Disclaimer: You know I don't own anything, I know I don't own anything.
So let's just call it real.
Chapter 2
A rough, calloused hand grabbed firmly on to Rinoa's own, much to her surprise. She was suddenly being pulled up from the edge of the mountain path.
She suddenly found herself in the arms of her blue-eyed captor as he pulled here up to her feet. He let her go and stumbled back from her. She realized then that he was badly hurt.
"How...?" Rinoa began but didn't get the chance to finish.
"I need...help," he managed to choke out before he started to fall forward.
Rinoa threw her arms around him and tried to catch him, but his weight was too much and carried them both to their knees.
"What happened?!" Rinoa cried, but he didn't answer. It occured to her then that he must have been in the carriage for some reason.
She turned him over to find that he was unconscious and bleeding. There was a small, but thick peice of wood embedded in his side and a shallow gash across his chest. The back of his hair was matted with blood.
"Oh no!" a voice exclaimed from behind Rinoa. "Is he hurt badly?"
Rinoa turned to see a young woman with short brown hair and bright green eyes standing behind her. She was dressed in a plain, dusty brown robe and was being followed by other, similarly dressed people. All of which were shorter than the average person.
"Who are you?" Rinoa demanded.
"We are the mountain people. Can't you tell?"
Rinoa thought for a moment, trying to gather all the information she knew about the mountain people. They were said to be a kind, peaceful people.
"Can you help him?" Rinoa asked.
"Of course. Is he very badly hurt?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so. Please! You have to do something fast!"
The girl walked over to Rinoa and looked him over.
"Gosh, this is bad!" she exclaimed then motioned for some of the others to come.
Two men came over and picked him up to carry him away some where.
"Where are you taking him?!" Rinoa demanded.
"Follow me," the girl said. "My name is Selphie. I'm the medicine woman of the mountain people. I'll be the one that takes care of him. They're taking him to the infirmary now."
Selphie led Rinoa the rest of the way up the winding mountain path, until they came to the top. There was a wide door there that was made of stone, so that you could barely tell it was a door and not just the mountain.
On the other side of the door was a narrow tunnel that sloped downward. After a bit of walking, the tunnel came out to a large balcony that was carved out of the mountain wall, which overlooked a vast, open cavern. Below, mountain people could be seen walking to various other tunnels or lifts. Those heading to the lifts carried shovels, picks, drills, and other such tools.
"Our economy is based on the mining of precious gems along with valuable minerals and metals located in this mountain and those surrounding it. We use whatever we can, and trade all the excess," Selphie explained. "We also gather special medical herbs that grow in the valleys. Most of them help to speed up one's recovery. They're very important in my line of work, but are also useful for trade, whenever we have enough."
There was a lift on the side of the balcony that took Rinoa an Selphie down into the cavern. The people there would give a nod or wave of greeting to Rinoa, but didn't stop their traveling. Some didn't even notice the precense of the outsider.
"We're all mostly workaholics here. Very busy people. We want to be polite, but if it interferes with what we're doing, they we just have to forget about it," Selphie said.
Selphie led Rinoa too a tunnel on the other side of the room. The wall next to the tunnel opening was marked with some kind of strange writing. They traveled a short distance through the tunnel until it opened up to a small cavern. There were tables spaced at even distances from each other with small side tables accompanying them. Squall lay on one of the tables toward the back, near a large, oak desk and wooden cabinet.
"It shouldn't take me too long to tend to his wounds. He'll need a while to rest, though. In the mean time, you can go have a look around. Carbuncle, my pet dragon, will be your guide. I suggest going shopping at the market. There are a lot of things here that you can't find anywhere else."
"Sounds good," Rinoa said, half-heartedly. "Are you sure he'll be alright, though?"
Selphie smiled. "Of course. I can practically bring people back from the dead. Or the herbs can, anyway."
With that, she called Carbuncle, who lept out from behind the desk and grinned.
"I'm Carbuncle," he introduced himself in a small, strange voice. "I'll be your guide while you're here. Where would you like to go?"
"I guess I'll go to the market," Rinoa said, thinking it best to take Selphie's advice.
"Follow me, then," he said, bouncing along in front of her.
