New Seed
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10 February 2015
This is a FFVIII fic by klepto_maniac0. I own no concepts and no characters except the ones you've never heard of, which means they're ones I've made. I freely admit I will take liberties with the FFVIII canon because this is an alternate universe fic. That's why some details are different, some events are ignored, and some people don't exist or act in a different capacity. Ain't fanfic fun?
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The next day there was a buzz in the halls that made Squall lift his head and look around a bit more, a sort of excitement that only came around when strangers came to the Garden or when something really big was going to happen. Squall suspected it was a bit of both and hoped it was the SeeD field test. Usually the last test of a cadet's career, it was the toughest and the deadliest of all tests, with several cadets usually dying with each one; however, once you made it past the test, that was it. You were the elite. You were SeeD.
Squall had never taken the field test before, but it wasn't unusual for cadets to take it once or twice. Seifer had taken it multiple times, three or four depending on if a mission scrapped midway counted. Though Squall didn't particularly like Seifer, that didn't change the fact that Seifer was the only other gunblade specialist in Balamb Garden AND that he had prior experience that might prove useful.
"If nothing else, if I do everything he doesn't, I'll probably pass..."
So in the interest of information, Squall went to Seifer's room that night. He always had the door open.
"Leonhart," said Seifer by way of greeting, leaning back from his computer. It was so casual that Squall almost didn't notice him switch the monitor off. What had he been looking at? Or...drawing? Squall tried not to think about it.
"What can I do for you?" Seifer asked in distinctly unenthusiastic tones.
"I heard there's a field test tomorrow," said Squall.
"Yeah, there might be," said Seifer, his eyes gleaming.
"Wanna train?"
Seifer sat up a bit. "When?"
"The morning."
Seifer looked consideringly at him. "The usual place?"
Squall nodded. They'd learned a long time ago that fighting on the practice ground was not a good way for either of them to get experience, mostly because they kept getting interrupted by instructors who mistook their focus for homicidal intent. After some hunting they'd found a flattish area in the mountains behind the Garden that was surrounded by boulders, and the distance combined with the cover made it perfect for their purposes.
"Okay, sure." Seifer smirked. "It's been a while since I've handed you your ass."
"Don't be so confident," said Squall, folding his arms across his chest. "You've been sitting on yours an awful lot."
"Ha! When was the last time you went through the Training Center, Leonhart?" Seifer laughed as Squall looked away, annoyed. "And you haven't even taken your GF test."
"Damn, I knew I was forgetting something," Squall thought with a grimace. "I'll do it tomorrow. After I kick your ass."
Seifer chuckled. Squall glared at him and then sucked up his pride.
"So... If it is a field test... What are they like?"
"Scared, Leonhart?"
"Cautious."
Seifer smirked at him. But to Squall's surprise, he said, "That's the right attitude to have. Field tests are tough."
"How so?"
Seifer folded his arms across his chest and jerked his head at his computer desk, which confused Squall for a moment until he saw the folding chair underneath it. As Squall unfolded the chair and sat down opposite Seifer, the older boy's expression became serious and for a long time he said nothing, his eyes dark with memory.
"I've taken the test four times," said Seifer, settling the question of whether a half-done mission counted. "And every time it was something different. Let me tell you, Squall; they'll shoot you in the back, they'll cut your head off, they will literally tear you apart, and they're not gonna do it neatly or quickly. The only point of these tests is to see if you survive. So you fucking survive no matter what it takes. Fuck the rules. Survive. I'm not going to be the only gunblade specialist in Balamb, you hear?"
"...yeah," said Squall, surprised. "Are... Are they that bad?"
"They're worse," said Seifer. "People don't drop out after they fail the test because they failed the test, Squall. It's because they don't want to take another one again."
Squall nodded mutely. He got to his feet. "Thanks," he said to Seifer. "See you tomorrow morning. Eight."
"Yeah," said Seifer, leaning back in his chair. "Hey Squall."
"What?"
"You're not gonna get killed by anything that can't kill me. And I'm damn hard to kill."
"What the hell is he talking about?" Squall wondered. "Is he trying to be reassuring?"
"Whatever," said Squall, leaving the room.
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a/n: I figure that large-scale missions suitable to take SeeD candidates on don't happen regularly, so Garden schedules them unpredictably and people take them unpredictably. Hence why Seifer has taken 4 tests since becoming eligible to take them at the age of 15.
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