//By Wonderful Failure and Julie (yaoifantasy)
//rated R for horror, gore, death, and cussing
// yaoi hints
//Disclaimer: Don't own Final Fantasy 8 (not the characters/world/etc) -- I wish, but it just isn't happening. And the movie "Pitch Black" - don't own that either. Just ~borrowing~ for creative out-lets.
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Zell turned the switch, releasing the power cell from the crashed-ship battery bay.
Quistis took hold of the power cell, pulling it further out until it thumped onto the ground.
"One only?" Quistis asked Zell.
Zell nodded. "For now."
*******
The blue sun was now one with the horizon. It had set, and the yellow and red suns had risen up.
The survivors desperately trekked onward, looking anxiously for the settlement. Zell and Quistis lugged the power cell between them, showing that the young priestess, too, had strength. But alas, most of the load was shouldered by…Squall.
Promoted from murderous monster to beast of burden, the young man towed a drag-sled heavy with cargo.
"So…" Nida began, looking over at Seifer. "That's it. You just…wave your little wand and he's one of us."
"Never said that," Seifer replied. "But at least this way I don't have to worry about falling asleep and not wakin' up."
"Well, I feel as though we owe Mr. Squall restoration," Quistis declared.
"Oh, right. "Let's all line up and beg for him to forgive us. Right you are!" Rinoa stated, her voice rich with sarcasm.
"At least give the poor man some oxygen," Quistis suggested.
"So…Uh, can I talk to him now?" Stephen asked.
"No," Seifer and Rinoa said in unison.
The group continued moving along, dragging the cargo, waiting to reached the settlement.
Nida held onto some of his own belongings, being the overly pampered lad he was. He dropped a wine bottle, and chased after it eagerly.
It was expensive.
But Squall was the one who had picked it up first. He looked at the wine bottle, and then at Nida.
Nida swallowed, not really wanting to be so close to a man as dangerous as Squall.
"Nida B. Amirose. Antiques dealer, entrepreneur," Nida greeted, shaking Squall's hand.
"Squall L. Leonheart. Escaped convict, murderer," Squall replied, returning the handshake.
Instead of returning Nida's bottle, Squall opened it, drinking it hungrily.
"Oh, but it's expensive…" Nida pleaded, looking at how Squall devoured it.
"…" Squall said nothing, simply looking at the feeble man through those dark goggles.
"…Oh, but go right ahead," Nida said, smiling nervously.
And with that, he hurried over to catch up to the others.
"You know," Nida began. "If I owned Hell and this planet…I really think I'd rent this one out and live in Hell."
*******
Zell walked ahead, looking at all the spires. Those strange…beautiful, in a twisted way…towers of earth.
The group fell silent, their eyes staring out at the vast canyon. Their eyes focused on the spires.
Clickity-click.
Zell stopped short, having heard that strange noise…He felt the hairs on his neck beginning to rise. But…then the sound disappeared.
The group started moving again. Faster, this time.
Clickity-clickity-click.
Were they being stalked?
Nervously, Zell traced the sound back to where it had come from. He followed it intently, and finally found the source of it…
It was just colorful beads dangling Zamzi's belt.
Whenever he'd move, the strings would clack together.
Zell shook his head, feeling stupid after getting so worked up over nothing…
*******
"I…I can usually appreciate antiques, but, uh…" Nida trailed off.
The survivors had finally reached the settlement. Zell tried desperately to get the power cell aboard the skiff as the others walked among its exterior.
"Little ratty-ass," Seifer mused.
"Nothing we can't repair," Zell said. "So…so as long as the electrical adapts."
"Not a star-jumper," Rinoa replied.
"Doesn't need to be," Squall informed. "Use this thing to get back to the Sol-Track Shipping Lanes, stick out a thumb. Then you'll get picked up." He looked over at Zell, smiling slightly. "Right?"
Zell looked over at the brunette, and then at Seifer.
"How the hell did he know 'dat?"
"A little help here?" Zell asked.
And with that, Seifer and Zell muscled the power cell aboard. Squall started to follow, but Seifer rudely blocked. He didn't want Squall inside.