At any other time, Rinoa would've thought he was cute, but at the time, she was just to worried. Despite that fact that he had kidnapped her, and had the most foul attitude she'd even seen, memories of their first meeting plagued her mind and brought from her a deep sympathy, and even a bit of caring. And something in the back of her mind kept thinking that if he could be so sweet (if you could call it that) on their first meeting, then perhaps he really was, deep down.
Despite these thoughts rapidly churning through her head, she allowed Carbuncle to give her a tour around the small city the mountain people had built. At last, they ended up at the market, which was fairly empty that time of day.
"What do you have an interest in?" Carbuncle asked.
Rinoa shrugged. "Jewelry, I guess. Weapons would be useful, too."
He showed her to a stand with all kinds of beautiful jewelry, including a strange looking necklace with the head of a lion on it. She thought it looked familiar as well as pretty, so decided she would buy it. She had earlier discovered, upon the exploration of the pockets in Quistis's skirt, that there was a rather large wad of gil wrapped up in thin brown paper. So she used that gil to buy the necklace. It was made of a strange, beautiful metal, that she liked.
After that, she was shown to a weapons table. She had decided she would buy something more useful than than the small, folding knife that was still hidden in her boot, but that could be easily hidden. It would make it easier to escape from Squall.
After a bit of browsing, she finally found something to her liking. It was long dagger made of that same strange metal. It had a black handle with deep blue sapphires embedded in it and had a pair of angel wings carved on the blade lengthwise, that were seperated by an artistic design. It came with a black leather scabbard and small strap. After making the purchase, she hooked the strap around her upper thigh so that the dagger was well hidden beneath her long skirt.
She then wandered over to the clothing section, where she got a very rude surprise.
"So, you thought you could escape into the mountains, did you?"
Rinoa stared in disbelief at the soldier in front of her. It was one of her father's top officers.
"Well, Emperor Caraway won't allow this type of behavior. You're coming with us immediately. We'll be resting here, then returning home tomorrow. And you, Princess, will be staying in a room with me," he said, grinning at her as if to imply something.
"You disgusting bastard!" Rinoa exclaimed. "If you dare touch me, my father will have your head!"
He looked at her with both an amused and aroused gleam in his eye. "Oh, Princess. You're so hot when you're angry. Anyway, do you really think your father cares what happens to you? He wouldn't have bothered to come looking for you were you not to be married to Sir Almasy in a week. And Almasy certainly doesn't care what happens to you."
Rinoa started to back away, but the officer grabbed her by the wrist and began placing her hands in places they shouldn't be.
"Come on, Princess. You know you've been waiting for a guy just like me to come along."
"Get off me, you sick, twisted son-of-a-bitch!" she screamed, though didn't managed to gain anyone's attention. They were all too busy.
"Hey! She told you to get off of her!" a voice came from behind Rinoa.
She turned to find Squall, tired looking and bandeged up, standing behind them with his Gunblade drawn.
The soldier laughed, "And just who the hell do you think you are? You're not gonna kick anybody's ass in the state you're in."
"Wanna try me?"
He laughed again. "Sure. This isn't any of your business anyway, punk!"
He motioned for the others that were with him to attack. They all ran at Squall with their various weapons drawn. Meanwhile, the officer himself was still holding on to Rinoa, trying to force her into a kiss.
Squall swung his Gunblade, removing the head off of one of his opponet's shoulders. He then turned around and knocked the sword out of another one's hande before stabbing him through the chest. Down went another.
This unexpected victory caught the young officer's attention. Rinoa took the oppurtunity to knee him in the crotch, which sent him to his knees, crying like a baby.
At that moment, a loud whistle was blown and everything stopped. Selphie walked into the middle of the battle scene, followed by a bunch of armed, rough looking guys.
"This battle must stop immediately!" she exclaimed. "All of you must leave the premises as soon as your wounds have been tended to. We do not tolerate this type of mindless violence."
Squall put his Gunblade away, shrugging. The other, surviving officers, put their weapons away as well and went to stand beside their leader. Rinoa walked away from them as quickly as possible.
"Alright," Selphie said. "Good. You two don't appear to have any new wounds," she said, looking from Squall to Rinoa and back again. The rest of you, however, will be taken to the infirmary."
