Ok so this chapter takes place over the course of two days.
Read and review people.
Chapter 14 – Heading to Shumi Village
Skippy jumped off the helicopter and waved his thanks to the driver. He was on yet another mission. At first it was just suppose to be for the one-off photos taken for the stories in the newspapers. Now he was making his way to Shumi Village on hearing the young Caraway was headed there.
Of course he had his reasons; he needed to carry out these orders if he wanted to make it big. The only way to make it big, however, was getting into Esthar. He was already unwelcome in Galbadia after the fake photos he produced of Vinzer Deling and a mistress. He had gotten in quite a lot of trouble for that, but this job was easier; it was planned properly. If he carried out the instructions properly, then everything would work out in his favour, and then he'd be given his leave.
He'd make to Esthar, it was heavy price to pay… but he wasn't paying, young Caraway was.
The ice cold air hit Rinoa's face like razors slicing against her cheeks. Her face looked like a pallet of white snowy skin against her rosey cheeks and Rudolf red nose. Any colder and she guessed she would catch a pneumonia . She clung to her parker as the breezy air swarmed around her, blowing her open hair in all directions and letting it cascade down her face.
The class had begun following the teacher's instructions and made their way towards the large glass dome building. It looked like a greenhouse from the outside. Once inside Rinoa found it surprising that it was quite warm compared to the cold climate she had just experienced a second ago. She brushed back her hair and looked around, a path lead up to some stairs and an elevator door could be seen inviting guests upstairs.
The teacher asked for the students to divide into groups of 6, each with a mentor - another supervising teacher. The groups were categorised A-O, Rinoa's group being group H.
Slowly each group made their way into the elevator and upstairs. It was now Rinoa's turn so she made her way into the elevator with her group and was amazed at the size and condition. Two large blue sofas were laid out facing the door with a wide screen plaza TV position in the middle of the wall. A voice called out a welcome and the destination chosen by the teacher.
"Ok, group H, I'll take you in and we'll head to the Shumi Hotel first, that's where you can leave you things." Mr Fair spoke. He was a tall muscled man with fair skin and jet black spikey hair. He was a lot younger than most of their teachers and so got on well with the students due to his closeness in age. "After that I'll take you to the Shumi Council office were you'll have to give your thanks to the Mayor for allowing us to use their facilities for your coursework."
"Sir," Selphie spoke getting the teacher's attention, "would we be able to get an interview with the Mayor? I wanted to add something to the travel section of the Student forum."
"Er, not sure Selphie, we can try asking." He smiled at her.
Once out from the elevator Rinoa looked out into the brightly lit outdoors. She was amazed, it was freezing cold outside with all the snow and blistering winds. Here it was the complete opposite; it wasn't hot, but it wasn't cold either. It was warm and sunny much like Balamb.
The steps to the elevator led down to a small circular dirt road and a path leading off to the rest of the resort. To the right were many Shumi style huts and bungalows; while on the left was a lot of overgrown foliage and trees.
They walked to the hotel first and checked in. Rinoa was sharing a room with Quistis and Selphie which they had booked with the teachers back in Balamb.
"Rinoa, how much do you have?" Selphie asked looking at the raven haired girl and then eyeing the duffle bags next to her.
"I need all this stuff, and besides it's only two more bags than you." She argued back.
"I have one duffle bag; we're only here two days." Selphie answered back.
"Yes, well I need a lot of things for two days, plus we'll be doing a lot of labour work and I know ill get dirty and need to change my clothes often." Rinoa explained.
"Say what?" Selphie looked surprised at hearing the new information.
"Selphie you didn't think we were going to come here to relax did you? We're here to collect data; we'll be required to carry out all sorts of research." Rinoa laughed at the girl's ignorance.
"Oh, I thought we'd just come to listen to lectures." Selphie frowned.
"Didn't you even read the information leaflet and the check list they sent?"
"No." She smiled sheepishly.
"Well serves you right." She stuck her tongue out. "Don't worry if anything of yours gets dirty, you can borrow some of my stuff. See aren't you glad I packed so much?"
"Yes!" Selphie laughed.
