Disclaimer: Yada yada blah blah blah. You get it. I don't own anything, Squaresoft does.
Author's Note: I'm back! Ok, so I had nothing to do today so I decided write the next chapter and post it up. Hope you like it! Oh, and words in parentheses are whispers. And one last thing, sorry bout the paragraphs. Something gets screwed up when I upload the document, so some of the paragraphs don't have indents. So I'll shut up now (I know you've been dying for me to) and let you read.
Chapter Two: The Dream (Disc I, Part II)
"Squall!"
Squall groggily opened his eyes only to meet the soft glow of light pushing in through the cracks of his blinds. As soon as he recovered control of his body again, he heard the insistent knocking that was plaguing his door.
"Squall! Get up!"
He pulled off the cover and shivered as the cool air reached his bare upper body. His dream was still fresh in his mind, the image of the beautiful girl he met last night still drifting through his thoughts. He sat up and looked at the door. He was having a good dream, and he was a little pissed off at the person outside that disturbed it. He was just about to ask who it was that was knocking on his door at five in the morning when an answer came through.
"It's me, Selphie."
He combed his hand through his hair, pushing a strand off of his forehead.
'What does she want… and at frickin' five in the morning?'"Get up! We got our first SeeD mission today! Meet at the front gate in half and hour. Hurry up!" Without waiting for an answer, she bounded off and Squall listened to the sound of her boots thumping against the tiles of the hall.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
Fully clothed and a strong cup of coffee in hand, Squall headed down to the front gate where they, whoever that was, were supposed to meet. As he walked past the old gatekeeper, he saw two familiar figures in close distance.
Cid Kramer, the creator and headmaster of Garden, was standing with his back to Squall talking to someone who seemed surprisingly jumpy so early in the morning, her short little yellow dress shifting as she fidgeted around along with her chocolaty locks bobbing at her shoulders. As he walked closer the girl looked at him and he recognized the striking emerald eyes.
"Squall!"
It was Selphie. A cute little sunny dress hung around her body conforming to her curves with a pair of suede boots slipped onto cute little feet. She jumped a bit and waved at him over Headmaster Cid's head.
They all leaned against the railing and waited for the others to arrive, though they still didn't know who else was coming, for Headmaster Cid hadn't informed them. As the minutes passed by, they finally heard a humming noise. Out of nowhere, Zell jumped out riding his T-board. But the Garden faculty that had arrived during their wait confiscated it. Squall, if he hadn't practiced that stoic look on his face for so many years, would have at least snickered a bit at the hilarity of it. But his face was still just as ever, showing none of the emotion he felt inside.
Then the headmaster began the briefing of the mission. Squall looked around wondering where the others were. Just as the question was about to slip out of his lips, Zell had already asked it, looking around at nothing in particular but instead just scanning the area.
"Uh… just the three of us??"
It was just the three of them. They were dispatched to Timber and were to assist the group the "Forest Owls". A member from the team would contact them as they departed from the train, saying the phrase, "The forests of Timber sure have changed." With that they were supposed to answer, "But the owls are still around." The three of them took a car over to the city of Balamb and boarded the train heading to the once forest occupied area of Timber.
When Squall had quickly whipped out his Gil and paid for the ticket, Zell and Selphie nearly beat the crap outta him when they found out that he was being paid nearly twice what they were. What? It wasn't his fault that he got the SeeD rank 10.
SeeD had special privileges and they got their own cabin. Selphie was out by the window staring out at the scenery as it raced past, singing a quite annoying song about trains. Squall sat down and tried to think, but was pestered by Zell about what he knew about Timber. He didn't want to talk and tried to tell him to shut up. After many cold remarks, Zell finally got the point and gave up. Then Selphie came in, wobbling and holding here head, complaining that she didn't feel good. Then she collapsed onto the soft plush seat, just as Zell held his head in his hands. Squall just stared at them in disbelief as Zell fell onto the seat next to Selphie. As he gawked at them, he felt a sharp pain in his head. He felt dizzy and fell onto the ground clutching head. A loud eerie tone began blasting through his ears as he struggled to stay on his knees. The room spun and his head pounded with the force of incoming tides.
