A New Beginning
The sunrays searched their way through the open window of the Balamb Garden dorm room. The rays filled the small room with warmth and made the white walls shine like the sun itself.
Light pierced through the eyelids of a short, blonde young man with a big, black tattoo on the left side of his face. He slowly opened his eyes and revealed the ocean blue eyes that all the girls fell for. At least if those eyes had been on anyone else. The blonde sat up and rubbed his eyes open.
"Another day in paradise" he said out loud with a sarcastic tone
But it wasn't so bad anyway. It was a nice place to live. Not far from Balamb and his mother, lots of monsters to beat in the training center, many girls in short skirts, a room of his own and his friends.
But that wasn't what bothered him.
He had to act. Every day people saw him in a way that wasn't the real Zell Dincht. The real Zell was hiding somewhere under the surface that everybody saw. And he couldn't show it.
He stood himself up and entered the bathroom. That was a nice change from the time when he still was a cadet. They had to share rooms with someone else and Zell always woke up to a flooded bathroom with nothing but cold water. But now, when he was a SeeD, he had a single room and that meant that he had the bathroom all for himself.
Zell turned on the shower and dropped his white jammie pants on the floor. The fresh water always had a tendency to rejuvenate Zell to the point where he could stand a full day of his own charade. He had skipped the morning shower a couple of times before. Why shower when you still are going to the training center the first thing in the morning? But when he did that, he always felt his eyes never really opened.
And you have to be alert to survive in the training Zell put himself through every day when he was off duty.
He opened the mirror cabinet and took a tube of extra strong hairgel. When he turned the door and looked himself straight in the face, he remembered the day when he got that big tribal tattoo.
It was a month before he had entered Garden. He had saved up for a long time and this was the day where he could finally put that money to use.
It was a nice summer day in the town of Balamb. You could see the heat radiating off the ground making a fine pattern across the streets. Zell was running down to the harbour with his small wallet in the backpocket. He stopped in front of a small pub-looking building with a sign over the door that read "Tak's tattoos" and with a starfish at the bottom. When he was young, Zell always thought it was a restaurant because of the starfish. But now, a couple of years later, he was going to get his first tattoo. Young Zell forced the heavy door open and entered the smoke filled room. In a corner there was a big, rugged man with a large cigar, producing all the smoke in the room.
Zell had already been there a couple of times before, talking to the man how much money needed and where to put the tattoo.
Tak had told him that it wasn't good to get a tattoo at Zell's age because he wasn't fully grown. The only place to place the tattoo and not ruining it in the process of growth was on his face. He couldn't remember what he felt and thought when he heard that he had two choices: to tattoo his face or not to tattoo at all. But he did it. He tattooed a larger version of his grandfather's tattoo on his face.
Zell found himself smiling in the mirror as he remembered the look on Ma's face when he came home with the new edition to his face.
He had finished his hair and took his shorts, T-shirt and vest from the desk chair where he had left them the night before. With a new pair of socks on and his Ehrgeiz gloves on, he walked out of the dorm heading for the training center.
There weren't usually alot of students in the garden halls at five thirty on a sunday morning.
And this was one of those days.
This was one of the moments of the day when Zell could act just as he wanted. Not running like he usually did. Just walking with a slow yet steady pace with his eyes closed and breathing slowly. When he reached the long hallway into the training center, he started to walk on his toes. Careful not to make the slightest sound. He sneaked into the center and looked around for unlucky monsters.
There were none.
None that he could see that was.
A monster as big as a T-Rexaur had to make sounds. And it did. He raced towards the familiar sound of enormous feet walking away from him. When he could see the vegetation moving in front of him, he slowed down and quietly walked closer in a fighting stance.
The big creature was walking in a miniature version of a canyon and Zell could see the head of the monster from through the bushes. Without thinking twice, Zell dashed through the bushes and jumped ut in the free air, aiming for the head in a punch. He connected with the temple of the T-Rexaur and swung himself onto it's head. The roar echoed through the canyon as the monster realized what just happened and that something was on it's head. Zell clung on with his legs as the large creature desperately tried to get rid of him. Zell began slamming his fists into the back of the giant monster's head, working his way through the skull. On his third blow, he could feel his hand making space in the soft, gray substance of the T- Rexaurs brain. With that, the struggle was over and it fell towards the ground, forcing Zell to leap off it and landing on the ground beside the dead monster.
"One down! And a whole lot more to go!" He had done it so many times before. Get up early, take a cold shower, head down to the center, find a monster, beat the monster, find more monsters. You get the point.
It had worked fine in the beginning. He had gotten more experience in battle.He had gotten stronger, faster and knew how to take a beating.
But after a while, It had gotten too easy. Now, he only did it to relieve aggression and wake up in the morning. He needed more of a challenge.
Maybe not just a physical challenge... But a challenge to the mind?
It happened that Zell felt that something was missing in his life. When he went to bed at night, he wanted to wrap his arms around someone. To snuggle up to a warm, gentle girl.
It happened that Zell felt lonely.
It sure was going to be a challenge to change. The hardest part wasn't for him to do it. It was for everyone else to accept it.
If he changed from the false, hyperactive punk that everyone knew him as, to the real Zell. The one that could say what he wanted without the need to make people look at him or make them laugh.
If he did that, then maybe the girls would think differently about him.
He knew that most of the girls thought that he was loud, annoying and stupid.
If he changed, then maybe he wouldn't have to feel so lonely anymore.
It was after the fourth T-Rexaur had fallen that he made up his mind. He had thought of it for so long, but now, he he would finally do it.
He would open the shell and show himself to the world.