The tough looking guys that had followed Selphie went over to Caraway's soldiers and began to assist them in getting top the infirmary.
Selphie walked up to Squall. "I'm sorry, but I'll have to ask that both you and her leave," she said, gesturing toward Rinoa. "I know this probably wasn't your fault, but our customs are against fighting in public."
Squall nodded. "Understood."
"You must be lost," she continued. "I can't imagine any other reason for you to be here. We're a long way away from civilization. I'm afraid that I don't know how to get anywhere. We're rather disconnected from the rest of the world. Even our trading is done when visitors come here, not us there. I can't tell you which way to go, but I know someone who can. If you head east of here, you'll eventually come to a big river. Somewhere along that river will be a small white house. The River Lady lives there. If she likes you, she just might help you."
"River Lady?" Squall repeated.
Selphie nodded. "Yep. She's your best bet. Leave whenever you ready, so long as you're out of here by tomorrow morning. And be careful. Those herbs sped up your recovery drastically, but you're still not completely healed. Have a nice trip!"
Selphie turned and left then, for her presence was required in the infirmary. Meanwhile, Rinoa was trying to push through the gathered crowd to the exit. Yes, there was now an actual crowd. It seemed the only thing that could gain those people's attention was that whistle.
Rinoa was almost home free when she felt a strong hand lock around her wrist. She was turned around and brought face to face with Squall.
"Did you really think you were getting away that easily?"
Rinoa opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
"You know, you'd really be amazed at how fast this crowd parts when you have a Gunblade in your hand," he explained.
She stuck her tongue out at him and tried to jerk her wrist away, but failed. She was then a bit starteled when he put a finger to the tip of her tongue and shoved it back into her mouth. She bit down on his finger, and gave him a triumphant look when she tasted blood. His leather gloves were in his pockets this time.
He jerked his finger back and scowled at her. "Do I need to gag you again?"
She turned her head away from him primly, and didn't reply.
"Fine then. I'd prefer you didn't talk. You talk far too much, anyway, and you have the most annoying voice I've ever heard."
Of course he didn't think this was true. Part of him wished she would say something, anything to him. He thought her voice was that of an angel.
At those words, she turned on him, her face flooded with anger. "Oh yeah! Well you're the biggest, ugliest asshole I've ever had the misfortune of laying my eyes on! And... and you smell like a grat!"
Of course she didn't think these things were true either. She thought he was the most gorgeous thing she'd ever set eyes on, though he did act like an asshole. And to her, he smelled far from a grat. His scent was intoxicating to her, threatening to make her lose control. But pride is a powerful force. One that will very often bring to people to say things they know aren't true.
Squall turned to her, a scowl darkening his features. "Just shut up and start moving," he growled.
He began to pull her forward, but stopped when he saw a stand that sold chains made of that same glittering, nearly indestructable metal. He bought a fairly descent sized one, then continued dragging Rinoa along. She was tempted to ask what his intentions were with it, but remembered his order and decided that for once, she actually wanted to obey.
The two left the mountian people's city behind, knowing they had a long journey ahead them. Since they both refused to speak to the other, they were left with only their thoughts to keep them entertained.
(Does he really think I talk to much? And that I have an annoying voice?) Rinoa thought.
(Does she really think I'm ugly?) Squall thought, running a hand through his hair, self-consiously. (I know I can act like an asshole. Does she really think I smell bad? And does she honestly think I'm the most ugly man she's ever seen?) The image of Rinoa crossing her room in the darkness, allowing her towel to flutter to the ground flashed through his mind. (Well, compared to her, I'm nothing. She must have guys throwing themselves at her all the time. In fact, she's probably got some other guy on her mind at this very moment.)
(I wonder if he's actually attatched to anyone) she thought. (I mean, Quistis says that she's his... but. Does he really hate the way I talk? How does he think I look? Does he think I look better than her?)
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When it started to get dark, Squall decided that it was time they stopped traveling. They had come to a clearing in the forest, that would've made a nice place for a camp. If they had any supplies for a camp, that is.
Rinoa was tempted to ask Squall what they were going to do, but in all the time they had been traveling, neither had broke their vow of silence. She didn't intend to be the first.
