Standard Disclaimer: FFVIII belongs to Square-Enix, yadda yadda yadda… You know the rest.
One Good Shoulder – Chapter Twelve
The morning light streamed through the window and birds chittered and chirped outside. Raine stretched under the covers and rolled onto her side. She took a deep breath and slowly let it go, enjoying the warmth of the bed and the lack of any need for hurry. Today was the day of the week that the pub was closed and there was nothing pressing to do. The kitchen was in order, Laguna was likely sleeping in, and Ellone... Raine gave a short sigh and pulled the covers off. She needed to check on Ellone. She wasn't expecting trouble, but one could never be sure. She did not find the little girl in her bed or in the rest of the loft, which did not worry her too much. But she had to see that Ellone was not making a mess downstairs.
When she opened the door to go to the ground floor, her nose caught the unmistakable scent of burning grease. Flying down the stairs and skidding around the bar, she braced herself in the kitchen doorjamb. Blue eyes widened and her jaw dropped.
Laguna hastily tossed a newly found lid on top of the flaming cast iron skillet and fanned away the smoke with a towel. At the kitchen table, Ellone was generously spattered with pancake batter as she stirred the pale mixture in a bowl. Eggshells and flour littered the table and there was flour dusting Laguna's hair and clothes. Smears of egg whites streaked the counter. A plate of cooked bacon sat nearby those same smears.
Ellone beamed at Raine, "We're makin' breakfast!"
Laguna jumped around, startled. "Raine! What're you doin' up already?"
"Making sure that my pub isn't going to burn down!" Raine gnarled the fingers of one hand in her disheveled hair. "Why are you doing this?" Her free hand gestured broadly to the disaster zone that was her kitchen.
"I couldn't sleep anymore and I was hungry. Elle let me in, but you were still asleep. I didn't wanna wake you, so I decided to make breakfast for us myself today. You know, return the favor?"
"But you can't cook!"
Laguna waved the statement away. "Aw, c'mon. How hard can it be to mix stuff up and heat it until it's done?" He picked up the plate of extra-crispy bacon. "See! I got this cooked!" Pointing to his bare forearm, he added, "It put up a fight, though. Spat grease at me."
Ellone's voice chirped, "I'm makin' pancakes! We read the box! Uncle Laguna helped me with the hard words."
With a grin, Laguna tousled her hair. "Yep! Elle read a lot of the words herself! Some of them were a little tricky, but we got through 'em."
Raine's hand fell from her hair and she tilted her head. "Ellone's reading?"
"She's starting," Laguna confirmed, "It won't be long before I don't have to help her anymore. Ain't that right, Elle?"
"Right!" Ellone hopped up on the chair she was sitting on. "I'm gonna be a good reader!"
Laguna pushed down on Ellone's head to get her to sit. "Yep! An' then you can read stories to me!"
Dark eyes looked up at him. "But I still want you to read to me, Uncle Laguna."
Leaning on the back of the chair, Laguna hovered over the little girl. "I will! But we can take turns. Maybe you can read to Raine, too. I bet she would like a bedtime story."
Raine's expression softened and she smiled. "I would like that. Would you read to me, Ellone?"
"Yep!" Ellone hopped to standing on the chair again. "I can read to you tonight, Raine!"
Laguna pushed down on Ellone's head again after nearly getting a chinful of dark brown hair. "She likes the story about the flower girl," he told her, "I don't know where that one is, though. I don't think we got to that one yet."
"Before we think of looking for it," Raine began, "We need to take care of breakfast. Let's see what we can salvage. Then Laguna can clean up the mess he made."
Later that morning, Laguna whistled a cheery tune over the sink, his hands submerged in the soapy water. The heavy cast iron skillet needed plenty of work to clean after the grease fire. It would need to be reseasoned after he was done with it, according to Raine. That was not a difficult thing to do. It was almost like polishing his gun. Put oil on soft cloth and rub onto black metal to protect it from rust.
Bits of charcoal floated on in the murky water while Laguna pulled the skillet out to rinse it. Raine poked her head into the kitchen, her expression tense. "Have you seen Ellone?"
He shook his head. "Nope, she hasn't come back in here." Looking up from the sink, he added, "She's not upstairs?"
Now, it was Raine's turn to shake her head. "I looked everywhere. She's not in the pub, either." She slid her pale headband over her hair, pulling the brown tresses away from her face. Brows knitting, she glanced over her shoulder into the pub. "I'm going to go outside and look for her." Crossing the kitchen, she grabbed the stout walking stick that was propped against the wall next to the door. It once was a shovel handle, but it had broken long ago, giving it a pointed end.