'What's happening?'
The noise grew louder and seemed to encompass him completely. He felt a sharp flash of pain in his temples and collapsed on the floor, unconscious like the rest of his team.
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
Squall looked around. He was in a new and strange land which he couldn't recognize.
('Where the hell am I???')
He tried to move but found his attempt futile. When as he stared awkwardly around at the forest-like surroundings, he felt his legs suddenly step forward. Before he knew it, he was running through the grassy plain staring at the blazing fire ahead of him. His crazed thoughts kept racing around in his head, confused on what was going on.
('This must be a dream…')But his thoughts were interrupted as he heard a voice yell out to him.
"Uh, Laguna. You sure this is the right place?"
'Uh… no. I'm positively sure this isn't the right place.'
Squall nearly jumped when he heard the thought flash through his mind.
('The hell…? That wasn't my thought.')
He felt his arm move upward and slowly scratch the back of his neck, a small, embarrassed laugh emanating from his lips. He was expecting the motion to feel awkward, but it didn't. Laughing felt like the most natural thing he did.
"Well… um, you see…"
"Laguna, don't tell me we're lost again."
He automatically knew who the man that addressed him was. It was Kiros, and the tall burly man behind him was Ward. They were dressed in their normal Galbadian uniforms. But how did he know? He had never seen these people in his life before. Maybe this Laguna person that he apparently was knew them.
He laughed nervously again. "Anyways… we're going home. Deling City here we come!"
He felt his legs running off to somewhere again.
('Man… this guy's an idiot.')
The climbed into what appeared to be an army vehicle. After a long drive with stupid comments from his own mouth, much to his dislike, they arrived in a city washed in flashing lights and busy noises. He parked the car in the middle of the street and they made their way over to the hotel for a "friendly drink", as he so kindly put it. Squall wasn't really paying attention to the mindless babbling, but in the midst he realized that it had to do with booze and some hot pianist.
They entered the plush and expensive hotel and proceeded down to the bar. Squall's mind was still racing as they sat down at the table.
('Where am I???')
'What is this damn voice that I'm hearing…?'
The two conflicting thoughts were cut short when he heard a voice address him.
"Hey Laguna. She's gonna come down in a sec. So you gonna do it tonight?"
He felt the rush of embarrassment race through his mind and he shook his head. "No way man!"
Ward, very happily sipped at his liquor as he countered the statement. "So you 'say', but we know you'll do it anyways."
"You guys– "
"Look, here she comes. Go wave to her."
He felt his head whip around just to see young woman dressed in a wine colored dress head down the velvet covered steps. She walked gracefully over to the piano and sat down, playing a soft and romantic tune across its crisp white keys. Squall, even though he was the least romantic that anyone could ever get, was touched, barely though, by sweet melody of the song.
('She reminds me of someone…')
'Ah… Julia…'
He felt himself get up and slowly make his way over to the pretty woman.
'Ah… to be this close to Julia…'('This guy is pathetic.')
Suddenly, he felt a pain in his leg and realized that the twisting feeling was his muscles cramping up. He grabbed it in pain as he slowly began to limp around, hoping that it would go away. He saw the pianist's brown eyes gaze up at him and all he could do was wave sheepishly before he made his way back to his table.
('Sad…')
Squall was bored and wanted to get the hell outta his freakish dream or whatever it was. He just wanted to be in his own bed with his own normal dreams. Unwittingly, he vehemently wished that he were dreaming that somewhat lustful dream again, the one about that lovely girl he met last night. When he realized what he was thinking, he quietly chided himself for sounding so love struck. He almost sounded like this moron that he was stuck in. He had vowed never to open up his heart again. He just couldn't, not after what happened with Sis… he couldn't afford risking the chance of getting hurt again.
Squall was so stuck in his own thoughts, that when he finally stopped brooding to himself, he realized that Laguna was in one of the rooms in the hotel, holding onto the girl's hands.
