Disclaimer: I dont own FF8, it all belongs to Square, yatta yatta, you know the deal. Sue me and I'll send you a bomb in the mail. Just kidding! :P
The trek to the edge of the plateau had taken almost four hours, the group were worn and torn by the time they got there and decided to make camp for the night in a small clearing surrounded by trees and sparse bushes. The scene was quite funny actually; Selphie and Irvine were trying to put up some tents, which subsequently collapsed on the couple before they had been half built. Rinoa and Quistis were standing by the two tents that they had erected proudly, giggling and pointing at Irvine and Selphie while making crude remarks about the craftsmenship of the tents they had built.
Laguna and Ward came back from the slight woods that they had trekked through earlier, arms full of branches for a fire, and laughed when they entered the clearing just in time to see another tent of Selphie's collapse on Irvine, who went down laughing.
"Well, I guess I'll be sleeping on the ground tonight." Laguna remarked, and Selphie turned to stare angrily at him. He put his hands in the air in a gesture of innocence, but Selphie crossed her arms across her chest and stomped off into one of the successfully erected tents.
Irvine pulled himself off the ground and watched her leave, winked at Rinoa and Quistis, then went into the tent after her. After a slight scuffle was heard from inside the tent, Irvine came running out, now hatless and with his clothes slightly ruffled and torn in a few places.
"Whoa... definately pms." He said, throwing Rinoa and Quistis another wink. They looked at him and giggled, then went back to work hooking up the small battery powered oven they'd brought from the Ragnorok, while Laguna, Kiros and Ward set up a perimeter around the camp.
Zell came walking into the clearing, scratching his head in confusion and looking as if he had just seen the walking dead.
"What's wrong Zell?" Quistis asked as he came in to sit on a stump of an old tree. He looked dazed, then shook his head to clear it.
"Have you ever heard of the ancient city of Verna?" He asked. Just then, Selphie came bouncing out of the tent, wearing Irvine's cowboy hat.
"Yeah, its the town that used to worship Griever but got banished into the crater when they stopped worshipping him. But its just a legend." She said, glancing over to where the terrain dropped off suddenly.
"Yeah, well thats what they said about Griever. Its real man. I went to the edge of the cliff, and that town man, its down there." Zell said, shaking his head as if he couldnt believe what he had seen. Rinoa and Quistis glanced at eachother, then shook their heads.
"Well, lets go see!" Selphie said, bouncing up and down excitedly. Irvine took that chance to grab his hat off of her head and make a run for it.
"Hey Laguna! We're going to the edge of the cliff, be right back!" Zell called. They left before he could answer, following Zell up a steep trail of crumbling rocks and moss towards the misty peak where the land dropped suddenly.
"Oh man, how much higher is this thing?" Selphie asked, panting. She stopped for a moment, her hands resting on her bent knees as she caught her breath.
"Tell me about it. Being a sorceress sure isnt helping me." Rinoa said, trying to act in good spirits, though her mind was occupied with thoughts of Squall and whether he was okay or not. She knew just as everyone else did that this little trek to the edge of the cliff was just something to keep their mind off of Squall, though they knew that Selphie was genuinely interested in seeing if the lost city of Verna really did reside deep down in the bowels of the crater.
Selphie bounced over to Irvine and put her arm around his shoulder, suddenly happy again.
"I'll lean on you Irvy!" She said, smiling and bating her eyelashes. He winked down at her and tipped his hat.
"Anytime little lady." He said with a smile. He tried to ignore the snickers from Rinoa and Quistis, who had suddenly seemed to become twin sisters at the onset of the trip.
"Right ahead guys. Man, thats so freaky." Zell called back. They jogged up the last couple of feet untill they were at the top of the cliff, and looked down through the fog.
"Whoa..." Selphie said. Way below, the tips of what had seemed to be mountains before were now revealed to be massive trees, with pods and houses hanging from branches and hidden in niches all along the top and th trunk, spiraling down until it was hidden underneath the fog. Life could be seen vaguely walking along archways and ramps and through the opaque pods in living areas.
"Uh guys, what if they can see us..?" Quistis asked nervously. The group edged back the tip of the cliff nervously, casting glances at the surrounding terrain.
Buh-Boom! Buh-boom! The thumping sound could be heard coming off from the right side of the cliff, getting louder as it came closer.
"Guys...? You all brought your weapons, right...?" Rinoa asked, her voice shaking nervously.
Suddenly the ground began to shake, causing Zell to lose his balance and roll to he edge of the cliff, where he managed to grab onto a branch before tumbling to a rocky death below.
"Zell!" The group called instantaneously. They rushed to the edge, and Quistis unraveled her whip, extending it down to where Zell could grab hold of it.
