Disclaimer: All Final Fantasy 8 characters, places, and things all belong to Squaresoft and other involved companies. I own none of them. This fanfic is purely for the fun and enjoyment of others and myself. I make no profit from it.
FINAL FANTASY/ ALTERED TALE
CHAPTER 5
CLANG
Squall's eyes widened in shock as his sword thrust was met by another. He immediately recovered and pushed forward, further locking his sword with his opponent's.
Rinoa gasped from the intensity of this man's vigor however she would not yield so easily. Quickly, she dashed to the side, letting the knight's momentum carry him forward. Once he passed forward, she brought her sword down in an overhead thrust.
CLANG
Again their swords met, as the Garden Knight parried her attack at the last second. Although Squall was fairing well against his adversary, he was silently impressed beyond belief at her skill.
'He's quite a fighter!' Squall thought to himself as he blocked another attack. 'I never thought I would ever meet a mage who's as skilled in sword fighting as he is in magic. Looks like I'm in for quite a challenge!'
Meanwhile, on the other end of the battle, Rinoa was thinking on a similar line of thought. 'Wow! Who is this guy? No one has ever gotten this close through my defenses except one. This guy must really be high ranking in Galbadia to be this good! I guess I should feel honored!'
Just then, Squall rammed his sword forward, momentarily knocking her off balance. Rinoa tried to steady herself but it was too late. Squall charged up and drove his sword forward.
SLICE
Rinoa fell back. She couldn't believe what had just happened. Squall stood silently before her. His expressionless face was covered behind his steel plated face shield and helmet. Her mouth hung wide open, while fear and blood were etched all over her face.
She clutched her arm. Squall just stood there, not moving a muscle while his sword was still embedded partially inside of the wall. Rinoa had swiftly moved out of the way during his strike, causing him to only graze her arm, while most of his force went into the wall instead. However, it had been a close call resulting in a deep shock for Rinoa. Never, had anyone ever gotten this close to her.
"W- who are you?" She managed to ask through her trembling lips.
Squall responded by slamming his foot against the wall and yanking his sword free from its embedded position. Stepping back, he observed his adversary wearily as he slightly lowered his sword. Yet again, he found himself shocked by the skill of this mage. No one had ever survived that kind of attack.
"Well… aren't you going to answer my question?" Rinoa asked hesitantly.
Squall slowly raised his visor. His eyes showed mild surprise after realizing that the voice of his opponent was feminine.
Rinoa, on the other hand, couldn't help the gaping stare that came over her. 'He's drop dead gorgeous!' She couldn't help but think to herself in shock.
"Who are you?" Squall asked in a flat, emotionless tone.
This emotionless tone sent Rinoa careening back into reality. She quickly shook off her gaping stare and glared at her enemy. "Why should I tell you when I asked you first?" She spat in a harsh tone.
Squall rolled his eyes at the childishness of this conversation. "I am a Knight of the Kingdom of Balamb Garden!" He said proudly.
Rinoa's eyes widened once more and she removed the hood from he face as she tried to get a better look at his armor. "Y- you mean your actually one of the Legendary seeds everyone's heard so much about!?"
Squall didn't answer as he was momentarily taken aback by the beauty of this young woman who had provided him with such a challenge earlier. He quickly shook his head, dispelling these thoughts and answered her question. "Yes, I am a Knight of Garden."
Rinoa still couldn't believe her ears. "Wow! I can't believe it! I mean they say you guys are the Legendary Knights who self appointed yourselves as the protectors of peace! I can't believe you actually showed up here! Does that mean your going to liberate our country from Galbadian rule?"
Squall was quickly becoming annoyed at the giddiness of this girl. "I take it you aren't associated with Galbadia then?" He asked mildly.
"Nope!" Rinoa replied cheerfully. "I'm part of a resistance group called the Forest Owls. Our mission has been to sabotage Galbadia's plans! Me and a few others were on a mission to attack Galbadian troops back in Timber but we got caught. Right now we're making our escape!"
Squall was annoyed beyond belief by her story. This information was totally irrelevant to his mission and was thus unimportant to him. "Whatever…" He replied in a flat voice.
Rinoa ignored this statement and continued. "We were supposed to meet up a few kilometers east of this tower. Hey, could you come with me? We could escape from here together!"
Squall shot her an angered glance. "I am not trying to escape from this tower. My mission is to infiltrate this structure and I mean to carry it out!"
"Oh." Rinoa replied simply, raising her finger to her lips.