"We'll just have to make do," Squall said at last. "This place seems fairly safe, anyway. So, I'll leave you here for a moment so you can do whatever you have to do to get ready for sleep," he said and walked out of the clearing.
She grinned to herself and started to walk to the other side of the clearing.
"And don't bother trying to run away. You won't get very far," Squall called from the darkness of the surrounding forest. "You have five minutes. Make good use of them."
"Damn you!" Rinoa hissed in a low voice that she thought couldn't be heard.
"I heard that," he called.
"Did you?" Rinoa asked sarcastically. "Okay then. I'm sorry. What I should really say is, fuck you!"
Silence. She grinned, satisfied, then wondered if maybe, he was watching her. After all, she couldn't see into the darkness of the forest. The wild thought ran through her head that she might could seduce him into letting her go. But no, she wouldn't have to do that. She could easily get away while he was sleeping tonight.
She slid her boots off and placed them at the edge of the clearing, then finished her other business. Afterward she called to Squall that she was finished.
He came back into the clearing with the chain ready in his hand.
"Exactly what do you intend to do with that?" Rinoa demanded.
He grabbed her around the wrist and wound the chain in a knot around her wrist, then knotted the other end around his own. There was still a good bit of length between the two ends, but now there was no chance of her escaping.
"I'll sleep on this end, you sleep on that end," he said, walking as far away from her as he could.
She silently cursed him as she walked to her end. Once again, he had managed to ruin her plans.
"You know something?" she said.
"What?"
"I hate you."
"Do you think I care?"
"You don't care about anything!" she cried out suddenly. "You'd slaughter a child if someone gave you gil for it!"
He was silent for a moment then said, "Just shut up and go to sleep."
"You may be able to chain me down, but you can't tell me what to do," she shot back. "You don't anything to use for a gag this time."
"I'll bust all your teeth out if I have to."
"You're welcome to come over here and try."
"Is that a threat?"
"What the hell does it sound like, a compliment? If you'd prefer, I'll come over there."
"Just shut up, dammit! I'm tired of hearing your shit!"
"Ugly ass son-of-a-bitch," Rinoa muttered as she felt tears come to her eyes.
(You will NOT let him get to you) she thought.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Squall suddenly asked, "Why were you trying to get away from your father's soldiers?"
"You knew they were my father's soldiers?"
"Yeah. It wasn't hard to tell since they were all decked out in uniform."
Rinoa sighed. "I don't want to go back to my father. I hate him. He never cared about what happened to me. And I hate everything about the palace I lived in. I don't want to go back. I wouldn't mind staying here forever. If you weren't trying to deliver me to a killer, that is."
She realized suddenly what she had implied and cursed herself. She hadn't meant to put it that way. Had she?
"Here?" he asked in a near whisper. "With..." he didn't finish his sentence.
Her early thought came back to her mind. He was showing weakness. This was her oppurtunity. She had to take it.
She stood slowly and walked over to him, careful not to let the chain rattle. The next thing Squall knew, she was kneeling down beside him, so close to him that he could feel her breath on his lips.
"What-" he started to ask, but was cut off when she pressed her lips to his. Memories of the party rushed back to him, stealing away his will to pull away from her.
She brushed her tongue across his lips, begging for entrance. He complied happily and moaned into her mouth at the feeling. She ran her hands up his shirt and over his chest, losing herself in the feel of him. Suddenly she cared nothing about getting away from him. That was the last place she wanted to be.
He wrapped an arm around her waist and rolled over, so that he was on top of her.
He sat up, never breaking their kiss, and she propped herself up on one arm, using the other to run through his silky brown hair. He ran his hand from her ankle to her knee, then eased up her blue satin skirt, allowing his hand to ride up her bare thigh. He broke away from her lips and started down her neck, just as his hand hit the scabbard of her new knife.
Rinoa gasped, and his eyes fluttered open. He suddenly pulled the knife out and raised it over his head, bringing it down on someone or something behind Rinoa.
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A/N: Sorry I kept you waiting so long. Things always seem to get in the way of my writing. Well, I know there's probably no one reading this, but incase someone is, do you think this is getting too trashy? Or are the romance scenes okay? Does it totally suck? Please R&R!!!!
