//By Julie (yaoifantasy) and Wonderful Failure
//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.
==================================
"Its not a ship, its a skiff," Seifer said. "And its disposable, really."
"Yeah," Nida agreed. "Like an emergency life-raft, really."
Quistis looked out the window, a frown on her forehead.
"They probably had a big ship take them off planet," Rinoa joined the conversation.
"These people didn't leave," Squall said, his voice silencing the entire room. "C'mon. Whatever got Irvine got them. They're all dead."
Zell, sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest, looked over to Squall. Squall turned to look at the rest of the group, moving his goggles back over his eyes.
"You don't really think they left with their close on the hooks," Squall continued, leaning against a wall. "Photos on the shelves?"
"Maybe they had weight limits," Rinoa said, leering at Squall. "You don't know."
"I know you don't prep your emergency ship unless their a fucking emergency," Squall replied with a small smile.
"He's fuckin' right," Stephen agreed.
"Watch your mouth," Seifer snapped at the little kid.
"Hey, he's just saying what we're all thinking," Zell said softly, shifting his legs to relax a little. "So... what do you think happened-"
"Has anyone seen the little one?!" Quistis asked in a desperate voice. "Gazna?!"
"Anyone checked the Corning Room?" Squall asked.
~*~
Gazna walked through the dark Corning Room, scared but curious.
Then, suddenly, the massive machine turned on because of some remote or timer, light coming into the room as the closed blinds opened. The rafters at the top of the ceiling began to move.
Gazna's eyes widened, seeing the sunlight fill the room at his a thick nest of... monsters. Hawk-sized flying creatures in a giant nest handing at the top of the rafters. And as the light hits the small-creatures, they burst into the air, screeching filling the room.
He burst into an all out run, trying to find somewhere safe. Quicky he opened the door to a pitch-black side room, jumping in.
A soft growling sound came from behind Gazna. He turned slowly and , even in the dark of the room, Gazna was able to make out another nest of those Hawk-sized flying monsters.
He screamed.
~*~
The sound of someone screaming filled the ears of everyone in the small room where the survivors had been drinking their water.
"Ganza!" Quistis said in a panic voice, running out.
She was quickly followed after by the others.
~*~
Seifer shot out the lock on the Corning Room doors. He then kicked the door open, then slowly made his way inside.
"Ganza!" Quistis said, stepping further into the room. "Ganza?"
Seifer grabbed her arm, meaning to keep her back, but Quistis shrugged him off. The priestess walked further into the darkened room.
"Stephen, wait!" Zell said, taking a hold of the boy's arm.
Stephen sneered at Zell, but followed his direction.
While Quistis walked through the room, the others hovered around the doors.
A clicking sound coming from a closed door caught the mika's attention. She turned and slowly wrapped her fingers around the door handle, pulling the doors open.
Small creatures burst from the room, flying high into the air. Quistis dropped to the groun.
Seifer turned, shoving Zell and Stephen back outside, then grabbed the door quickly, shutting them as he stepped out of the corning room.
The creatures swirled around the room a few times before flying high, then straight down into the circular pit what was the center of the room.
Seifer pushed the door open, holding his gun up to watch the last of the creatures disappear into the darkness of the pit.
"Quistis?" Seifer called.
"Quistis?" Zell repeated, but his voice was in a low whisper.
Quistis looked back to the dark room that the creatures had flown out of. On her knees, she swallowed, beginning to inch closer. Then... Ganza's body fell out into the light. His skin ripped from his bone, eyes eaten from the sockets, tongue gone from his mouth.
Quistis cried out in horror.
~*~
Out in the bright light of the blue sun, Quistis sat with her two surviving Trepies at the grave of Ganza, whispering Japanese words words, prayers to the Gods.
Keep Ganza safe in the afterlife.
~*~
Zell pressed the bottom of a flare, the green light sparkling brightly. He dropped it into the pit, watching the light get swallowed by darkness. Then it hit bottom, were a pile of human skeletons lay.
Zell looked up at Seifer, whose eyes were squinting in thought. Rinoa stood next to the pit, also looking to Seifer for leadership.
"Other buildings weren't secure," Squall said, getting the attention of the three others. He was inside the pit, though only a level down on a metal man-made ledge, easily able to jump out if need be. "So they ran here. Heaviest doors. Thought they'd be safe inside, but they forgot to lock the cellar."