Squall turned quickly and started up the stairs, continuing his original journey. "Hey wait!" Rinoa cried suddenly. Squall turned his head back towards her and sneered slightly at the interruption. "What?" He asked in a harsh tone.
"Why not let me come with you?" She replied cheerfully, unheeded by his attitude.
"Now why would I want you to come with me?"
"Because your all by yourself silly!" Rinoa answered with the same cheerful expression on her face. "If you go by yourself you may run into trouble and you won't be able to fend them all on your own. Someone's gotta watch your back. Besides, I know for a fact I wont be able to make it out of here alone so the most logical thing to do is accompany you while you complete your mission. Maybe then we can find someway out of here."
Squall cringed inwardly. He didn't want her to accompany him but she had presented the only possible solution left to them. If he did proceed while she tried to get out on her own, she would probably die and he didn't want to have her death on his hands. Finally coming to a conclusion, he turned his head slightly to face her. "Fine. Come along but don't make a noise or you'll give away our position."
Rinoa was beaming with a broad smile pasted across her face. "Yes sir, Captain!"
Squall shrugged his shoulders in exasperation at her excessive enthusiasm. "Don't call me that."
Rinoa's smile was unfazed. "Well since I don't know you're name ill just have to call you Sir Knight, then!" She said brightly. Squall sighed. This was going to be a long day.
****
"YAAAAAAA!" Biggs screamed as he charged towards one of the Galbadian Knights. He swung his sword down swiftly, slicking the man's head clean from his shoulders.
"Look out!" Someone yelled from the distance.
He swung around swiftly to find another Galbadian Knight impaled by a sword from behind. Standing there with his sword embedded in the enemy was none other then Wedge.
Bigg's raised his face shield and wiped sweat away from his brow. "Whew! Thanks a lot buddy."
"No problem." Wedge replied. "Just watch your back. I may not be there next time."
Biggs nodded as he watched Wedge once again enter the pit of battle. Taking a moment to sigh, he lowered his face shield, then he too entered the bloodbath.
Coleman was fairing well in the battle as well. He ran up to one of the Galbadian Knights then leveled his sword to waist length and severed on man in half. Another Knight came from behind and swung his sword down. Coleman swiftly responded by blocking this thrust then raised his boot and rammed in forcefully into the man's gut. The Galbadian Knight stumbled from the impact and Coleman used that opportunity to his advantage. He ran up to the man that shoved his blade deep into his stomach. The man wailed in agony as the blade burst forth out from the other end.
Coleman thoughtlessly yanked his sword out of the dying man then swiftly wiped the blood free by sliding his weapon over a few blades of grass.
He caught the attention of the Galbadian Knight leader's eye and the man immediately rushed him in an insane rage. Coleman steadied his sword then thrust forth as the man swung his blade. Their swords clashed with a loud clang. Both men were intently locked into the heat of battle as their swords pushed against each other. Ultimately, Coleman came out on top as he forced the Galbadian leader back. He rushed forward to finish him but the man recovered swiftly and blocked his attack. Coleman was enraged. He pulled back then struck again. And again the man blocked his attack. He shoved Coleman's sword left and swung for his right side. Coleman swiftly scrambled out of the way then held his sword out a few feet away from his adversary.
Both men were panting profusely. "You're quite good." Coleman said as he lowered his sword in respect for his opponent.
The Knight nodded. "As are you. This is truly a well, matched fight. I am Sir Wardam, noble Knight. And what might your title be?"
"I am Sir Coleman. You are a worthy adversary and honorable too. I am honored to fight one such as yourself."
Wardam smiled in acknowledgement. "May the best Knight win then."
Coleman raised his sword once more. "To the winner, go the spoils. To the loser, goes the honor of dying by the blade of a better man."
And with that, both men resumed their relentless battle. On another front of the battlefield, Nida, Doppler, and Talisar were not doing so well. The brunt of the Knights were focused on them and they felt their edge waning more and more as fatigue took them over.
Talisar wildly swung his sword at one of the Galbadian Knights, missed, and almost hit Doppler. In return, the Galbadian Knight swung his sword high.
CLANG
At the last minute, Nida had intervened and blocked the man's thrust. The Knight jumped back and swung again. This time, towards Nida, however the young Balamb Knight was prepared for this and deftly dodged the strike. Still recovering from his attack, the man was left wide open. Nida took full advantage of this and plunged forth, spilling the man's entrails upon the ground.