"Ok, girl's you're in room 10A and boys your in room 10B." Mr Fair called out.
"Squall?" Rinoa called out as he was walking by. "Erm, my stuff is a little-" She didn't need to finish, the brunette picked up all three of her duffle bags without effort and smirked at her whilst carrying two of his own.
"Thanks!" She cried and followed him upstairs.
The group went to meet with the Mayor to give him their gratitude and then headed to the assembly point. There, they were instructed on the objective of the trip and the different activities they'd be carrying out.
They all changed into their 'labour' clothes and checked their schedule. Group H were first assigned to record the data of the river flow. This involved the group getting into waterproof clothing and jumping into the river to check its width and length, the velocity of the river flow and the pebble count to check its density.
After the river experiment they went over to the Sculptor's hut where they were assigned to check different stones within the Shumi Village.
Rinoa and her team walked into the large dome hut led by their mentor. They walked up to meet a large bulky man with red hair and sunglasses dressed in the green and grey Shumi Instructor uniform.
"Hi, we're group H from Balamb High." Mr Fair stuck his hand out for the large man to shake.
"Nice to meet ya." The man replied and looked at the group curiously noticing Rinoa straight away. She looked back at him with a modest smile; he looked slightly familiar, like she had seen him somewhere.
She guessed he was probably staring at her seeing as her pictures were plastered all over the newspapers that morning. She thought she'd be given dirty looks by the entire school when she showed up that morning, but surprisingly, everyone was being nice. Many had patted her back telling her not to be bothered by what was said and that whoever she was going out with 'I think you look cute together'.
"Erm, are you the Sculptor?" Mr Fair asked the large man.
"Nah mate, Sculpty's not around today. Name's Skippy, I've been assigned to help ya out so if you wanna follow me I'll show ya the ropes." He said with his thick Shumi accent.
The group followed him to the back of the room and sat around the large round table. The man showed them different types of rocks explaining their properties and characteristics. Their assignment was to go around the village using the rocks as examples and find the areas where they might be found. They then had to bring back an identical rock as evidence of their assumption.
The group took the rocks and headed out to the river area first, thinking that the water rock could be found first.
"Ok Rinoa, why don't you jump into the river?" Seifer proposed smiling wickedly while swaying up to her.
"Seifer don't you dare!" Rinoa cried and ran over to Squall hiding behind him.
"You think Leonhart's going to stop me?" He asked laughing, still walking up to her.
"Quistis tell him!" She pleaded to Quistis.
"Oh Seifer, leave her alone." The blonde replied bored scribbling into her notepad while bending down to observe the stones around the river.
Rinoa grabbed onto Squall's arm pushing it in between herself and Seifer as the blond approached her trying to get a clasp on her arm.
"Squall, help me!" She tried to cry out but laughing at the same time.
With a fake bored expression Squall grabbed Rinoa by the waist and leaned her into the water. Her back to the water and her body in a very low diagonal position parallel to the cold water, she clung to his neck and screamed trying to crane her neck to look at how close she was to the water.
"No, Squall don't! C'mon I'm not even in proper clothing!"
"Do it! Do it Squall!" Seifer willed him.
"Squall don't, Rinny kick him!" Selphie shouted trying to run over to them. She was stopped by Seifer who kept pushing his arm in front of her preventing her from running to the girl's aid.
Zell was maniacally laughing to himself from the scene, "Ah Squall, don't man, that's deep."
"Squall please." Rinoa pleaded with sad eyes. The brunette laughed lightly then turned his head to look at the others.
"Shall I do it?" He asked them.
"No!" Quistis and Selphie yelled.
"DO IT!" Seifer yelled. Zell only laughed not sure who he should side with.
Squall released his hold on her waist and put his hands up around hers trying to pry her fingers from his neck. She struggled to keep hold, still laughing at the same time. Realising that he wasn't going anywhere with her hold on him, he put his hands back on her waist and started tickling her. She laughed hysterically and no sooner did she loosen her hands from around his neck, her body fell into the water with a loud splash.