"Check those containers for me," Seifer commanded. "See what we can patch the damned wings with."
The Trepies desperately worked on the moisture-recovery unit, wanting so badly to fix the water system. They used religious fervor, hoping at their Hyne could help them in their time of desperation.
Zell and Seifer adapted the power cell with their hands, working it onto the skiff's older electrical system. The lights began to wink brightly throughout the small ship.
"Okay…'dat should buy us a sys-check," Zell began. "But we need more cells."
"How many?" Seifer inquired.
"15 6-gigs here…90 gigs total…'Da other ship carries 20-gig cells, so…five. Five total to launch," Zell answered.
"So 25 kilos each, huh?" Seifer replied.
Rinoa walked up to the young men, her black hair dancing softly in the hot desert breeze.
"There's an old sand-cat outside," she revealed. "See if I can't get it up and chuggin'."
"Do it," Seifer demanded. "And if you need an extra hand…"
Seifer looked out, and couldn't see the ex-prisoner anywhere.
"Where's Squall?"
*******
Squall walked in the ghost town, looking at all the dead gardens…There were upended chairs and furniture. Broken skylights…
Behind his back, Stephen and Gazna scurried behind him, stalking the 'curious monster in their midst.'
Back at the moisture-recovery unit, the other Trepies faced charge with anticipation while they waited. Waited for the first drop of water…which finally came.
It appeared at the bottom of a pipette. Desperate tongues fought for it. Another drop fell. Then another…and then another.
The Trepies cheered, ecstatic that they had fixed the broken device with their Hyne.
*******
In the main room, Nida was readying to celebrate. He unwrapped crystal goblets, and then dusted off the dirty refectory table. Then he re-hung an old Christmas garland, smiling slightly at it.
Outside, hands dug in the dirt. Covertly, Stephen and Gazna watched Squall suspiciously, digging near the entrance of a tall, windowless structure.
He excavated a pair of broken eyeglasses…a shattered light…and a child's tin robot, Timeless.
Squall thumbed a solar panel clean of dirt. The robot's language program warbled to life.
"…To all intruders. I am the guardian of this land. I will protect my master at all costs. Death to all intruders…" it voiced.
Squall stood up, trying to open the doors of the mysterious structure. They were locked. He peered in through a small, filthy window.
Is there something moving inside?
Nothing now…
Squall removed some windblown trash from a door-side sign. It read "Coring Room."
"You're missin' the party," a voice replied. "C'mon."
Squall looked back. It was Seifer…keeping him on a short leash. Seifer patted his thigh, as though he were calling a dog, then he turned and left.
Squall reached up and took hold of an old tarp handing over the Corning Room wall. He pulled it down, turning to look at Stephen.
"C'mon," Squall said to the 12 year old. "You're missin' the party." Then he turned and walked back to Seifer.
"Ah, shit," Stephen mumbled.
Gazna stood at the bottom of the coring room. He'd found a way inside. By the window's feeble light, he starts exploring. Straining through the darkness, he could see a vertical coring drill.
Quistis looked over at Nida, who'd just realized the Trepies had repaired the water-moisture unit.
"And for this…our gift of drink," Quistis began. "We give thanks in the name of our Goddess, Shiva, peace be upon her. And to our Lord, Hyne of Shumi, and to his father, Eden the Compassionate and the Merciful."
"What a strange religion," Nida murmured, taken aback by Quistis' words.
The Trepies finished pouring cloudy water into Nida's goblets. Squall got the last of it…the part with the sediment. They drank hungrily at the water, having been parched for quite some time.
Nothing had ever tasted so good.
"Perhaps we should toast to our hosts," Nida suggested. "Who were these people, anyway? Miners, perhaps?"
"Looks like geologists," Rinoa replied. "You know, advanced team. They move around from rock to rock."
"Musta' crapped out here, huh?" Seifer asked, grinning slightly.
"But why did they leave their ship?" Stephen asked, looking over at Seifer.
A strange silence fell. It was a question no one had chosen to deal with yet. A question…that no one really knew the answer for. A question…they feared oh so much.
Deep down…all of them wondered…
Why did they leave their ship?
…Or were they forced from it?