Chapter 2
A rough, calloused hand grabbed firmly on to Rinoa's own, much to her surprise. She was suddenly being pulled up from the edge of the mountain path.
She suddenly found herself in the arms of her blue-eyed captor as he pulled here up to her feet. He let her go and stumbled back from her. She realized then that he was badly hurt.
"How...?" Rinoa began but didn't get the chance to finish.
"I need...help," he managed to choke out before he started to fall forward.
Rinoa threw her arms around him and tried to catch him, but his weight was too much and carried them both to their knees.
"What happened?!" Rinoa cried, but he didn't answer. It occured to her then that he must have been in the carriage for some reason.
She turned him over to find that he was unconscious and bleeding. There was a small, but thick peice of wood embedded in his side and a shallow gash across his chest. The back of his hair was matted with blood.
"Oh no!" a voice exclaimed from behind Rinoa. "Is he hurt badly?"
Rinoa turned to see a young woman with short brown hair and bright green eyes standing behind her. She was dressed in a plain, dusty brown robe and was being followed by other, similarly dressed people. All of which were shorter than the average person.
"Who are you?" Rinoa demanded.
"We are the mountain people. Can't you tell?"
Rinoa thought for a moment, trying to gather all the information she knew about the mountain people. They were said to be a kind, peaceful people.
"Can you help him?" Rinoa asked.
"Of course. Is he very badly hurt?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so. Please! You have to do something fast!"
The girl walked over to Rinoa and looked him over.
"Gosh, this is bad!" she exclaimed then motioned for some of the others to come.
Two men came over and picked him up to carry him away some where.
"Where are you taking him?!" Rinoa demanded.
"Follow me," the girl said. "My name is Selphie. I'm the medicine woman of the mountain people. I'll be the one that takes care of him. They're taking him to the infirmary now."
Selphie led Rinoa the rest of the way up the winding mountain path, until they came to the top. There was a wide door there that was made of stone, so that you could barely tell it was a door and not just the mountain.
On the other side of the door was a narrow tunnel that sloped downward. After a bit of walking, the tunnel came out to a large balcony that was carved out of the mountain wall, which overlooked a vast, open cavern. Below, mountain people could be seen walking to various other tunnels or lifts. Those heading to the lifts carried shovels, picks, drills, and other such tools.
"Our economy is based on the mining of precious gems along with valuable minerals and metals located in this mountain and those surrounding it. We use whatever we can, and trade all the excess," Selphie explained. "We also gather special medical herbs that grow in the valleys. Most of them help to speed up one's recovery. They're very important in my line of work, but are also useful for trade, whenever we have enough."
There was a lift on the side of the balcony that took Rinoa an Selphie down into the cavern. The people there would give a nod or wave of greeting to Rinoa, but didn't stop their traveling. Some didn't even notice the precense of the outsider.
"We're all mostly workaholics here. Very busy people. We want to be polite, but if it interferes with what we're doing, they we just have to forget about it," Selphie said.
Selphie led Rinoa too a tunnel on the other side of the room. The wall next to the tunnel opening was marked with some kind of strange writing. They traveled a short distance through the tunnel until it opened up to a small cavern. There were tables spaced at even distances from each other with small side tables accompanying them. Squall lay on one of the tables toward the back, near a large, oak desk and wooden cabinet.
"It shouldn't take me too long to tend to his wounds. He'll need a while to rest, though. In the mean time, you can go have a look around. Carbuncle, my pet dragon, will be your guide. I suggest going shopping at the market. There are a lot of things here that you can't find anywhere else."
"Sounds good," Rinoa said, half-heartedly. "Are you sure he'll be alright, though?"
Selphie smiled. "Of course. I can practically bring people back from the dead. Or the herbs can, anyway."
With that, she called Carbuncle, who lept out from behind the desk and grinned.
"I'm Carbuncle," he introduced himself in a small, strange voice. "I'll be your guide while you're here. Where would you like to go?"
"I guess I'll go to the market," Rinoa said, thinking it best to take Selphie's advice.
"Follow me, then," he said, bouncing along in front of her.