Seifer's voice was the loudest laughing hysterically. Selphie and Quistis couldn't help it either and started giggling at Rinoa's wet body standing up, her hair drenched in river water while she was spitting out water and wiping her eyes from the murky river water.
"Squall!" She shouted angrily. He couldn't help it; he laughed along with the others looking at her completely soaked.
"Sorry, I couldn't help it." He confessed.
"Get me out of her!" She commanded anger written all over her face.
He bent down and stretched his hand out to her in regret; he thought she'd see the humour behind it but obviously her face told him other wise. He grabbed her wrist and pulled but she stood her ground. He looked at her, her face was smirking mischievously.
"Don't!" He threatened. But before he could do anything, she yanked at his arm with all her strength, causing him to come crashing down into the water head first before the rest of his body joined him.
He pushed himself up from the cold water and pushed back his long hair from his eyes. Rinoa was laughing from getting her own back. Seifer ran over to Quistis and grabbed her by the waist bringing her into the water along with him, resulting in her shrieking from the top of her lungs. Zell and Selphie merely shrugged and jumped into the water along with them.
They played around in the river splashing water on each other and chasing each other. It was a break away from the stress that was the previous two months.
"Excuse me!" A voiced boomed at them. The group looked up to a skinny tall man in green and grey uniform. "This is not a swimming pool, can you please stop messing about and get out!"
They had all assembled in the hotel hall to eat dinner. The hotel offered a buffet service that was placed on a long row of tables. Once they had gotten their food the group made their way to one of the tables sitting down to eat.
Rinoa placed a spoonful of mash potato into her mouth and looked around the room. She felt eyes on her and looked over at a table in the far corner. Skippy was on his phone looking at her. He quickly averted his gaze and continued to talk into his phone.
The group talked about the experiments they were to cover the next day and when they'd get a chance to buy some souvenirs. Rinoa would occasionally look over at Skippy trying to place him, he looked familiar; she could have swore she saw him somewhere back in Deling. The man caught her stare and smiled at her nodding in her direction. She didn't smile back, she looked away feeling uncomfortable.
After dinner, they group were feeling quite tired, it was only 8pm but considering the change in time zones they decided to head to bed early.
The next morning they met up with their mentor early, Skippy came along as well to demonstrate some of the experiments needed to be carried out.
Rinoa was sitting down on the grass crossed legged writing into her notepad. Selphie and Quistis were talking to Mr Fair getting his help on their methods and questionnaires.
She felt someone sit down next to her and looked as Skippy took a seat on the soft green grass smiling at her.
"G'day, nice weather isn't it?" He asked falling back on his arms and stretching out his legs.
"Hmm." She responded looking around. Squall was in the distance with Seifer and Zell trying to get some villagers to fill out questionnaires.
"So you like it here in Shumi?" He asked.
"Yeah it's ok." She replied taking her bottled water out from her bag and taking a sip. She wished the man would get up and go. For some odd reason, he let off a negative vibe; she felt uncomfortable around him partly because of how close he was sitting next to her.
She placed her bag in between them forcing some distance. She looked down at her notepad again pretending to do some calculations and scribbling down to make it look like she was answering some questions.
"Shumi is nice. You been anywhere else?" He asked her persisting to make conversation.
"No, just Balamb." She replied briefly.
"You got any plans for after you finish school?" He asked moving down to his elbow and budging up closer to her.
She looked the other way not wanting to look at him and stared over at Squall wishing for him to turn around and meet her gaze.
"Probably University." She answered.
Skippy looked up at the back of Rinoa's head. He had his chance now; she was looking over at the brunette boy, the one in the picture he had taken outside their house. Keeping the conversation going, he put his hand into his pocket and retrieved the small plastic packet.
"Oh yeah? Which Uni are you thinking of going to?" With her gaze averted and her head turned away from him he quietly placed the packet deep into her bag and sat up.
"Probably Balamb." She kept her eyes on Squall who looked over at her and caught her gaze. She ushered him over and frowned her forehead. Excusing himself from the villager he made his way over to her.
"Well, I'll let you get on with it." Skippy said getting up and walking away just as Squall reached them.
"What's wrong?" Squall asked sitting down on the grass next to Rinoa.