Nida took a moment to glance at Talisar out of the side of his eye as he continued to ward off blows from other approaching Galbadian Knights. "Talisar, stay focused! Don't panic or you'll wind up dead or hurt one of us in the process! Keep your mind straight!" Just then another Galbadian Knight rushed forth slamming his shield into Nida, forcing him to fall down. He advanced again but was stopped short by Doppler. The Balamb Knight had run in front of the two and had effectively protected Nida from a quick death. Their swords clashed and Doppler buckled under the man's weight.
"Heh, too much to handle punk?" the man seethed with smelly breath. Doppler recalled himself, allowing the big man's momentum to carry him forward. He lost his balance the fell forward. Doppler quickly scrambled out of the way then rose up to stand over the man. Averting his eyes he swung his sword in a single sweeping motion and decapitated him.
Nida got up and brushed himself off. "Thanks!" He said in exasperation.
Doppler smiled but was immediately cut off as a sword plunged straight through his chest from behind. Nida's eyes widened in shock and he swiftly tackled the assailant to the ground. The two men wrestled with each other, locked in a desperate game of mortal combat as each man tried to reach for his sword. Nida thrust one elbow up under the man's jaw then rammed the other one into the man's forearm breaking his hold on his sword. On the Knight's part, he socked Nida in the face with his armor plated gloves then rammed the palm of his hand towards the seed's throat. Nida fumbled as he tried to catch his breath. The man rolled over and recovered his sword. Still gasping, Nida grabbed his leg and toppled him over. As he fell to the ground, Nida jumped on him and pummeled him with a nearby long he had picked up. The man's face flapped left and right as he was relentlessly beaten with the jagged log. Before he knew it, Nida's log was sopped in blood, gore and pieces of bone. He looked down at his victim's face and could only see a huge mass of red blood staring back at him. Nida quickly averted his gaze and got back up to his feet. Without another thought he rushed towards another Galbadian Knight who in turn charged at him. Nida could see nothing but the red haze of blood before his very eyes. At the sight of Doppler's death, he had lost all sense of his facilities and gone berserk on all of his enemies; much to their misfortune.
Wedge had just run one of the Galbadian Knights through, when he saw the wild actions of his comrade. He hadn't seen Doppler die, but as he glanced at his still body laying on the ground it all became clear to him. Doppler and Nida were best friends. Thus he understood the man's sudden burst of energy. But, likewise, he also understood that it could lead to getting him killed or even worse, making him insane.
Without another thought, Wedge ran up to the Galbadian Knight closest to Nida and cut him down quickly with his sword. Nida shot a quick Glance at him. His pupils seemed dilated and he had the look of a madman.
After recognizing him in the wild blood haze of his mind, Nida turned away to face yet another victim. However, Wedge roughly grabbed the man before he could go off. Hey yanked Nida hard so that he was facing him.
"Nida listen to me! Calm down! If you don't you'll get killed! Listen I can guess what happened back there but don't go that rout. We can defeat these guys together but don't let Dopplers death me in vain. You got me?"
Nida's eyes swam over like a lost child for a minute. He seemed as if he were fighting with some internal demons. Wedge shook him again. "Nida snap out of it! You're stronger then this! I know you are!"
Slowly Nida closed his eyes then opened them again and began blinking rapidly. "W-wedge?" He swallowed hard as he realized what had come over him. "Man,… I, I don't know what to say. I'm sorry, I guess I just lost control back there. I-"
"Look, just save it for later ok? We still got a mission to finish ok?"
Nida nodded and was slightly shocked to see that the number of Galbadian Knights still standing was very low. If they continued fighting the way they were fighting they would win easily. Suddenly something else caught his eye that killed his smile. Talisar was currently facing off with three Galbadian Knights all at once. He didn't look like he could hold out much longer. Nida roughly grabbed Wedge's steel plated shoulder. "Come on! Talisar is in trouble! We gotta help him or we lose another Knight on this cursed mission." Wedge nodded his head and the two men charged off towards their endangered comrade.
Meanwhile, on the other end of the field, Coleman and his opponent Wardam where at the end of their ropes. Both men were beyond exhaustion as the stared into each other's eyes. Coleman was slumped over, leaning heavily on the hilt of his blade. Wardam was down on one knee, while his hand clutched his sword, which was embedded in the ground.
"I never would have imagined our battle would last this long." Wardam rasped.
Coleman nodded sagely. "Yes, It is a shame we must face off in such a duel. However, war is a cruel demon is she not?"