At any other time, Rinoa would've thought he was cute, but at the time, she was just to worried. Despite that fact that he had kidnapped her, and had the most foul attitude she'd even seen, memories of their first meeting plagued her mind and brought from her a deep sympathy, and even a bit of caring. And something in the back of her mind kept thinking that if he could be so sweet (if you could call it that) on their first meeting, then perhaps he really was, deep down.
Despite these thoughts rapidly churning through her head, she allowed Carbuncle to give her a tour around the small city the mountain people had built. At last, they ended up at the market, which was fairly empty that time of day.
"What do you have an interest in?" Carbuncle asked.
Rinoa shrugged. "Jewelry, I guess. Weapons would be useful, too."
He showed her to a stand with all kinds of beautiful jewelry, including a strange looking necklace with the head of a lion on it. She thought it looked familiar as well as pretty, so decided she would buy it. She had earlier discovered, upon the exploration of the pockets in Quistis's skirt, that there was a rather large wad of gil wrapped up in thin brown paper. So she used that gil to buy the necklace. It was made of a strange, beautiful metal, that she liked.
After that, she was shown to a weapons table. She had decided she would buy something more useful than than the small, folding knife that was still hidden in her boot, but that could be easily hidden. It would make it easier to escape from Squall.
After a bit of browsing, she finally found something to her liking. It was long dagger made of that same strange metal. It had a black handle with deep blue sapphires embedded in it and had a pair of angel wings carved on the blade lengthwise, that were seperated by an artistic design. It came with a black leather scabbard and small strap. After making the purchase, she hooked the strap around her upper thigh so that the dagger was well hidden beneath her long skirt.
She then wandered over to the clothing section, where she got a very rude surprise.
"So, you thought you could escape into the mountains, did you?"
Rinoa stared in disbelief at the soldier in front of her. It was one of her father's top officers.
"Well, Emperor Caraway won't allow this type of behavior. You're coming with us immediately. We'll be resting here, then returning home tomorrow. And you, Princess, will be staying in a room with me," he said, grinning at her as if to imply something.
"You disgusting bastard!" Rinoa exclaimed. "If you dare touch me, my father will have your head!"
He looked at her with both an amused and aroused gleam in his eye. "Oh, Princess. You're so hot when you're angry. Anyway, do you really think your father cares what happens to you? He wouldn't have bothered to come looking for you were you not to be married to Sir Almasy in a week. And Almasy certainly doesn't care what happens to you."
Rinoa started to back away, but the officer grabbed her by the wrist and began placing her hands in places they shouldn't be.
"Come on, Princess. You know you've been waiting for a guy just like me to come along."
"Get off me, you sick, twisted son-of-a-bitch!" she screamed, though didn't managed to gain anyone's attention. They were all too busy.
"Hey! She told you to get off of her!" a voice came from behind Rinoa.
She turned to find Squall, tired looking and bandeged up, standing behind them with his Gunblade drawn.
The soldier laughed, "And just who the hell do you think you are? You're not gonna kick anybody's ass in the state you're in."
"Wanna try me?"
He laughed again. "Sure. This isn't any of your business anyway, punk!"
He motioned for the others that were with him to attack. They all ran at Squall with their various weapons drawn. Meanwhile, the officer himself was still holding on to Rinoa, trying to force her into a kiss.
Squall swung his Gunblade, removing the head off of one of his opponet's shoulders. He then turned around and knocked the sword out of another one's hande before stabbing him through the chest. Down went another.
This unexpected victory caught the young officer's attention. Rinoa took the oppurtunity to knee him in the crotch, which sent him to his knees, crying like a baby.
At that moment, a loud whistle was blown and everything stopped. Selphie walked into the middle of the battle scene, followed by a bunch of armed, rough looking guys.
"This battle must stop immediately!" she exclaimed. "All of you must leave the premises as soon as your wounds have been tended to. We do not tolerate this type of mindless violence."
Squall put his Gunblade away, shrugging. The other, surviving officers, put their weapons away as well and went to stand beside their leader. Rinoa walked away from them as quickly as possible.
"Alright," Selphie said. "Good. You two don't appear to have any new wounds," she said, looking from Squall to Rinoa and back again. The rest of you, however, will be taken to the infirmary."