"I don't know but that guy just makes me feel uncomfortable." She replied looking at Skippy's retreating body. She frowned, something about that guy just wasn't right; she knew she had seen him before she just didn't know where.
"Well, what did he say?" He asked looking at direction Rinoa was looking to. Skippy was saying something to Mr Fair before waving and walking off towards the hotel.
"Nothing much, just asking me about the future. But it's not what he says, its more how he looks at me." She tried to explain.
"Well, how does he look at you?" Squall asked looking at Rinoa as she put her head in her hands pushing her hair back.
"I don't know, I can't explain." She said frustrated. "Its like he knows something about me and he's always looking at me funny."
"I haven't noticed anything." Squall commented not sure what to say.
"Forget it, its nothing." She got up off the grass brushing her tracksuits down and grabbed her bag walking off. Squall watched as she took a couple of steps away from him before turning around. "Are you coming?" She smiled at him squinting into the sunlight.
Squall walked into the hotel's souvenir shop hoping to find a book on the history of the Village that could help him with his coursework. He was checking through the aisles when he spotted a book and started reading through it. The first part was all about the structure and natural features of the village that were moulded to build the dome complex. He was skim reading it knowing he'd purchase it.
"This is a shop, not a library." A voice joked next to him.
Squall turned to find Skippy next to him with a couple of books in hand.
"I was checking the contents." He explained.
"I was only kidding mate. So, how's Shumi treating ya?" He asked looking at the books in front of him.
"It's ok." Squall asked flipping through the pages of his book again.
"Good, good. You like your school then?" He asked. Squall looked at him weirdly; if this is this guy's idea of a conversation it's very bland.
"Yeah it's alright." He answered.
"Good, are you going to Balamb Uni with your little lady?" He asked nudging Squall with a wink and smirk.
"My 'little lady'?" Squall asked perplexed.
"Yeah the young Sheila you were with before. Raven hair, big brown eyes, fair skin; pretty little madam she is." His attempt at a description of Rinoa. Squall frowned; he was wondering whether Rinoa had been right about this guy's weird looks towards her.
"She's not my 'lady'; she's a person of her own." He replied picking up another book.
"Of course! She's very smart ain't she? Bright little thing." He paused for a second thinking Squall would reply. The brunette didn't so he continued, "Told me she's from Deling, mind you, I thought she didn't look like she's from Balamb. A bit posh looking don't you think?"
Squall smiled at the guy resisting the need to be sarcastic. "She's just Rinoa to me."
"Oh yeah mate, didn't mean no harm. Horrible things they said about her in the papers."
"They're all lies." Squall replied not bothering to go into detail. He didn't want to talk about it, he knew Rinoa wasn't bothered by it; but he was.
"Oh yeah, of course, tabloids love a good old gossip." Skippy agreed. "Just looks like her mum a lot, thought I recognised her." He explained walking around Squall to the other side of the shelf.
"Julia?" Squall asked looking at Skippy's back. The man turned around.
"Yeah, pretty little Sheila she was back in the day. Beautiful voice."
"So you know that Rinoa's mum is Julia?" Squall asked. The man nodded. Squall nodded returning to his book. He thought to himself that the guy was probably looking at Rinoa because she looked like her mother. He continued flipping through his book expecting Skippy to continue to his destination.
"Yeah, doesn't look much like her old man." The man continued. "Hardly has anything of his does she?" He asked looking at Squall.
"She does. She has his chin." Squall replied absentmindedly. He walked towards the counter taking out cash to pay for his book.
"Oh really? So you're a good friend to the family?" Skippy asked handing his own money to the cashier.
"I guess so." Squall replied waiting to be served.
"That's nice. You know the old saying, love always blossoms where you least expect it." The man replied winking.
Squall took his change from the cashier and started making his way to the exit.
"Yeah well love is all we need right now. What with the feud with Esthar and Galbadia, we can only hope you young generation will fix our mistakes." Skippy said seriously with an expression of concern and worry.
"Well, tomorrow's the Treaty Press Conference so I guess we'll see some changes. I'm sure the President of Esthar and the General are trying their best to fix the mistakes of our predecessors." Squall replied hoping to give the guy some hope.