"If she's not out in the square, try looking in the house next door," Laguna called out to her as as she left the kitchen. The sound of the door latching signaled Raine's departure.
Laguna dunked the heavy pan under water again to give it another scrub for good measure. Just as he began to rinse it again, he heard Raine's voice frantically scream his name. Vaulting over the bar with dripping skillet in hand, he bolted out of the pub. Following the sound of Raine's voice, he crossed the town square and raced between the houses. Past the mansion on the nearest road out of town, Raine was struggling in the grip of a giant striped hand jutting from the ground. A second hand was clenched closed around its prey. A pair of tiny kicking legs poking into the air was the only things visible beyond the monstrous limb. Still charging, Laguna slammed the iron pan against the hand that trapped Raine. The small woman stabbed the point of her walking stick into the monochrome flesh. The combined jolt shocked the hand into releasing its grip and Raine scrambled out of range. Laguna pointed to the second hand and called out to Raine. "Hit it at the same time! Alright! Let's go!"
Again, Laguna surged forward, using his momentum to give his strike greater power. Raine dashed and lunged as if she was wielding a spear, piercing the disembodied striped hand with her pointed stick. Ellone dropped to the ground, free of the monster. Laguna snatched the little girl up and raced back to the pub with Raine keeping pace beside him.
The pub's door clicked closed and Laguna dropped into a chair with Ellone still under one arm. Setting the pan aside on the table, he pulled the crying girl onto his lap. She clutched at his shirt, pressing her face into his shoulder. He felt the warm wetness of tears and snot seep through the fabric. Holding her close, he let her cry out her fear. Raine knelt beside them and ran her fingers through Ellone's short hair while she checked the child for injury. "Are you okay? Are you all right?"
Ellone simply blubbered into Laguna's shirt, muffling her sobbed words. Seeing no significant injury, Raine sighed some relief. "Why did you go outside, Ellone?"
This time, the response was more coherent. "I wanted to go to Isa's..." Wet brown eyes glanced away from damp fabric. "I found her bracelet."
"But you know you're not supposed to go outside without an adult with you," reminded Raine.
Laguna gently tousled Ellone's hair. "Monsters like that are why you can't go out without a grown-up. That monster was gonna suck all your blood out an' eat you!" When Ellone's tears ran fresh, he hastily added, "But you just call for me and I'll come rescue you! Okay? Raine called for me and I came running!"
This seemed to comfort the child and she nodded, still clutching onto his shirt. Raine stood and brushed herself off. "Let's go upstairs," she said, leading the way. Laguna gathered Ellone in his arms and followed.
Once Ellone was on her bed and her favorite stuffed toy, a well-loved moogle, was in her arms, Laguna returned to the stairway. Raine called out to him, "Where are you going?"
"I'm gonna get my gun," he replied over the sound of his boots thudding down the steps.
Raine did not want to leave Ellone alone, but she had a hunch about what soldier was up to. "Wait here," she told her charge, "I'm going to go with Laguna. We'll be right next door."
Inside the house next door, Laguna unlocked the cabinet and brought out his weapon. Instinct and habit guided his hands as he loaded the magazine. Raine stopped in the doorway. "You're not going to hunt that thing alone," she told him.
"I don't want to, but I will if I have to," he replied as he grabbed a long swingline and coiled it. "I'm going to talk to the soldiers stationed here. See if I can get them to do their job. They're supposed to protect this town." His brows drew together and his jaw set, while he picked up a pair of grenades and stowed them in his pockets. "They abandoned their duty. They just sat on their asses while you and Elle were in trouble!" He thrust a finger in the direction of the mansion and continued, "And they're still there, doing nothing!" Slinging his machine gun over his shoulder, he approached the doorway that Raine still blocked. "If they don't do something about this, then I will. First, that monster is going down. Then, I'll write a letter to their superior officer in Deling and let them know what's going on. I may have been called a reject during my time in the army, but at least I did my job."
Raine still stood in the doorway. "I'm going with you, no matter the outcome." Before he could protest about her going monster hunting with him if the soldiers brushed him off, she added, "This is my town, my home, and I was attacked. I have my duty too."
Laguna considered this for a moment, and then gave a short nod. "Alright. Let's go."
Inside the mansion at the end of the town square, the red-garbed commanding officer raised a brow at the long-haired man's complaint. "Our duty," the officer replied, "Is not to protect this town from monsters. Our duty is to protect Galbadia from Esthar. We're undermanned and undersupplied in this nowhere village as it is. Do you honestly expect me to waste man-hours and ammunition on sport?"
Laguna jerked. "Sport? You think that protecting people is a game? Man, are you out of touch. If something isn't done to curb the monster migration, there might not be a town to be stationed at!"