Rinoa sneered, horrified, shaking her head. She took a few steps back from the pit, eyes glazing over in worry.
Seifer looked down at Squall, a small amused smirk on his face.
Zell watched Squall, but also the blackened-pit past the convict.
"So that's whats come of my Irvine?" Rinoa asked, watching Squall pull himself out of the pit. "An' you saw it. You were right there. You were tryin' to kill him too."
Squall shrugged. "Just wanted his O-2 breather. Though I noticed he tried to ghost my ass. When he shot up that stranger instead."
Rinoa looked away from Squall, not being able to deny that. Looking back to Squall, Rinoa removed her breather. "Take it."
"What, its broken?" Squall replied, his dark-goggles hiding the glare.
"I'm startin' ta acclimate, anyhow," Rinoa replied. "Take it..."
Squall accepts it awkwardly, watching Rinoa walk away. He catches sight of the angry glare Seifer was giving him. Squall has just been promoted to an oxygen-breathing human, Seifer was not pleased.
~*~
Zell stood in the sample room of the settlement. He looked over the dates, wondering exactly when these people were killed.
Seifer stepped up behind Zell, watching the tattooed blonde. "Whatever the fuck those creatures were, they seem to stick to dark, so I say: we stick to daylight, we'll be just fine. 'Kay, lets go." He turned and started to walk out of the room.
"31 years ago," Zell muttered, looking at the final sample.
"What?" Seifer asked, turning to look back to Zell.
"These last rock-samples are dated, last one is 31 years ago this month," Zell said, turning to meet Seifer's blue eyes.
"'Kay, is there something special about that, Zell?" Seifer asked.
"I donno... maybe," Zell thought it over then remembered the orrery. That model of this solar system. His eyes widened as he turned to run out of the room.
Seifer frowned, but followed.
~*~
Zell turned the orrery around, letting the years click by, watching the plants and suns twirl around the center plant. This planet.
28... 29... 30... 31.
Zell stopped the orrery, standing up straight to look down at the model. His eyes widened.
Seifer stood next to Zell, looking down at the center planet.
Quistis sighed heavily, looking up to Zell and Seifer.
Squall smiled in his little dark corner of the room.
The center planet was completely dark. An eclipse of the large planets forced the center planet into total darkness. And, if the model was correct, that meant that sometimes this month, this plant would fall into Pitch Black.
Zell reached over and moved the model a little, watching how long the darkness would last. Again if the model was correct, it looked like the black would last.... months.
Zell looked back to Seifer, but turned to Squall when the convict spoke.
"You're not afraid of the dark, are you?" Squall said with a smirk.
~*~
Zell crossed the dirt yard, moving in wide strides, heading toward the Skiff-ship.
Seifer followed.
"...need those cells from the crash ship," Zell said. "Shit, still gotta check out the hull, patch the wings."
"Why don't we wait on the power cells," Seifer replied.
"Wait? Wait for what?" Zell asked, continuing his face movements to the Skiff. "Until its so dark we can't find our way back?!"
"We're not sure when it happens, so let's not get over excited," Seifer tried to push his point.
"Get the fucking cells over here, Almasy," Zell said, stopping and turning to look at Seifer. "W-what's the discussion?"
"Maybe I should tell you how Squall escaped?" Seifer asked, putting his thumbs into the pockets of his pants.
~*~
Zell sat in the pilot seat of the Skiff looking over at Seifer. "He can pilot?!"
"Hijacked a prison transport," Seifer said with a nod. "Made a helluva good run before I tracked him down."
Zell licked his lips, thinking it over quickly. "Okay... m-maybe that's a good thing... Maybe we can use him to help navigate or something."
"He also figured out how to kill the pilot, Dincht," Seifer said, shifting his weight.
Zell swallowed. "You said we could trust him now. You said you had a deal."
"You may have noticed, but chains don't work on this guy," Seifer replied, his eyes cold. "Now the only way you people are truly safe is if he believes he's going free. Lets just say he stops believein'-"
"You mean," Zell interrupted. "If he realizes we're going to royally fuck him over-"
"Now why don't you just listen to me for a second," Seifer jumped in. "If we bring the cells over at the last possible minute... when the wings are ready, when we know we're ready to launch-"
"You know he hasn't harmed any of us," Zell said. "As far I can tell, he hasn't even lied to us. Just stick to the deal, Almasy." Zell sat back in his chair.