"Zell, grab on!" She yelled. Loosening one hand from his death grip on the branch, he reached up and grabbed on to the end of the whip, then shakily brought his other hand up and held for dear life while they began to pull him in.
"Pull!" Quistis yelled, while everyone grabbed onto eachother in a chain of people. Finally Zell was hoisted over the edge, and they all lay there panting for a moment until they noticed that even though the shaking had stopped, the noise hadnt, and was even closer than before, along with an enormous shadow that had fallen over them.
"Uh-oh..." Selphie said, looking up at the enormous form that stood over them. It was Griever.
"Time to fight guys!" Rinoa called, then rushed in and cast Ultima on Griever before the gf had a chance to attack.
Quistis came in behind her, swinging her Save the Queen at high speed towards the underbelly of the beast.
"Give us Squall back!" She screamed, swinging her whip again for a critical hit. Irvine backed her up, firing off bullets at high speed.
"Hey guys! Uh guys we got company!" Selphie screamed from where she knelt next to the panting Zell. Tiny pods that looked like ships were streaming over head, and began to fire off what looked to be little plasma balls towards Griever, hitting his wings and back.
In pain, Griever reared back and swiped at Rinoa with a massive clawed paw. She fell to the ground, clutching her torn side in agony.
"Rinoa!" Both Irvine and Quistis said. Griever prepared to attack again, and Irvine angrily shot off his armor bullets, hitting Griever hard and tearing a whole in his side while Quistis cast curaga on Rinoa.
"Thanks." Rinoa said, wiping dust off of her dress while standind up and preparing to attack again. She glanced at the pods above them as they came around for another pass.
They let loose their plasma cannons, hitting Griever where a hole had already been torn into his side, widening it, and Griver screamed in unholy pain. He spread his wing and jumped into the sky, then dived back down into the crater.
"What the hell?" Irvine asked, letting off a few more bullets into Greiver before he passed from range and into the fog below.
"I dont know, but we're about to find out." Selphie said, pointing to a pod that was coming in for a landing just a few meters from where they stood.
"Maybe they know where Squall is.." Rinoa said, though her voice lacked conviction and more nervousness than anything. The gathered together as the door of the pod opened and a familiar figure stepped through...
"Squall!"
Authors Note: Did that suck or is it just me? Well I tried my best. At least it had action, and I managed to not kill off any of the characters. Well please review! Review and I'll make the next chapter better and longer, I promise! Unless you give me bad reviews, then I'll be one of those authors who makes you wait like a year before putting out another chapter... *evil cackling laugh* hee hee :P
The trek to the edge of the plateau had taken almost four hours, the group were worn and torn by the time they got there and decided to make camp for the night in a small clearing surrounded by trees and sparse bushes. The scene was quite funny actually; Selphie and Irvine were trying to put up some tents, which subsequently collapsed on the couple before they had been half built. Rinoa and Quistis were standing by the two tents that they had erected proudly, giggling and pointing at Irvine and Selphie while making crude remarks about the craftsmenship of the tents they had built.
Laguna and Ward came back from the slight woods that they had trekked through earlier, arms full of branches for a fire, and laughed when they entered the clearing just in time to see another tent of Selphie's collapse on Irvine, who went down laughing.
"Well, I guess I'll be sleeping on the ground tonight." Laguna remarked, and Selphie turned to stare angrily at him. He put his hands in the air in a gesture of innocence, but Selphie crossed her arms across her chest and stomped off into one of the successfully erected tents.
Irvine pulled himself off the ground and watched her leave, winked at Rinoa and Quistis, then went into the tent after her. After a slight scuffle was heard from inside the tent, Irvine came running out, now hatless and with his clothes slightly ruffled and torn in a few places.
"Whoa... definately pms." He said, throwing Rinoa and Quistis another wink. They looked at him and giggled, then went back to work hooking up the small battery powered oven they'd brought from the Ragnorok, while Laguna, Kiros and Ward set up a perimeter around the camp.
Zell came walking into the clearing, scratching his head in confusion and looking as if he had just seen the walking dead.
"What's wrong Zell?" Quistis asked as he came in to sit on a stump of an old tree. He looked dazed, then shook his head to clear it.
"Have you ever heard of the ancient city of Verna?" He asked. Just then, Selphie came bouncing out of the tent, wearing Irvine's cowboy hat.
"Yeah, its the town that used to worship Griever but got banished into the crater when they stopped worshipping him. But its just a legend." She said, glancing over to where the terrain dropped off suddenly.
"Yeah, well thats what they said about Griever. Its real man. I went to the edge of the cliff, and that town man, its down there." Zell said, shaking his head as if he couldnt believe what he had seen. Rinoa and Quistis glanced at eachother, then shook their heads.
"Well, lets go see!" Selphie said, bouncing up and down excitedly. Irvine took that chance to grab his hat off of her head and make a run for it.
