Disclaimer- All characters and locations of FF8 belong to Squaresoft. Not me. However, Shinji and all made up characters are mine.
The man had been walking for hours. He had left the flowerbed long ago, and found himself on grasslands. He kept walking, fighting monsters with the blade he had picked up. He found he was very good, even if he didn't remember ever training with it. The movements he made while fighting weren't thought about. They were instinct. He was glad he was able to defend himself, even if the monsters weren't very strong. The land seemed to stretch endlessly.
Eventually, he came to a small village. It didn't look very inviting, but he had no where else to go. He hadn't had any magic on him to cure himself, so he was weak from the battles he had fought.
He walked through the street of the village. Although the roads were deserted, he felt he was being watch by many people. He came to what looked like a town square. There were a couple of kids playing on the side of the road, but when they saw him, fear was evident in their faces as they ran into the nearest house.
The man felt stupid for scaring off children when he had done nothing wrong. He saw a pub, and decided to ask someone for help. He walked in, but it was empty. He went to the stairs he saw and started to climb them, hoping someone was upstairs he could talk to.
When he had taken three steps up the stairs, the door at the end of the stairs was flung open, and an elder, plump woman, carrying a broom, came rushing out.
"Ahhhhhh!!!!!' the charging woman screamed as she tried to swat the man with the broom.
"What the…" the man said as he dodged the broom swing for swing. "Hey lady, stop, will you!? I need to ask you where I am!!" he yelled.
"What do you want? Who sent you? Whoever did won't be getting you back. YAAA!!!!" the lady yelled in between swats as she continued to try to knock his head off.
Having no choice, the man decided to disarm her of the broom. Seeing the broom coming for his head, he grabbed her wrist, and wrestled the broom out of her hand. He then leaped back and laid the broom on the wall behind him. "I'll say it again, lady. I need to ask you were I am. I don't know who you think I am, but I need some answers."
"Why should I believe you? You could have come to hurt our village," she said breathing heavily while giving him her most intense stare.
"Look me in the eye, and tell me you don't believe me."
The woman stared him hard in the eyes. She couldn't see anything that said he was lying. She relaxed slightly. "Fine. What do you want to know?"
"First, I'd like to know where I am."
"Why don't you know?" the lady asked curiously.
"I've lost my memories," the man said matter-of-factly.
"I see. You're in the village of Winhill."
"Thank you. Do you have any thing to drink I can buy? I have a few gil." The man said as he pulled out some gil.
"Yeah right over here. Hey, what's your name anyway?" the lady asked as she went behind to bar to grab something to drink for the young man.
"I don't remember. Just call me… Lyle right now, until I can remember." the man said as he came over to help her make the drinks. He was mildly surprised he knew how to do it.
"Ok then Lyle. Here you g…"
"What the hell are you doing here?" a young man, who looked around the age of Lyle, hollered as he threw open the doors of the pub. "This isn't you're town! I command you to leave!"
"Aw shut up Shinji. He's a guest here. Treat him like one." the lady, who was just trying to beat Lyle down with a broom, said.
"Mrs. Quin, he doesn't belong here! You know it just as well as I do! I say we kick him out right now!" Shinji said stubbornly.
"Shinji, meet Lyle. He will be staying with me until he is ready to leave." Mrs. Quin said as she cast a gaze at Lyle, then turned her stare back to Shinji.
"Whatever." Shinji said stubbornly.
Lyle's mind suddenly spaced out. That word…. was something he should know. Someone in his past always said that word. He just couldn't remember who.
Shinji walked up to Lyle, and stood right in front of him. Each boy sized each other up. Although Shinji was shorter than Lyle was, by 3 or 4 inches, it was obvious Shinji would be able to hold his own in a battle against him. What surprised Lyle, however, was when Shinji held out his hand. "Although I don't like you being here, it doesn't mean you're a bad person. As long as you don't cause trouble, I won't complain."
"Deal." Lyle said as he grasped Shinji's hand in his own. Each boy applied more pressure than was need, just to test each other's strength. Mrs. Quin watched with keen interest. She could tell they would become close friends with time.
Two Months Later…
Everything had been going along smoothly. Lyle had been welcomed into the village, with the help of Mrs. Quin, although it took quite a while for everyone to accept him, considering what had happened last time when they had allowed an outsider to stay with them. Shinji and Lyle had been hanging out all the time since their shaky first encounter. They had become the best of friends.
Lyle knew this wasn't the way he acted before he lost his memory. He remem-bered bits and pieces of his past. He knew he was a mean person, because of all the times he had taunted a boy with blond spiky hair, although he couldn't remember the boy's name.
He also remembered a face with a scar identical to his own. He didn't know why he remembered this man, or why they had their scars, but he knew the man had his utmost respect, even if Lyle didn't particularly like him.
"Lyle!" Shinji said as he waved his hand in front of his friend's face.
"W…what?" Lyle said as he came out of his stupor.
"Did you want to go fight some monsters? I need to practice." Shinji said as he held his staff in his hands.
"Yeah, lets go." Lyle said as he pulled his gunblade out of its holster. He had discovered the name from a man who worked in the shop. The two boys made their way out into the wilderness surrounding Winhill.
The two boys were thrust into battle with a thrustaevis and a geezard. The geezard was able to attack first. It viciously slashed Shinji in the gut. Shinji had a look of pure rage on his face. He had went to battle with low HP on purpose so he could try out a new limit break he had come up with.
"Desert Sand Cyclone." Shinji said as he twirled his staff in front of him. Sand began to come out of the middle where his hands were twirling the staff. He was twirling so fast, you could hardly see the staff. The sand spread until it was covering the whole spinning staff. He thrust the staff skywards with both hands, and started to spin with the staff above him. A storm of sand started to form around him and grow thicker and thicker. The human cyclone moved towards the thrustaevis and the geezard. They were brought into the cyclone, and were beaten with the sand twirling around them. The storm suddenly stopped and they fell to the earth as Shinji jumped back to his spot beside Lyle. Each monster fell to the ground, dead.
"Very impressive." Lyle said as they began to walk.
"Thanks. I've been working with that move for the longest time." Shinji said.
"Now it's my turn to show you my move." Lyle said and smirked as they were thrust into another battle with two geezards.
It was Lyle's turn to attack first so he decided to use his Limit Break. "Satanic Demise." he said, bringing his sword up straight into the air very slowly. He then slashed the sword down in an arc, releasing a bolt of red fire energy. The fire raced at one of the geezards and engulfed it in flames. It was roasted alive as the fire quickly extinguished. Shinji quickly finished off the other geezard.
"Gosh man. That was good!" Shinji said as the two walked back to Winhill.
"Thanks," Lyle said, suddenly becoming subdued.
"What's wrong?" Shinji said worried.
"It's time for me to leave, and find out about my past," Lyle said.
"What?" You can't leave!" Shinji exclaimed.
"I gotta. I gotta find out who I am." Lyle said quietly.
"Fine. I'm going with you," Shinji said in a tone that left no argument.
Lyle was glad he had such a friend to count on. The past few months had been hard. He had done everything to remember his past, but it seemed like his mind refused to tell him. He remembered very little. "I'm leaving in the morning tomorrow if you're set on going."
"I'll be ready," Shinji said as they opened the door of the pub to get something to drink to cool down.
Side note- In case you haven't figured it out, the man is Seifer. I know he's waaay out of character right now, but don't flame me for it. I'll explain in later chapters.
I know I know I know!!! Story is moving slow. I'm getting there though… Anywayz, remember to R&R and tell me to continue!!! Bye! -Tuxy