpanned.
"Ah, well you know that the third guy ran to tell his captain you know?" Shadow raised a suggestive eyebrow. "So what are you going to do when he brings it up to you?" Neither of the two men was unused to Squall's violent behavior. But Shadow had always gotten him out of it before.
"Laugh?" Squall bit out the rhetorical question.
Shadow sighed, "Squall, you can't expect me to back you up forever you know. You're training to become a guard, it is time you take responsibilities for your own actions."
Squall's eyes flashed. "I told you, I would never become a guard."
"Even so," Shadow reasoned, "you should learn to take matters into your own hands. There will be a trail. I will be there but you will be defending yourself. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes sir," Squall's head bowed in more of exhaustion than anything.
"Good, now off to dinner you go." Shadow proclaimed, the easy grin back in place.
OK, how was that. You don't have to tell me I know I know. WHY HAVEN'T YOU UPDATED!!!!!!! There I said it for you, but I warned you in the begining that there were not going to be fast updates. This is what I meant. Writing is only second priority. Everything else comes first, so its basically my last priority... .
Well in anycase, I hope you enjoyed it enough to review becasue it's heartworming to think that people take time out of their day to not only read my story but take the time to tell me how they felt about it, sappy i know but it's nice. I know I don't do it very often, so I love it when people do it for me!
Selfish i know...
REVIEW!!!!!