"Well maybe the General is, but I doubt the President of Esthar is doing anything; cant say much about a man you don't know."
"That's all in the past; he's making an effort now." Squall argued.
"How? We don't even know what he looks like, or whether he can be trusted, how do we know he isn't some ex-convict?" Skippy countered.
"He isn't." Squall replied at the man's absurd suggestions. He stopped walking and looked at the man with frowned eyes. Is this what Dad was talking about? Is this how untrusting people are of Esthar and its people?
"Well how would you know?" The man asked conceitedly. "You're just a kid."
"Because I'm… I'm Estharian." Squall replied correcting his near blunder of revealing his true identity.
"Oh. Well then I guess you'd know your own president." Skippy humbly replied. "Hm, well seeing as your Estharian and your Sheila friend is Galbadian I guess there is hope yet." He smiled and walked off.
Squall looked at the man's retreating body; Squall thought he was weird. There was something just not quite right about him.
Once he walked into his hotel room she stripped himself of the Shumi Instructor's uniform and the fake ID badge he had made for him and put on his woolly jumper and blue jeans. He put on his parker and packed the scattered items all over his room into his backpack.
He went over to his dresser table and picked up his phone punching in a couple of numbers and waiting for the call to connect.
"Yeah, it's me. I've done it… no wait, I just found something out. That young lad she was with, he's Estharian… no the brunette one… I think maybe this treaty thing might work… no… no… no, I'm not siding with him, you know I've always been loyal to you…" Skippy walked to his bed and sat down.
"Yes I know… look I just want a way in…" He felt hot and walked to his balcony door opening it and looking out onto the garden below. "Doubt I can get another picture now… you can't do that, the deal was to place it into her bag for my visa to Esthar… well how do I know somewhere down the line there isn't going to be another deal breaker?"
He shut the door and walked back picking up his backpack. "Look I can't get a picture it's too risky… fine! I'll do what I can." He pushed down a button on his phone ending the call and shoved his phone into his pocket. He slung his backpack over his shoulder and picked up the fake ID card before opening the door.
Opening the door to his room he checked to make sure the coast was clear before hurrying to the stairs that led down to the hotel entrance.
He made for the stairs and ran down to the first floor, turning the corner of the stairs to make his way down the rest, he bumped into someone hard.
"Oh, sorry dude." Zell apologised looking up at the instructor.
"No problem mate." The man said hurriedly trying to get past the blond and ran down the stairs.
"You okay?" Zell asked noticing the man's disorientated behaviour.
"Fine mate." Skippy replied shouting from the bottom of the stairs and disappearing.
Zell looked down at the floor and noticed the man's badge picking it up realising the man dropped it. He ran down and looked for him in the foyer unable to find him. He would have gone out to look for him but gathered the man would be back anyway once he noticed his badge was missing. Plus his bladder was bursting for the need to visit the toilet.
"Erm, one of the staff members dropped this." He handed over the card to the receptionist at the hotel's counter.
The woman thanked him taking the ID and placing it below the counter. Zell ran up the stairs again.
It was approaching midnight and Rinoa was sipping on her coffee, she was tired and sore eyed. The groups had all gathered giving one last thank you to the villagers and the Mayor. After the exchanges of farewells were done they made their way down to the snowy pier ready to board the ferry that would take them back to Balamb for the morning. Since they were travelling during the night the school gave them the rest of the day off to relax and rejuvenate from their trip.
"Ok Balamb High, can you please have your passports and hand luggage ready to be inspected. Remember if you are carrying any aerosols in your hand luggage you will not be able to board. You need to make sure to remove them and put them into your checked luggage." Miss Shelinda shouted over the loud hustle and bustle of the students.
"You checked your luggage?" Squall asked Rinoa who was too busy nodding off to sleep.
"No, I didn't bring any aerosols with me, and I checked my luggage before." She replied.
Squall walked up to the check-in and placed his duffle bag on the conveyer belt before walking through the metal detectors. With the all clear he waited for Rinoa to walk through.