The tough looking guys that had followed Selphie went over to Caraway's soldiers and began to assist them in getting top the infirmary.
Selphie walked up to Squall. "I'm sorry, but I'll have to ask that both you and her leave," she said, gesturing toward Rinoa. "I know this probably wasn't your fault, but our customs are against fighting in public."
Squall nodded. "Understood."
"You must be lost," she continued. "I can't imagine any other reason for you to be here. We're a long way away from civilization. I'm afraid that I don't know how to get anywhere. We're rather disconnected from the rest of the world. Even our trading is done when visitors come here, not us there. I can't tell you which way to go, but I know someone who can. If you head east of here, you'll eventually come to a big river. Somewhere along that river will be a small white house. The River Lady lives there. If she likes you, she just might help you."
"River Lady?" Squall repeated.
Selphie nodded. "Yep. She's your best bet. Leave whenever you ready, so long as you're out of here by tomorrow morning. And be careful. Those herbs sped up your recovery drastically, but you're still not completely healed. Have a nice trip!"
Selphie turned and left then, for her presence was required in the infirmary. Meanwhile, Rinoa was trying to push through the gathered crowd to the exit. Yes, there was now an actual crowd. It seemed the only thing that could gain those people's attention was that whistle.
Rinoa was almost home free when she felt a strong hand lock around her wrist. She was turned around and brought face to face with Squall.
"Did you really think you were getting away that easily?"
Rinoa opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.
"You know, you'd really be amazed at how fast this crowd parts when you have a Gunblade in your hand," he explained.
She stuck her tongue out at him and tried to jerk her wrist away, but failed. She was then a bit starteled when he put a finger to the tip of her tongue and shoved it back into her mouth. She bit down on his finger, and gave him a triumphant look when she tasted blood. His leather gloves were in his pockets this time.
He jerked his finger back and scowled at her. "Do I need to gag you again?"
She turned her head away from him primly, and didn't reply.
"Fine then. I'd prefer you didn't talk. You talk far too much, anyway, and you have the most annoying voice I've ever heard."
Of course he didn't think this was true. Part of him wished she would say something, anything to him. He thought her voice was that of an angel.
At those words, she turned on him, her face flooded with anger. "Oh yeah! Well you're the biggest, ugliest asshole I've ever had the misfortune of laying my eyes on! And... and you smell like a grat!"
Of course she didn't think these things were true either. She thought he was the most gorgeous thing she'd ever set eyes on, though he did act like an asshole. And to her, he smelled far from a grat. His scent was intoxicating to her, threatening to make her lose control. But pride is a powerful force. One that will very often bring to people to say things they know aren't true.
Squall turned to her, a scowl darkening his features. "Just shut up and start moving," he growled.
He began to pull her forward, but stopped when he saw a stand that sold chains made of that same glittering, nearly indestructable metal. He bought a fairly descent sized one, then continued dragging Rinoa along. She was tempted to ask what his intentions were with it, but remembered his order and decided that for once, she actually wanted to obey.
The two left the mountian people's city behind, knowing they had a long journey ahead them. Since they both refused to speak to the other, they were left with only their thoughts to keep them entertained.
(Does he really think I talk to much? And that I have an annoying voice?) Rinoa thought.
(Does she really think I'm ugly?) Squall thought, running a hand through his hair, self-consiously. (I know I can act like an asshole. Does she really think I smell bad? And does she honestly think I'm the most ugly man she's ever seen?) The image of Rinoa crossing her room in the darkness, allowing her towel to flutter to the ground flashed through his mind. (Well, compared to her, I'm nothing. She must have guys throwing themselves at her all the time. In fact, she's probably got some other guy on her mind at this very moment.)
(I wonder if he's actually attatched to anyone) she thought. (I mean, Quistis says that she's his... but. Does he really hate the way I talk? How does he think I look? Does he think I look better than her?)
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When it started to get dark, Squall decided that it was time they stopped traveling. They had come to a clearing in the forest, that would've made a nice place for a camp. If they had any supplies for a camp, that is.
Rinoa was tempted to ask Squall what they were going to do, but in all the time they had been traveling, neither had broke their vow of silence. She didn't intend to be the first.