Wardam cracked a smile. "That she is." Slowly, he rose back up to his feet and clutched his sword with both hands. "Well then, shall we commence?"
In reply, Coleman similarly rose to his feet and raised his sword. The sun shone brilliantly on the two figures as they stood in the horizon facing off. It almost seemed like the very earth and sky knew how this next encounter would turn out and momentarily blazed these two Knights of glory with honor and respect.
A slight brush of wind ignited the battle. Wardam charged forth and swung his sword horizontally. Coleman met his thrust and parried it. He countered that by swinging his sword the opposite way. Wardam leapt back then dove forward once more, jabbing his sword out trying to impale the knight. Coleman blocked and parried as the rain of jabbs and thrusts continued. After the fifth stroke, Wardam broke off into a 360 degrees strike. Coleman blocked but buckled from the intensity of the attack. He fell to one knee then rolled out of the way as a sword came swooping down on him. He inwardly sighed in relief as the sword dug deep into the earth only inches from where he stood.
Wardam wasn't finished. Panting heavily, he ripped his sword up out of the sodden earth and swung it in a horizontal arch towards Coleman. Coleman thrust his sword forth in a one armed block. Wardam smiled slightly. He had him. He curved his sword around and raised it high over Coleman's head then brought it down swiftly.
SLICE
Wardam's eyes opened wide and his knees buckled. Coleman was frozen in the same position. His arms were thrust forth and his sword was embedded through the man's chest. Apparently Wardam's fatigue had prevented him from anticipating Coleman's quick recovery. A huge amount of sorrow washed over Coleman's eyes as he slowly pulled his sword out of his adversary. Wardam closed his eyes then lifelessly fell to the ground. Still on one knee, Coleman gave him the Knights salute, then covered the man with his own cape.
Coleman didn't see the enraged Galbadian soldier charging towards him until it was too late. Coleman turned swiftly and tried to parry but he already knew that he was to late. He closed his eyes in anticipation for the pain to come. It never came. Blood splattered on his face, causing him to open his eyes. The attacking Galbadian soldier was hunched over, clutching the sword that was buried in his stomach. Standing before that Knight was Biggs with a look of wild anger on his face. He violently shoved the Knight off of his sword then turned to face his squad leader. "Sir, sorry to interrupt you're little engagement but I couldn't swallow the dishonorable nature of that man's actions just now."
Coleman nodded lightly as he was still recovering from his recent battle. "Yes. Thank you for the save Biggs. That Knight did seem rather persistent in attacking me while my back was turned. Yet, in the cruel dance of battle, there are no rules of conduct amongst war-ragged men, save one. Survival."
Suddenly Wedge called over from the other side of the field. "Squad Leader! The battles over! The Knights on this end say that they cannot continue to fight after the fall of their commander!"
Coleman sighed in relief. 'Good, no more death. At least for the moment.' He raised his head abruptly. "Biggs, I want you and Wedge to make it over to Squad C. Tell Almasy what's going on. Tell him that, no matter what, he's got to warn Squall and Quistis of what's coming their way."
Biggs nodded towards his Squad Leader and gave him a Knights salute. He had seen the previous battle and never before was he so proud of his commanding officer then he was right now. In his eyes, Coleman was a born leader.
Wedge came over to the duo and they traded words. Before long, both men were off on their latest assignment, leaving Coleman sitting there along the field of death. After binding the Galbadian Knights in cords, Nida and Talisar made their way over to their exhausted Leader.
"Is something troubling you sir?" Talisar asked in concern.
Coleman didn't reply for a moment. He simply looked on at the destruction. "War." He said finally. "War spares no one. Whether they be honorable or not, war is about death…"
The two Knights said nothing as they stared silently at their leader.
Coleman closed his eyes, silently saying a prayer for all those brave Knights who died on the field. After a moment, he slowly rose to his feet and faced his subordinates. "Well men, we have our orders. We were ordered to stay here and keep watch for approaching units. We'll we've seen the approaching units so now I've got new orders for you. We are now, to advance on the approaching Galbadian contingent we saw earlier. No matter what it takes, we will stop this senseless bloodshed once and for all."
Whew! Ok there goes another chapter. I really got into this one! Lots of fighting and stuff! Took me a while but I'm proud to announce I've completed it. But stay tuned cause theirs more fighting on the way. In the next chapter, It's Squad C's turn to hit the spotlight. Well as always, thanks a bunch for reading and please review! J
-Cordis