"Fine by me," was the captain's flippant answer, "Then my men and I can go somewhere more significant than this backwater hole with a name."
The stomp of Raine's foot on the wooden floor rang off of the walls. "I can't believe this! This is my home! It's not much, but I can't imagine being anywhere else. You would let everyone who lives here lose their homes, if not their lives? You should be dragged out into the street and shot!"
The captain leaned over his desk. "By who? Your washout boyfriend? I doubt he has it in him to shoot a man. He seems to prefer game." Laguna's expression darkened and the leather of his gloves creaked as his fists clenched. The officer continued without pause. "Now, you listen. If any of my men disobey any of my orders, if any of my men act out of line, they lose a month's pay and are additionally disciplined accordingly. I hope my message is clear."
Before Raine could retort, Laguna spoke in a low tone. "Perfectly. I'm sorry we wasted our time." Placing a hand on her shoulder, Laguna guided Raine out of the mansion and towards the pub. "You got a better weapon than a pointy stick?"
Raine nodded as she opened the door. "Why didn't you tell him off?"
"It's not worth it," Laguna answered, "There's other ways to fight that battle. We have bigger eels to fry."
That last made Raine pause. "Don't you mean fish? Fish to fry?"
"Whatever! Does it matter?"
"I suppose not." Raine started to climb the stairs, "I'll be back down in a minute."
When she returned, she had Ellone in tow and what looked to be a short sword resting against her shoulder. At closer inspection, Laguna's eyes flew wide. "Whoa! That's one antique gunblade! Does it still work? Can I see it?"
Raine handed the weapon to him. "It was my father's and, before that, my grandfather's. The gun part doesn't work anymore, though."
Laguna inspected the old gunblade, wrapping his hand around the polished wood handle. It was a design from the days when the gunblade was nothing more than a very long revolver with a glorified bayonet. Far smaller than its modern descendants, its blade was affixed down the entire length of the wood-braced barrel before jutting out another barrel length. Spots of rust marred the metal and Laguna could verify that the action of the gun was damaged. "Oh man... Pretty sorry shape. I could fix it up if you want me to, though. The blade's still got a decent edge, at least." He handed the weapon back to her. "So, do you know how to use it?"
"My dad showed me a few things before he died, but no, not really. Hit the monster with the sharp end is all I really understand."
"Eh... Good enough. I'll cover you if things get too hot." He glanced at Ellone. "So, what's Elle gonna do?"
"We're taking her to Amelia's before we tackle the monster," Raine explained, "I don't want to leave her here alone for much longer."
"Cool."
As they walked away from Amelia's house after dropping Ellone off, Raine snickered. "I haven't seen Amelia's eyes bug out that much in a long time. I think your gun shocked her."
"Ah, this is nothing. You should see the truck mounted ones. Those are cool."
"How are we going to find the monster?"
"We'll track it down. It won't be too far away."
Together, they searched along the road and between houses before venturing the outlaying pastures and orchards outside of town. Passing under flowering cherry trees, Raine finally spoke. "You have shot at men, haven't you?"
Laguna nodded and his voice was quiet. "And killed. Yeah."
"Why didn't you correct him?"
"The red bull? No point. I didn't wanna get into it." He sighed and brushed a fallen pale petal off of his face. "I don't find any glory or pride in keeping a tally. Those guys who were on the other side of my barrel, they could have been like me with nowhere to go and no one to miss 'em. Or, they could have had a wife and kids and family that would hurt with him gone. What happens to our side happens on the other, too, I'm sure. But when it comes down to it, I gotta make a choice." He paused under the gentle snowfall from the trees. "It's nothing to gloat about."
Raine shook her hair free of petals. "Aren't soldiers trained to see their enemies as not human?"
A wry grin came to Laguna's lips. "I'm not exactly the model soldier."
She glanced at the dark hair that reached the disks on the back of his jacket and returned the smile. Suddenly, his stance lowered and his gun aimed in front of him. Her gaze searched the orchard for whatever caught his attention. "What is it?"
"I think we're on the right trail this time," he murmured, "I see finger tracks." He pointed with the barrel of his gun to the scrape marks along the orchard floor. They were fresh; the petals falling from the trees had yet to cover them.
Gripping her heirloom weapon in both hands, Raine followed Laguna on the trail. His gait was slow and smooth, stalking his prey with quiet steps. Pale pink drops from the trees slid off of the black metal, continuing their journey to the ground. Sharply focused eyes scanned his surroundings. Raine tried to imitate his gait, but for once, she felt like she was the awkward one. His pace picked up to a lope, following the trail with easy speed.
Abruptly stopping, Laguna raised his gun and fired a series of staccato bursts. One striped hand under a tree shuddered and turned. Laguna aimed again. "I see Lefty! Where's Righty?"
