Chapter 3: Norn At Last
The SEED car trundled up to the top of the hill overlooking Norn. As Squall and his team got out of their vehicle, a grim spectacle awaited them.
'What the hell happened here?' Fuujin was half-screaming as they faced the destroyed town. The once proud walls and turrets of Norn now lay in smoke and ashes, a city that it had taken 600 years to build now lay in ruins and desolation. Even more sickening were the row of disembodied heads attached to every spike off the outer wall, mysteriously left almost intact.
The grey-haired mercenary retched at the scene, her heart almost bursting with worry for her hero, Seifer.
'SEIFERRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' Fuujin's voice told of her internal agony, fear and pain as Rinoa wrapped a soothing arm around her.
Squall, seeing his squad fall apart, had to act. 'Alright, we're going in. Everybody, pull out your weapons and charge up your materia.'
He heard a familiar click as Rinoa loaded her discus.
They entered the city quietly, dominated by the tall buildings all dilapidated. Squall, wanting to maintain a silent approach, gestured for Raijin to scout ahead. Raijin had barely turned the next corner when a roar was heard.
'GUYS!!! HELP!!!'
Squall gripped his gunblade as he ran to where Raijin was standing. His call for help had been very reasonable. Raijin was twirling his staff, nervously facing four long, black, Spiderosses. Their twisted grins gave them an almost ghoulish look and their long fingers seemed to beckon to them. Squall positioned himself to Raijin's left and circled behind the enemy. 'Watch out, Rai, one touch from their nails and you're a goner.'
Suddenly, the Spiderosses attacked, two lashing out at Raijin and two at Squall. Squall acted on instinct, ducking under the combined attack on him and lifting his gunblade, violently scythed through the midsection of one of them and landing on his feet. As the Spideross screamed as it died, Squall shot a quick look at Raijin. His metal-tipped staff had caught one on the head, knocking it out but the other was flailing dangerously near Raijin's face, his staff a blur as he did his best to block all the Spideross' attacks.
'YEEEEEEEEEEEEE!' Squall heard his aggressor's wail as it almost swam through the air, trying to scratch his face. Squall blocked both of his enemy's swipes and slashed through the air, his gunblade catching his opponent on the head. He pulled the trigger as he felt it connect, and saw it go limp. The last Spideross had been felled by Rinoa as she rounded the corner and the team collected their breath.
'Guys, this is too strange. Those creatures were minions of Edea when she turned to evil but I thought they'd all been destroyed.' muttered Raijin, irate at having been caught off guard.
A scrabbling noise behind them made the party whirl around, expecting another attack. Fuujin, despite having only one good eye, caught sight of a blur of movement. 'Over there. Look, two kids.' Indeed, two kids who appeared to have been spying on them were frantically trying to scrabble up the remnant of what had been a small house.
'Hey, kids, wait. We won't hurt you.' Rinoa's call had no effect as the children continued to climb, seemingly petrified at the fighters below them.
Rinoa closed her eyes for a second before emitting a piercing whistle. The padding of feet behind them indicated Angelo's arrival. 'Angelo, round up those children. But don't hurt them. Just bring them to us.'
Angelo took off like a bullet, overtaking the kids in a matter of seconds and hauling them onto his back. As he dropped them lightly in front of his mistress, Squall knelt down to be on eye-level with them. The boy must have been about eight, the girl about five clutching a small Chocobo toy to her chest.
'Listen, children, we won't hurt you. We're agents of SEED….UHF!'
Squall was interrupted mid-sentence by a kick to the face by the boy, standing in front of the girl as if to protect her.
'You baddies go away. It was you who did this.'
A puzzled look came over Rinoa's face as Fuujin laughed out loud at a mere child attacking the leader of SEED.
'What do you mean? We just got here.'
'That man said you were from SEED.' said the boy, pointing at Squall. 'Well, the bad man who killed everyone said he was from SEED and that more like him would come to hurt us.'
The four friends looked at each other, aghast at this news. Rinoa was the first to recover from the shock as she spoke again.
'Could you describe him to us, please?'
The little girl moved from behind her brother's shoulder.
'Yes, he was t-tall with short b-bl-blond hair and a big scar on his face. He killed everyone with his g-g-gunsword.'
Squall's eyebrows almost met his hair as Fuujin and Raijin's faces contorted with horror.
'No, n-not Seifer.' whined Fuujin as she collapsed to the ground, sobbing quietly. Raijin remained silent, trying to hide his pain.
Rinoa and Squall's eyes met as each looked to the other for comfort.
'No, I refuse to believe Seifer has turned back to evil again. He had changed so much.' Squall almost shouted as he punched the nearest wall.
Just above the group, a tall grey-haired man stood watching them. As he turned away, a wry smile appeared on one corner of his mouth.
'Fools, they're walking right into the trap.'