So how 'bout it? Let me know by pressing that irrestitable button down there! / Yorun
The sunrays searched their way through the open window of the Balamb Garden dorm room. The rays filled the small room with warmth and made the white walls shine like the sun itself.
Light pierced through the eyelids of a short, blonde young man with a big, black tattoo on the left side of his face. He slowly opened his eyes and revealed the ocean blue eyes that all the girls fell for. At least if those eyes had been on anyone else. The blonde sat up and rubbed his eyes open.
"Another day in paradise" he said out loud with a sarcastic tone
But it wasn't so bad anyway. It was a nice place to live. Not far from Balamb and his mother, lots of monsters to beat in the training center, many girls in short skirts, a room of his own and his friends.
But that wasn't what bothered him.
He had to act. Every day people saw him in a way that wasn't the real Zell Dincht. The real Zell was hiding somewhere under the surface that everybody saw. And he couldn't show it.
He stood himself up and entered the bathroom. That was a nice change from the time when he still was a cadet. They had to share rooms with someone else and Zell always woke up to a flooded bathroom with nothing but cold water. But now, when he was a SeeD, he had a single room and that meant that he had the bathroom all for himself.
Zell turned on the shower and dropped his white jammie pants on the floor. The fresh water always had a tendency to rejuvenate Zell to the point where he could stand a full day of his own charade. He had skipped the morning shower a couple of times before. Why shower when you still are going to the training center the first thing in the morning? But when he did that, he always felt his eyes never really opened.
And you have to be alert to survive in the training Zell put himself through every day when he was off duty.
He opened the mirror cabinet and took a tube of extra strong hairgel. When he turned the door and looked himself straight in the face, he remembered the day when he got that big tribal tattoo.
It was a month before he had entered Garden. He had saved up for a long time and this was the day where he could finally put that money to use.
It was a nice summer day in the town of Balamb. You could see the heat radiating off the ground making a fine pattern across the streets. Zell was running down to the harbour with his small wallet in the backpocket. He stopped in front of a small pub-looking building with a sign over the door that read "Tak's tattoos" and with a starfish at the bottom. When he was young, Zell always thought it was a restaurant because of the starfish. But now, a couple of years later, he was going to get his first tattoo. Young Zell forced the heavy door open and entered the smoke filled room. In a corner there was a big, rugged man with a large cigar, producing all the smoke in the room.
Zell had already been there a couple of times before, talking to the man how much money needed and where to put the tattoo.
Tak had told him that it wasn't good to get a tattoo at Zell's age because he wasn't fully grown. The only place to place the tattoo and not ruining it in the process of growth was on his face. He couldn't remember what he felt and thought when he heard that he had two choices: to tattoo his face or not to tattoo at all. But he did it. He tattooed a larger version of his grandfather's tattoo on his face.
Zell found himself smiling in the mirror as he remembered the look on Ma's face when he came home with the new edition to his face.
He had finished his hair and took his shorts, T-shirt and vest from the desk chair where he had left them the night before. With a new pair of socks on and his Ehrgeiz gloves on, he walked out of the dorm heading for the training center.
There weren't usually alot of students in the garden halls at five thirty on a sunday morning.
And this was one of those days.
This was one of the moments of the day when Zell could act just as he wanted. Not running like he usually did. Just walking with a slow yet steady pace with his eyes closed and breathing slowly. When he reached the long hallway into the training center, he started to walk on his toes. Careful not to make the slightest sound. He sneaked into the center and looked around for unlucky monsters.
There were none.
None that he could see that was.
A monster as big as a T-Rexaur had to make sounds. And it did. He raced towards the familiar sound of enormous feet walking away from him. When he could see the vegetation moving in front of him, he slowed down and quietly walked closer in a fighting stance.
The big creature was walking in a miniature version of a canyon and Zell could see the head of the monster from through the bushes. Without thinking twice, Zell dashed through the bushes and jumped ut in the free air, aiming for the head in a punch. He connected with the temple of the T-Rexaur and swung himself onto it's head. The roar echoed through the canyon as the monster realized what just happened and that something was on it's head. Zell clung on with his legs as the large creature desperately tried to get rid of him. Zell began slamming his fists into the back of the giant monster's head, working his way through the skull. On his third blow, he could feel his hand making space in the soft, gray substance of the T- Rexaurs brain. With that, the struggle was over and it fell towards the ground, forcing Zell to leap off it and landing on the ground beside the dead monster.
"One down! And a whole lot more to go!" He had done it so many times before. Get up early, take a cold shower, head down to the center, find a monster, beat the monster, find more monsters. You get the point.
It had worked fine in the beginning. He had gotten more experience in battle.He had gotten stronger, faster and knew how to take a beating.
But after a while, It had gotten too easy. Now, he only did it to relieve aggression and wake up in the morning. He needed more of a challenge.
Maybe not just a physical challenge... But a challenge to the mind?
It happened that Zell felt that something was missing in his life. When he went to bed at night, he wanted to wrap his arms around someone. To snuggle up to a warm, gentle girl.
It happened that Zell felt lonely.
It sure was going to be a challenge to change. The hardest part wasn't for him to do it. It was for everyone else to accept it.
If he changed from the false, hyperactive punk that everyone knew him as, to the real Zell. The one that could say what he wanted without the need to make people look at him or make them laugh.
If he did that, then maybe the girls would think differently about him.
He knew that most of the girls thought that he was loud, annoying and stupid.
If he changed, then maybe he wouldn't have to feel so lonely anymore.
It was after the fourth T-Rexaur had fallen that he made up his mind. He had thought of it for so long, but now, he he would finally do it.
He would open the shell and show himself to the world.
So how 'bout it? Let me know by pressing that irrestitable button down there! / Yorun