Chapter Three: Arrivals in Timber

Irvine hung up the phone. The group had been strategizing for hours,
so they decided to let Quisty and the gang in on Rinoa's little secret.
Hey, it couldn't hurt. They knew the others' capabilities. They could help
a lot with the whole slayage thing.

"They're getting on the first train here." Irvine said.

"That's good." Merrick added. "We'll need all the help we can get if they
find a way to bring the Master here." He held a book in his hands. He followed
a sentence with his finger. "It says all they need is a droplet of blood, possibly
a small cut could do the trick. Rinoa, You'll need to be extra careful to make sure
they don't get any."

Suddenly, there was a quick rapping at the trains door.

"I'll get it." said Rinoa. "I donno anyone besides SeeD who knows about us here."
She grabbed a battle axe, just in case, and treaded towards the door. She peaked her
head out the door, but no one was there.

"Oh, I get it." Rinoa walked out and spread her arms. "Sneaking up on me. How cliche'!"

Rinoa heard the sound of crunching leaves behind her back. She quickly did a spinning
kick followed by a swing of her axe, which was caught by a clawed hand. Yep, a vampire.
Three actually. Rinoa quickly spun the vampire that had her arm and kicked him to the
ground. Another vampire threw her to the ground as well, throwing her axe far from reach.

"Well, that was mean." Rinoa did a sweeping kick to knock him off his feet, Then staked
him with a broken piece of railroad track. She jumped back on her feet.

"See, that's what I hate about vamps. No matter where they come from, they never have
any manners!" Rinoa quiped. Only two to go, she thought. But still, She only saw one.
Just then, one of the vamps smashed the wooden end of the axe against Rinoas head, leaving
her helpless for a brief moment.

"Bu-bye slayer." The vamp snarled as he raised the axe above his head, the other one
grinning. Then suddenly, the vamp was..... DUSTED?

Rinoa wiped her eyes to seeIirvine, standing at the door to the train.

"Im still the best there is, kid." Irvine said, crossbow in hand. The other vampire
freaked, and started running.

"Oh no ya' don't, Sparky..." Rinoa said jumping on him, pinning him to the ground.
"Alright, First things first. What do you know about this Master guy? And DON"T
lie to me!" She put the piece of broken train track to the vamps heart.

"Only that he is rumored to be the most powerful vampire in all the history of the
hell dimensions! Don't kill me, please?"

"So," Rinoa fondled the stake. "Whaddabout this ceremony? Ya'know, to raise the Master?"

"It'll take place tommorrow at midnight, at the Hellmouth! Only we need your..."

"Yeah, yeah, you need my blood to finish the ceremony, raise the master, and cause hell
towards the whole mortal realm, right? So who sent you?"

"Master... Master Squall..." he said, Rinoa's eyes widening. She couldn't handle it.
She staked him, many times, hoping it would make her feel better. Does this mean she'd
have to kill her one true love?
***************

They'd been on the train for nearly two hours. Selphie was salivating like a dog because
'Hey it's a train!' Zell was napping on the SeeD bed's, and Quistis was reading a
magazine.

"Quisty, isn't this exciting? We're gonna be a team again!" Selphie exclaimed.

"Yes. Im getting a bit of De ja vu'. It's just like that time we were headed to
Galbadian Gardens by train, Remember?" Quistis reminiced.

"Yeah, and it's also like the time we went to Deling, and Irvine kept hitting
on us.*sigh* Gosh. I've missed him. But the whole 'Squall' thing hit both of us pretty
hard. Things sorta, fell apart."

Quistis looked down. "Well, we've got each other, and, hey, you're at least gonna see
him again, right?" The room fell silent, and the train approached Timber Station, slower
then ever.