('Oh God NO! I do NOT wanna watch as this idiot gets lucky!')
"I must be dreaming…" Laguna gently stroked the woman's hands.
"… Is this a dream?" she asked, still gazing up into his eyes, up into Squall's very unhappy eyes. He tried to shut his eyes, but found it useless. He still stared down at her. She looked almost like… the girl he met last night. But still, he wanted to get the hell outta there, wherever he was.
('This is a dream… This is a dream…')
Just then, to his surprise and relief, a knock sounded on the door.
"Laguna! New orders. Meet at the Presidential Residence on the double!"
He turned to look back at the girl. "I have to go, but I promise to come back. I have to hear you sing."
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
"This train headed to Timber will soon be arriving. All passengers getting off, please have all of your belongings with you."
Squall groggily opened a lead-laden eyelid only to meet soft red carpeting. He inhaled deeply and forced his aching muscles to obey and pushed himself up from the floor. He stumbled back a bit, still stunned and quite dizzy from his experience.
"Were we all… asleep?" That was the first question that came to his mind, but definitely not the last.
"I think so. Maybe someone released a sleeping gas. You know, there are a lot of people who resent SeeD…" Zell sounded almost as groggy as him, but yet, still somewhat energetic.
"Is everybody alright? Does everybody have everything?" Selphie piped, checking all of her belongings and Gil to make sure that none was stolen.
He did so too as Zell frantically shoved his hands in hidden pockets pulling out gum wrappers and other bits of garbage. Squall, after serious training of the muscles of course, hid his smirk as Zell continued going through what seemed a million unknown pockets looking for precious items that he didn't seem to have. Finally he found his money and supplies and smiled happily, shoving all the trash and wrappers into the wastebasket.
"Yeah, I think so." Then he smiled sheepishly and laughed. "I've been meaning to clean out my jacket for a while…"
Selphie giggled. "For how long? An millennium?"
Squall, tired from his dream and laden down with thoughts, walked over to the double bunk beds on the side of the room and leaned against them, already deep into his thinking. He was brought short when he heard Selphie's happy little voice, much too happy for his liking. He didn't quite like cheery and bubbly people; they plain giggled too much and were just too optimistic.
"I had such a nice dream." She sat and the sofa and smiled.
'I didn't. I dreamt that I was a moron.'
"But seriously," she continued. "Sir, Laguna is so cool!"
Squall nearly fell over from where he was leaning.
"Wha? There was a Laguna in my dream to! He's a Galbadian soldier, right?" Zell exclaimed, jumping up in his too energetic way.
"Laguna, Kiros, and Ward…" The names escaped from his lips, in an almost dazed manner.
"Huh?! Yeah!"
"What does all of this mean?" Asked Selphie, her voice sounding a little less than overjoyed.
'Ah… this is all too much to take…'"I donno. We'll put this incident on hold and report to the headmaster as soon as we get back." He answered. What else were they supposed to do? "Until then, let's focus on our current mission."
"Well, lets get ready to kick some ass!" Zell jumped up and walked out of the door.
"Whoo! Still tired." Selphie stumbled out after Zell.
Squall held his head in thought, slowly rubbing his right temple where the migraine was forming.
'This is just turning out to be a wonderful day… I can't wait to see what happens later…'
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
The trio stepped out of the train and stared at the grimy, smoke polluted town of Timber, so called "Train Town: from the many trains that departed from it daily. But for a town with this sort of technology, it sure wasn't a wonder why the air smelled constantly of smoke. They wrinkled their noses and walked down the steps only to be stopped by a teen of about their age.
"The forests of Timber sure have changed."
Squall stared at him blankly before realizing that this was the contact. He dug into the back of his mind trying to remember the password.
'Dammit! What the hell was I supposed to say?'He turned around and motioned for the two behind him.
"(Uh guys… any one of you remember what the password was?)"
They all stared at him surprised.
"(How the hell are we supposed to know? You're the leader! We thought you would remember!)" Zell practically screamed at him, apparently forgetting what a whisper is.