"He's a killer!" Seifer snapped, glaring at Zell. "The lay says he's gotta do his time. There's nothin' I can do about that. You here me?"
"You're dancing on razor blades here," Zell replied, shaking his head.
"I won't give him a chance to grab another ship," Seifer said. "Or to slash another pilot's throat. Not on my watch." He turned and walked out of the Skiff, Zell watching for a moment before the tattooed blonde turned back to work on setting up the ship's computer program.
Seifer felt dizzy. He swayed a little on his feet, able to make it out of the Skiff just in time to lean over and try to control a flu-like shiver.
"Bad sigh," Squall said, sitting on the dirt in the shade of the Skiff-wing's shade. He held a knife, dragging the sharp edge across the tip of his thumbnail. "Shaking like that in this head."
"I... thought..." Seifer started, feeling really dizzy, trying to gain his composed. "No shivs."
Squall looked surprised at the knife in his hand. 'This?" he asked Seifer. "Why... this is just a personal grooming item."
Seifer watched Squall for a moment, then turned and walked away.
Squall smirked at Seifer, continuing to pluck at his thumbnail.
~*~
The hatch to the Skiff closes, sealing the ship tightly.
Zell looked down at the monitor in front of him, reading: "Hull integrity test."
"Looks like we're a few shy..." Squall's soft voice startles Zell.
The tattooed blonde whirled around to see that he's currently trapped inside the Skiff, alone with Squall.
"...power cells," Squall continued, smirking at Zell.
"They're coming," Zell replied, eyeing Squall, trying not to panic.
"Strange," Squall said, taking a step forward. "Not doing a run-up on the main drive yet. Unless..." Squall took another step forward. "Unless Almasy told you the particulars of my escape."
"I got the quick-and-ugly version," Zell said, moving to sit back into his seat.
"An' now you're worried about a repeat of history?" Squall said with a small smile.
"It has entered out minds," Zell replied.
"I asked what you thought," Squall said, taking another slow step forward.
"You scare me, Squall. That's what you wanna hear, isn't it?" Zell asked, his voice getting slightly stronger, confidence returning. "Can I get back to work now?!" Zell turned his chair back to look at the monitor, looking over the ship's system details.
Squall closed the space between Zell and himself, leaning down on the pilot chair, looking at the monitors. "I've been meaning to catch-up with you alone. Under strain... You... you think Almasy is a do-right-man? You think I can trust him to cut me loose" Squall leaned further forward so his breath beat on Zell's shoulder.
"W-why?" Zell asked, his confidence suddenly on shaky grounds again. "What'd you hear?"
"Well," Squall said softly, moving to take the co-pilot seat and meet Zell's face, still leaning forward to be close to Zell. "I guess it it were just trickeration he's just ex-me-out, huh? Kill me? Then again... I am worth twice as much alive."
Zell felt his eyes suddenly widened.
Squall moved forward on his seat, smirking at Zell. "Oh? You didn't know that?"
Zell swallowed, finding himself frozen under Squall's words.
"Your Almasy ain't a cop," Squall continued. He moved a hand to caress over Zell's jaw line. "Oh, he's got the nickel-slick badge, and that blue uniform... but he's just a mercenary. And I'm just a payday." Squall moved his hand to Zell's jacket, tracing a finger over the fabric. "That's why he won't kill me, you see? The creed is greed-"
"Don't waste!" Zell snapped, "my time. We aren't gonna turn on each other, no matter how hard you try." With that, Zell turned his chair back to the dash, flipping a few switches, going back to work.
Squall pushed up from the co-pilot chair, leaning over to Zell. "I don't truly know what will happen when the lights go out, Zell. What I do know is that when the dying stars... this little psycho-fuck-family of ours is gonna rip itself apart."
Squall stood tall, turning and walking down the Skiff walkway, towards the hull-doors.
Zell felt his body relax.
"Ever wonder why Almasy shakes like that?" Squall asked.
Zell's body tighten again.
"Ask him," Squall insisted. "And ask him why your crew-pal had to scream so painfully before she died."
"Hull 100% integrity" flash on the view monitor. Then the hull-doors opened and Squall left Zell to his thoughts.
~*~