The SEED car trundled up to the top of the hill overlooking Norn. As Squall and his team got out of their vehicle, a grim spectacle awaited them.
'What the hell happened here?' Fuujin was half-screaming as they faced the destroyed town. The once proud walls and turrets of Norn now lay in smoke and ashes, a city that it had taken 600 years to build now lay in ruins and desolation. Even more sickening were the row of disembodied heads attached to every spike off the outer wall, mysteriously left almost intact.
The grey-haired mercenary retched at the scene, her heart almost bursting with worry for her hero, Seifer.
'SEIFERRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!' Fuujin's voice told of her internal agony, fear and pain as Rinoa wrapped a soothing arm around her.
Squall, seeing his squad fall apart, had to act. 'Alright, we're going in. Everybody, pull out your weapons and charge up your materia.'
He heard a familiar click as Rinoa loaded her discus.
They entered the city quietly, dominated by the tall buildings all dilapidated. Squall, wanting to maintain a silent approach, gestured for Raijin to scout ahead. Raijin had barely turned the next corner when a roar was heard.
'GUYS!!! HELP!!!'
Squall gripped his gunblade as he ran to where Raijin was standing. His call for help had been very reasonable. Raijin was twirling his staff, nervously facing four long, black, Spiderosses. Their twisted grins gave them an almost ghoulish look and their long fingers seemed to beckon to them. Squall positioned himself to Raijin's left and circled behind the enemy. 'Watch out, Rai, one touch from their nails and you're a goner.'
Suddenly, the Spiderosses attacked, two lashing out at Raijin and two at Squall. Squall acted on instinct, ducking under the combined attack on him and lifting his gunblade, violently scythed through the midsection of one of them and landing on his feet. As the Spideross screamed as it died, Squall shot a quick look at Raijin. His metal-tipped staff had caught one on the head, knocking it out but the other was flailing dangerously near Raijin's face, his staff a blur as he did his best to block all the Spideross' attacks.
'YEEEEEEEEEEEEE!' Squall heard his aggressor's wail as it almost swam through the air, trying to scratch his face. Squall blocked both of his enemy's swipes and slashed through the air, his gunblade catching his opponent on the head. He pulled the trigger as he felt it connect, and saw it go limp. The last Spideross had been felled by Rinoa as she rounded the corner and the team collected their breath.
'Guys, this is too strange. Those creatures were minions of Edea when she turned to evil but I thought they'd all been destroyed.' muttered Raijin, irate at having been caught off guard.
A scrabbling noise behind them made the party whirl around, expecting another attack. Fuujin, despite having only one good eye, caught sight of a blur of movement. 'Over there. Look, two kids.' Indeed, two kids who appeared to have been spying on them were frantically trying to scrabble up the remnant of what had been a small house.
'Hey, kids, wait. We won't hurt you.' Rinoa's call had no effect as the children continued to climb, seemingly petrified at the fighters below them.
Rinoa closed her eyes for a second before emitting a piercing whistle. The padding of feet behind them indicated Angelo's arrival. 'Angelo, round up those children. But don't hurt them. Just bring them to us.'
Angelo took off like a bullet, overtaking the kids in a matter of seconds and hauling them onto his back. As he dropped them lightly in front of his mistress, Squall knelt down to be on eye-level with them. The boy must have been about eight, the girl about five clutching a small Chocobo toy to her chest.
'Listen, children, we won't hurt you. We're agents of SEED….UHF!'
Squall was interrupted mid-sentence by a kick to the face by the boy, standing in front of the girl as if to protect her.
'You baddies go away. It was you who did this.'
A puzzled look came over Rinoa's face as Fuujin laughed out loud at a mere child attacking the leader of SEED.
'What do you mean? We just got here.'
'That man said you were from SEED.' said the boy, pointing at Squall. 'Well, the bad man who killed everyone said he was from SEED and that more like him would come to hurt us.'
The four friends looked at each other, aghast at this news. Rinoa was the first to recover from the shock as she spoke again.
'Could you describe him to us, please?'
The little girl moved from behind her brother's shoulder.
'Yes, he was t-tall with short b-bl-blond hair and a big scar on his face. He killed everyone with his g-g-gunsword.'
Squall's eyebrows almost met his hair as Fuujin and Raijin's faces contorted with horror.
'No, n-not Seifer.' whined Fuujin as she collapsed to the ground, sobbing quietly. Raijin remained silent, trying to hide his pain.
Rinoa and Squall's eyes met as each looked to the other for comfort.
'No, I refuse to believe Seifer has turned back to evil again. He had changed so much.' Squall almost shouted as he punched the nearest wall.
Just above the group, a tall grey-haired man stood watching them. As he turned away, a wry smile appeared on one corner of his mouth.
'Fools, they're walking right into the trap.'