"We'll just have to make do," Squall said at last. "This place seems fairly safe, anyway. So, I'll leave you here for a moment so you can do whatever you have to do to get ready for sleep," he said and walked out of the clearing.
She grinned to herself and started to walk to the other side of the clearing.
"And don't bother trying to run away. You won't get very far," Squall called from the darkness of the surrounding forest. "You have five minutes. Make good use of them."
"Damn you!" Rinoa hissed in a low voice that she thought couldn't be heard.
"I heard that," he called.
"Did you?" Rinoa asked sarcastically. "Okay then. I'm sorry. What I should really say is, fuck you!"
Silence. She grinned, satisfied, then wondered if maybe, he was watching her. After all, she couldn't see into the darkness of the forest. The wild thought ran through her head that she might could seduce him into letting her go. But no, she wouldn't have to do that. She could easily get away while he was sleeping tonight.
She slid her boots off and placed them at the edge of the clearing, then finished her other business. Afterward she called to Squall that she was finished.
He came back into the clearing with the chain ready in his hand.
"Exactly what do you intend to do with that?" Rinoa demanded.
He grabbed her around the wrist and wound the chain in a knot around her wrist, then knotted the other end around his own. There was still a good bit of length between the two ends, but now there was no chance of her escaping.
"I'll sleep on this end, you sleep on that end," he said, walking as far away from her as he could.
She silently cursed him as she walked to her end. Once again, he had managed to ruin her plans.
"You know something?" she said.
"What?"
"I hate you."
"Do you think I care?"
"You don't care about anything!" she cried out suddenly. "You'd slaughter a child if someone gave you gil for it!"
He was silent for a moment then said, "Just shut up and go to sleep."
"You may be able to chain me down, but you can't tell me what to do," she shot back. "You don't anything to use for a gag this time."
"I'll bust all your teeth out if I have to."
"You're welcome to come over here and try."
"Is that a threat?"
"What the hell does it sound like, a compliment? If you'd prefer, I'll come over there."
"Just shut up, dammit! I'm tired of hearing your shit!"
"Ugly ass son-of-a-bitch," Rinoa muttered as she felt tears come to her eyes.
(You will NOT let him get to you) she thought.
Her thoughts were interrupted when Squall suddenly asked, "Why were you trying to get away from your father's soldiers?"
"You knew they were my father's soldiers?"
"Yeah. It wasn't hard to tell since they were all decked out in uniform."
Rinoa sighed. "I don't want to go back to my father. I hate him. He never cared about what happened to me. And I hate everything about the palace I lived in. I don't want to go back. I wouldn't mind staying here forever. If you weren't trying to deliver me to a killer, that is."
She realized suddenly what she had implied and cursed herself. She hadn't meant to put it that way. Had she?
"Here?" he asked in a near whisper. "With..." he didn't finish his sentence.
Her early thought came back to her mind. He was showing weakness. This was her oppurtunity. She had to take it.
She stood slowly and walked over to him, careful not to let the chain rattle. The next thing Squall knew, she was kneeling down beside him, so close to him that he could feel her breath on his lips.
"What-" he started to ask, but was cut off when she pressed her lips to his. Memories of the party rushed back to him, stealing away his will to pull away from her.
She brushed her tongue across his lips, begging for entrance. He complied happily and moaned into her mouth at the feeling. She ran her hands up his shirt and over his chest, losing herself in the feel of him. Suddenly she cared nothing about getting away from him. That was the last place she wanted to be.
He wrapped an arm around her waist and rolled over, so that he was on top of her.
He sat up, never breaking their kiss, and she propped herself up on one arm, using the other to run through his silky brown hair. He ran his hand from her ankle to her knee, then eased up her blue satin skirt, allowing his hand to ride up her bare thigh. He broke away from her lips and started down her neck, just as his hand hit the scabbard of her new knife.
Rinoa gasped, and his eyes fluttered open. He suddenly pulled the knife out and raised it over his head, bringing it down on someone or something behind Rinoa.
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A/N: Sorry I kept you waiting so long. Things always seem to get in the way of my writing. Well, I know there's probably no one reading this, but incase someone is, do you think this is getting too trashy? Or are the romance scenes okay? Does it totally suck? Please R&R!!!!