Raine scanned the trees, "I don't know. I don't see it." She recalled her last experience with Righty and put her back facing Laguna's. "I'll keep an eye out for it so we don't get ambushed."
"Cool." He fired again, trying to take down the disembodied hand before it started casting magic. He had a feeling that the faeries weren't going to help anytime soon. Now was a time that he wished he had a package of Silence Powder to tie around a grenade.
A yelp from Raine behind him turned him around. She was slashing at Righty, who had jumped her from the tree above. Laguna couldn't fire at Righty from point blank without risking the bullet passing through the monster and hitting Raine. Instead, he beat at the creature with the body of his gun. Raine cut deeply the flesh between its thumb and palm, inspiring it to release her. The hand skittered away to join its mate. The wrists attached themselves to the ground and the earth shivered. From the ground, the striped face of a Vysage emerged.
Laguna lifted Raine to her feet. "No way!" He raised his weapon to ready and called out to the air. "Anytime would be cool, faeries!" He fired a few more rounds at Lefty.
Raine's voice reached his ears. "You already damaged Lefty. Let's get closer, so we can finish it off. Cover me!"
When she was close enough, Raine leaped forward and slashed at the hand. Righty made another grab for her, but Laguna intercepted with hot lead. Raine continued to hack away at Lefty, while Laguna kept Vysage and Righty busy. The giant left hand made arcane gestures into the air and the ground cracked beneath the feet of the hunters. Laguna barely had enough time to cry out a warning to Raine before he was knocked off of his feet by the Quake. Raine was slammed into a tree and she crumpled to the ground with the breath knocked out of her. Laguna scrambled to regain his footing and began firing at Lefty, hoping he could finish the job. Righty pounced on the opportunity and grabbed Laguna, squeezing him until his ribs creaked and thrashing him violently. When Laguna was finally slammed onto the earth, he staggered back to his feet. Raine was bracing herself against the tree, trying to regain her composure as quickly as possible. The Vysage opened its mouth and sighed, striking Raine and Laguna with a noxious mist. Raine dropped to the ground again and Laguna was forced to kneel.
Gathering his strength, Laguna stood. He pulled a grenade from his pocket, pulled the pin out with his teeth, and tossed it at the monsters. Casting the swingline into the trees, he jumped onto the rope and held down the trigger of his gun. A steady stream of bullets perforated the creatures and brass shells littered the ground, intermingled with fallen flowers. After a few seconds, he dived off of the line and turned his back to the exploding grenade. Lefty curled in on itself and collapsed. Another few rounds from Laguna's machine gun and Righty quickly followed. Raine climbed back to her feet and charged the remaining Vysage, antique gunblade gripped in both hands. She hacked and slashed at the monster in a furious barrage. Diving away, she cleared Laguna's firing line and he pulled the trigger again. The giant face opened its mouth in a silent cry before sinking into the earth, silent.
With the monsters defeated, Laguna jumped into the air and pumped his gun over his head in victory. Raine rested the old gunblade on her shoulder and turned to face him with a tired smile. "We did it!"
Laguna let himself fall backwards onto the thick carpet of petals shaken from the trees during the earthquake. Raine soon joined him, letting herself catch her breath. Turning his head towards her, Laguna grinned. "You did pretty good. The G-Army should look into recruiting women like you!"
"Thanks. I think."
"No, seriously! Man, too bad you can't come with me on the road. I could use someone at my back."
"But the wench has a pub and a little girl to look after, so she can't run away with the gypsy."
"Why not? Then you could keep Elle! We could go to Balamb, or Centra, or even Trabia, if we wanted. I could write articles and we could sell stuff from the monsters we kill." He hauled himself to his feet and he strode to the fallen monsters. "That reminds me... Did they drop anything good?" There were just a dozen of M-stone pieces to be collected. "Hrm. Not much, but they'll still get about sixty gil for the lot."
Raine stood and brushed herself off. "I don't want to kidnap Ellone, Laguna. I would like to get by in life without a police record. Besides, what would I do about the pub? Or Ellone's house? Who will take care of them?"
"Oh... Yeah." Laguna followed Raine back towards the town. As they walked, an idea came to mind. "Hey, Raine," he ventured, "Would you mind if I took time off from the pub to patrol the town for monsters? Maybe I can keep the worst of it down. I can use what I get off of the monsters to buy more ammo and stuff."
Raine shrugged, "It sounds fine to me. Just don't get yourself hurt doing it."
Laguna grinned and saluted her. "Yes, sir, commander, sir!"
Rolling her eyes, Raine continued walking to Winhill. She had Ellone to pick up and lunch to make.