"Hey Laguna! We're going to the edge of the cliff, be right back!" Zell called. They left before he could answer, following Zell up a steep trail of crumbling rocks and moss towards the misty peak where the land dropped suddenly.
"Oh man, how much higher is this thing?" Selphie asked, panting. She stopped for a moment, her hands resting on her bent knees as she caught her breath.
"Tell me about it. Being a sorceress sure isnt helping me." Rinoa said, trying to act in good spirits, though her mind was occupied with thoughts of Squall and whether he was okay or not. She knew just as everyone else did that this little trek to the edge of the cliff was just something to keep their mind off of Squall, though they knew that Selphie was genuinely interested in seeing if the lost city of Verna really did reside deep down in the bowels of the crater.
Selphie bounced over to Irvine and put her arm around his shoulder, suddenly happy again.
"I'll lean on you Irvy!" She said, smiling and bating her eyelashes. He winked down at her and tipped his hat.
"Anytime little lady." He said with a smile. He tried to ignore the snickers from Rinoa and Quistis, who had suddenly seemed to become twin sisters at the onset of the trip.
"Right ahead guys. Man, thats so freaky." Zell called back. They jogged up the last couple of feet untill they were at the top of the cliff, and looked down through the fog.
"Whoa..." Selphie said. Way below, the tips of what had seemed to be mountains before were now revealed to be massive trees, with pods and houses hanging from branches and hidden in niches all along the top and th trunk, spiraling down until it was hidden underneath the fog. Life could be seen vaguely walking along archways and ramps and through the opaque pods in living areas.
"Uh guys, what if they can see us..?" Quistis asked nervously. The group edged back the tip of the cliff nervously, casting glances at the surrounding terrain.
Buh-Boom! Buh-boom! The thumping sound could be heard coming off from the right side of the cliff, getting louder as it came closer.
"Guys...? You all brought your weapons, right...?" Rinoa asked, her voice shaking nervously.
Suddenly the ground began to shake, causing Zell to lose his balance and roll to he edge of the cliff, where he managed to grab onto a branch before tumbling to a rocky death below.
"Zell!" The group called instantaneously. They rushed to the edge, and Quistis unraveled her whip, extending it down to where Zell could grab hold of it.
"Zell, grab on!" She yelled. Loosening one hand from his death grip on the branch, he reached up and grabbed on to the end of the whip, then shakily brought his other hand up and held for dear life while they began to pull him in.
"Pull!" Quistis yelled, while everyone grabbed onto eachother in a chain of people. Finally Zell was hoisted over the edge, and they all lay there panting for a moment until they noticed that even though the shaking had stopped, the noise hadnt, and was even closer than before, along with an enormous shadow that had fallen over them.
"Uh-oh..." Selphie said, looking up at the enormous form that stood over them. It was Griever.
"Time to fight guys!" Rinoa called, then rushed in and cast Ultima on Griever before the gf had a chance to attack.
Quistis came in behind her, swinging her Save the Queen at high speed towards the underbelly of the beast.
"Give us Squall back!" She screamed, swinging her whip again for a critical hit. Irvine backed her up, firing off bullets at high speed.
"Hey guys! Uh guys we got company!" Selphie screamed from where she knelt next to the panting Zell. Tiny pods that looked like ships were streaming over head, and began to fire off what looked to be little plasma balls towards Griever, hitting his wings and back.
In pain, Griever reared back and swiped at Rinoa with a massive clawed paw. She fell to the ground, clutching her torn side in agony.
"Rinoa!" Both Irvine and Quistis said. Griever prepared to attack again, and Irvine angrily shot off his armor bullets, hitting Griever hard and tearing a whole in his side while Quistis cast curaga on Rinoa.
"Thanks." Rinoa said, wiping dust off of her dress while standind up and preparing to attack again. She glanced at the pods above them as they came around for another pass.
They let loose their plasma cannons, hitting Griever where a hole had already been torn into his side, widening it, and Griver screamed in unholy pain. He spread his wing and jumped into the sky, then dived back down into the crater.
"What the hell?" Irvine asked, letting off a few more bullets into Greiver before he passed from range and into the fog below.
"I dont know, but we're about to find out." Selphie said, pointing to a pod that was coming in for a landing just a few meters from where they stood.
"Maybe they know where Squall is.." Rinoa said, though her voice lacked conviction and more nervousness than anything. The gathered together as the door of the pod opened and a familiar figure stepped through...
"Squall!"
Authors Note: Did that suck or is it just me? Well I tried my best. At least it had action, and I managed to not kill off any of the characters. Well please review! Review and I'll make the next chapter better and longer, I promise! Unless you give me bad reviews, then I'll be one of those authors who makes you wait like a year before putting out another chapter... *evil cackling laugh* hee hee :P