Disclaimer: We do not own Final Fantasy VIII/8 or any of the copyrighted stuff.

A/N:

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4. – Reneey Trains?

"It's much more interesting when Lynni drives," Reneey commented as they got out of the car.

"If by 'interesting' you mean 'death-defying,' I would have to agree," Quistis said with a chuckle.

"Hey, I'm a perfectly –"

"Good driver; yes, you've said," Quistis interrupted, still smiling. "Come on, let's get to the training center."

"I am kinda itching to try these out," Lyn agreed, twirling the sai around her hands. "They're lighter than I'm used to but they feel stronger, too."

"Good weaponsmiths are hard to find but we do have an excellent one," Quistis agreed.

"Um, y'all do remember that I don't know how to fight, right?" Reneey pointed out.

"I ain't gonna let nothing kill you," Lyn said, rolling her eyes. "Don't you trust me?"

"Well, yeah, but I don't trust monsters."

Quistis smiled. "They're dangerous, yes, but not very smart. You'll do fine. And if you don't feel confident enough or feel that you're in over our head, just ask me or Lyn to step in."

Instantly, Reneey said, "Lyn, will you step in?"

Lyn rolled her eyes. "You have to at least try!"

"But I don't know how to fight!"

"Look, you're not gonna get hurt," Lyn said with a sigh. "She just needs to see what kind of talent you have so she knows how to train you."

"You're very intuitive," Quistis observed.

Lyn shrugged. "I did the same thing when I taught people to spar in tournaments."

"Ah, then very experienced," Quistis corrected.

"Eh, I'm alright, I guess," Lyn said. "I won my fair share of trophies."

Quistis frowned. "If you don't mind me asking… If you had a home and cousins and won trophies in tournaments… How did you end up here? The headmaster just said that you two were orphans and had nowhere else to go."

"It's kind of a long story," Lyn said slowly.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Quistis apologized, suspecting it was something she didn't want to talk about. "I probably shouldn't have asked."

"No, feel free to ask the headmaster," Lyn said. "I'm just not sure if he would want me to say. He'll tell you if he thinks it's okay, though."

"Mm," was all Quistis said but they came into the training center then anyway so it didn't matter much.

"So what exactly do I do?" Reneey asked, looking uncertain.

Lyn rolled her eyes. "You hit it with the stick. It's not that hard." She looked at Quistis. "Do we have time for me to teach her a few basic strikes before we get started?"

"By all means," Quistis said with a raised eyebrow, taking a step back. This would be a good gauge of Lyn's ability, too.

And so Lyn proceeded to teach Reneey a sliding thrust gouge, forward thrust, up strike, down strike, and whack her friend upside the head repeatedly for laughing at the word 'thrust.' Quistis watched curiously, a little surprised by how knowledgeable this new recruit seemed. It wasn't often that there was a student who could teach Quistis something but this just might have been one of those occasions.

"Alright," Quistis said at last. "We'll go looking for some low-level monsters for you two. But if we run into a large dinosaur, I want you both to stand down. You're not ready for that yet."

Reneey agreed quickly, suddenly hoping that there would be lots of dinosaurs running around. Lyn simply nodded her agreeance; she didn't have any sleep magic or anything to junction it with anyway so it would be pointless to disagree.

Fortunately, only a few feet in, a couple of Grats attacked from behind a tree so there was no need to go walking around looking for an enemy. Well, Reneey was somewhat disappointed – and more than a little nervous, though of course she wouldn't admit that.

"Ew! What the heck is this thing?!" Reneey demanded.

"It's a Grat," Quistis informed her. "Don't worry, it's a low-level monster; you can take it."

"Don't freeze up," Lyn counseled as she shot forward, dodging Grat feelers and stabbing the longest point of each sai into the creature before dashing to the side to avoid a crushing blow.

"Y-yeah," Reneey said slowly, then yelped as the other Grat lashed out at her and started swinging the bo erratically. She did succeed in knocking its feelers out of the way but also in nearly clubbing Lyn in the head as the older girl dodged in that direction.

"Watch where you're swinging that thing – it's not a baseball bat!" Lyn hissed as she pinned two of the Grat's feelers to the ground with one sai and stabbed with the other.

Finally, after defeating her own Grat, Lyn had to help Reneey with the second one while trying to dodge the random swings of the staff. Reneey did get in a few good hits but in general she merely swung the weapon and hoped it hit home and not her friend.

Quistis watched all of this with the eye of an evaluation. Lyn hadn't been lying; she had been trained well and she did have a natural ability to fight. Quistis hadn't seen many first-time fights like this one. In fact, the first time most girls fought a monster for the kill, they screamed or fainted or freaked out like Reneey had. She was definitely impressed with Lyn's performance. With a little instruction on guardian forces, she might even be ready for the graduation exam later that month.

The other girl, though…

It wasn't necessarily that Reneey didn't have the aptitude or even the ability to fight. Quistis was certain that, with the proper training, the girl could be a formidable fighter. The problem seemed to be the will to do so, and she wasn't certain the fifteen-year-old had that yet.

"Impressive," Quistis said with a nod and a smile. "Very impressive. Alright, it's nearly curfew so let me show you to your rooms. You remember where my classroom is, correct? You will be expected there at 9 am on Monday."

"Got it," Lyn said, nodding.

Reneey blinked. "9 am? Damn! I had to be there at 7 at my old school!"

"And curfew is at 9 pm," Quistis added.

"… Yeah… I can't go to bed at 9 pm," Reneey said slowly.

"You don't have to go to bed; just be either in your room or in the training center. Everywhere else is closed after that time."

"… My room it is," Reneey said with a sigh. "Which one is it?"

"The student dorms are this way," Quistis said, pointing down one corridor. "The two of you will be sharing a room."

"Yes, the headmaster already told me," Lyn said, nodding.

"Good," Quistis said. "Something tells me you'll be the one responsible for making sure she gets to class, then."

Lyn chuckled. "Well, that won't be anything new."

"It may be something new that I will hold you responsible if she doesn't."

Lyn groaned. "You hear that, Rea? You lay out of class and I get into trouble."

"Like you ever get in trouble," Reneey said, rolling her eyes. "You're the perfect attendance straight-A student and everything."

"You should try it sometime," Lyn shot back.

"This is your room," Quistis interrupted, pointing. "Can you remember the number?"

"I will," Lyn said with a chuckle. "I'll just have to not let Reneey go anywhere by herself for a few months until she can remember it."

"Months?" Reneey asked, snickering. "Try years."