She carried out the same steps as Squall putting her duffle bag on the conveyer belt and making her way towards the metal detector.
"Er, ma'am you need to put your hand bag on the conveyer belt too." The airport security guard informed her.
"Oh right." She replied and ran back placing her black handbag down and walking back through the detector. It made no sound so she walked up to the deposit area ready to collect her bag. She grabbed her duffle bag and waited for her hand bag to arrive.
Squall walked up to her taking her duffle bag out of her hand. She smiled at him and caught his look of concern.
She looked back to see two guards coming towards her. "You with Balamb High?" One of the guards asked holding her handbag in his hands.
"Yes." She replied worried. She wondered what could be the concern.
Miss Shelinda spotted the scene and walked up the two guards. "Is anything wrong?" She asked the one that spoke.
"Yes, your student has some illegal substances in her bag and she will need to come with us." The man replied.
"Illegal? That can be right I don't have anything illegal in that bag." Rinoa cried. She looked at her teacher for help.
"Are you sure? She was checked before she came here I doubt she'd be able to find anything illegal within your village." She argued.
"Ma'am if you are acting as her guardian please come with us, but the lady won't be able to travel without being checked for any more substances." The other guard spoke.
"I can't believe this." Rinoa cried.
"Look, Sir can you tell us what it is she has in her bag? Our ferry leaves in half an hour." Miss Shelinda pleaded.
"I'm sorry ma'am but she won't be travelling tonight." The man replied and took Rinoa by her arm leading her away.
"Rinoa." Squall called out following the two men. The other guard put his hand on Squall's chest.
"Sorry Sir, but you can't go beyond this point unless you are a relative or guardian."
The guards continued talking Rinoa away and into a small office. Miss Shelinda briefly spoke to Mr Fair explaining the situation and the instructions he should take to get the students back to Balamb. She followed the two guards after leaving Squall behind with the rest of the students looking in awe.
"Alright, Balamb High, this way please, our ferry is leaving in 30 minutes." He called out. Seifer and Quistis had made their way to Squall asking what happened. Squall shook his head not knowing what could have been in her bag. She had checked her luggage, she would have known if there were illegal substances in her bag. "Squall, come on we have to go." Mr Fair spoke up.
"I'm not leaving Rinoa." He replied not moving.
"Squall I'm afraid you have no choice, the school is held responsible should anything happen to you."
"Sir, I'm not going to leave her by herself." He continued to argue.
"Come on Sir, let him stay." Seifer pleaded for Squall.
"Guys, I'm sorry. Miss Shelinda is here so she's not alone. Now come on, we have to get going." He said sternly looking at the three students that stood still not moving. "Now!" He reiterated harshly.
Seifer and Quistis started making baby steps still uncertain if Squall would comply.
Frustrated Squall kicked at the floor and made his way to the ferry.
Rinoa sat on the steel chairs looking up at the two guards in a small dimly lit square office. The walls were painted dull white with only one window to the left side of the wall. The room was empty except for the rectangle table and four chairs surrounding it, two of which she and Miss Shelinda were occupying. The tall guard took her bag and placed it in front of her. "Ma'am, this is what we found in your bag." He explained taking out a small square plastic packet, the insides filled with some greeny-brown dried leaves. Rinoa looked at the guard with her mouth slightly open. "That's not mine." She said looking at the man and the substance in his hand.
"Rinoa." Miss Shelinda shook her head in disappointment.
"Miss, it's not mine, I don't know how it got there." She pleaded.
"Well regardless of whether it's yours or not, it was in your hand bag. Ma'am are you aware that Cannabis is a class B drug and you can face a minimum of 5 years prison sentence for possession?" The guard asked sternly.
Rinoa shook her head, her eyes filled with tears. It wasn't hers, but it was in her bag. She looked at the closed door, the room suddenly felt a lot smaller than when she first entered. The tears started falling as she digested what was happening, she was in a foreign land, with illegal substances in her bag, with no family and no Squall. How was she to get out of this one?
Oh gosh, not another problem. Well i guess i just like making Rinoa go that extra mile, hehe.
Don't worry i'll make it up to her next chapter... R&R!