"(Well I'm sorry! I didn't choose to be the frickin' leader! Headmaster Cid just handed me the job because apparently I'm the only one capable of being in SeeD!)" He spat, furious at Zell.
"(Ok you two. Calm down. No need to fight.)" Selphie but in, frowning daggers at the arguing boys. Then she concentrated on the question that was asked. "(Now let's see… I think it had to do with chocobos… or was it moombas…?)"
'Oh dear Lord… we'll never get anywhere… might as well answer and try my luck…'
"Um… but the moogles are still around…?"
The boy just stared confused at them for a second. "Sorry for bothering you, Sir." With that he ran off.
'Dammit. Ah to hell with it.'
Squall ran after the starnegr, his team flanking behind him. They saw the boy run across train tracks, then nearly get squashed over by an oncoming train. Another teen ran out from it, racing over to the boy flat on his face on the tracks. Squall just couldn't help it. A smile washed over his face and he could feel his body shake with the laughter he held inside.
"Watts!" The other boy yelled. "What are you doing?!? How many times have I told you to watch out for the base?" He helped the shaken boy to his feet. "And where are those dudes?"
Watts shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "They got the password wrong and-"
The other boy, dressed completely in blue with deeply contrasting orange sneakers, grabbed the first man by the shoulders and shook him violently. "I don't CARE! We're paying these guys a fortune!" Then he looked over the tracks and straight at the group. "Get back in the train and I'll deal with you later." He thrust the man towards the yellow mobile and watched as he scrambled into its doors. "You guys." He stared straight at us. "C'mon!" he ran into the train.
Squall put his face in his heads and shook his head.
'You gotta be kidding me. We're working for THEM?'
He sighed and walked towards the train, glancing at the skull with the word "Raiders" under it. He motioned towards the train and walked up the steps leading to it, his group following behind him.
'This is DEFINITELY gonna be a long day…'
* ~ * ~ * ~ *
They stepped inside and saw the two teens standing there waiting for them. The man in blue stepped over to them.
"So you guys are SeeDs, huh?"
Squall stared blankly into his face.
"I'm Zone, the leader of the Forest Owls."
'Oh… so that's what the password was… owls…I'm such an idiot.'
He was snapped out of his thoughts when Zone extended his hand out to him. Squall, feeling a bit pissed off at his own stupidity, just glared at him. He slowly extended his hand, apparently afraid that Squall was going to bite it off. He glared ahead a bit more, finally speaking when he was the flicker of fear in Zone's eyes.
"I'm Squall, the squad leader. This is Zell, and Selphie."
Zell wiped his hands on his pants, ready to shake his hand, but Zone apparently had other thoughts on his mind. He walked over to Selphie and gently took her hand in his.
'Oy vay… already off, charming the lady. That reminds me of someone…'
He racked into his mind, trying to figure out who it reminded him of, but soon gave up when Zone spoke again.
"I see you've already met Watts. I guess it's just our Princess then."
'Princess?'
Watts nervously tapped Zone on the shoulder. "But Sir… it's the Princess's nap time…" He looked fear stricken. What the hell could be so frightening about that?
Zone hit his head. He turned to Squall, apparently thinking he was the person perfectly fir for the task. "Uh Squall… Do you think you could go wake up the Princess for us? Her room's in the back-"
"Were we hired to run errands? Well?" Squall snapped and Zone quickly backed away.
"Sorry man. Are you mad?"
He shook his head in his hand. 'We're SeeDs. Specially trained mercenaries… not gophers…'
Squall shot him another gaze from hell before answering. "This is the last time for this sort of thing." With that, he marched stormily down the corridor, going to go wake up the "Princess".
Author's Note: So what do you think? I was going to add the part where he meets Rinoa again to this chapter, but I decided not to. I'll try to get out chapter 3 as soon as I can. Summer's almost here, so that'll give me more time to work on this. But until then… FINALS! (ugh! I hate this part of the school year…) Well, buh byes until that wonderful time of the year that we all look forward to.