All characters belong to Square. I own my own character and this story.

Chapter Five

The Quest Begins.

Nida was bored. He had been waiting for close to two hours. The train that was carrying Quistis, Selphie and Zell had been delayed due to track damage when Rinoa's train was attacked. So that left him sitting on his bum and bored out of his mind.

The only interesting thing so far had been to see the Ragnarok go screaming over Balamb Town at full speed. That had been half an hour ago.

Looking up he saw a light in the distance. Finally, the train was pulling out of the tunnel and heading for the station. He slid out of the seat of the official SeeD vehicle and jogged up to the platform.

As soon as the train rolled to a complete stop it's doors slid open and the passengers began exiting from their cars. Looking around he spied Zell's tattooed face and walked over to him.

"Zell! Over here."

Zell, upon hearing Nida's voice turned to his two companions and pointed them towards Nida.

"Hey Nida, thanks again for offering to give us a ride back to Balamb Garden."

Zell replied happily as the four gathered together near the exit to the station.

"Sorry Zell no time to chat! You guys are needed back at Garden right away. There's been an accident." Nida then gave them a quick run down on everything that had happened from Rinoa's train being attacked and up to Squall's report about Seifer being involved.

The others just stood there in shocked silence until Nida pointed out that they needed to hurry.

Quistis recovered the quickest out of the three and turned to Selphie and Zell. "Come on guys let's get back and talk to Squall. Maybe he's still awake enough to give us some idea where Rinoa is being taken."

With that said the four quickly moved to the car and piled in. As soon as everyone was buckled in they turned around to Nida who was in the drivers seat and asked if he knew anything else. "Well I left right after Headmaster Cid finished talking to Squall since he told me that I should head here to get you guys." He paused for a second to check for traffic before continuing. "I believe he said Irvine was taking Squall back to his Apartment to rest."

"Okay" replied Quistis thoughtfully, "Zell, I want you and Nida to head to Squall's room while Selphie and I head for Headmaster Cid's Office to see what he has planned."

"Got it Quistis."

Selphie, seated on the passenger side, turned to Nida and asked, "How bad was Squall hurt?"

"He'll live but he got pretty banged up. He had a couple of broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder from slamming through a wooden awning." Nida said. "He took a while to wake up from all the sedatives that were in his system. Whoever did this wanted to make sure he went down quick and stayed down."

"Yikes! Poor guy. We have to help him and Rinoa ok!" commented Selphie as their car left the edge of Balamb Town and moved quickly towards Balamb Garden. The only answer she received was a firm nod of the head from everyone seated in the car. It was all that was needed. The rest of the trip was made in silence.

{---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------}

The car pulled to a stop in the Garage and as soon as everyone was out of the vehicle they headed off in two different directions. Zell and Nida headed towards the Dormitories while Quistis and Selphie headed for the elevator to take them to the third floor where Headmaster Cid's office was located.

Zell and Nida trotted past the Training Center and began the walk around the center ring of Garden.

"Man this isn't fair!" Zell suddenly exploded. "Why is this stuff always happening? I mean why is it that as soon as they have something good happen that it gets screwed up by that jerk Seifer. Next time I see that punk I'm gonna teach him some manners."

Nida noticed how red in the face Zell was getting and started to worry. "Zell calm down and breathe. We'll catch him and then we can take our time and make him pay!"

'He's right. You need to calm down before you pop something. And besides when you hold your breath like that it gets rather cramped in here!'

'Oh, sorry Ifrit. I forgot about that. Thanks for the reminder.'

'And don't worry. We'll find him and when we do there will be hell to pay. Literally! We GF's haven't forgotten what he did to Odin.'

By now Zell and Irvine had made it most off the way around the Outer ring and were approaching the Dormitory entrance. As they did they noticed the crumpled form lying on a bench nearby.

"What the hell? Isn't that Irvine?"

Zell looked to where Nida was pointing and recognized his friend stretched out unconscious. The two immediately ran to the bench and crouched down next to him.

'He's breathing and I don't see any marks on him. I wander why he's passed out?' Zell wondered as they checked him over for injuries. Seeing none Zell stepped back and motioned Nida to do the same. He then touched his hand to his forehead softly before reaching it towards Irvine.

He then spoke out loud the Spell he wanted. "Scan!"

Immediately he heard Ifrit begin to list off all of Irvine's vital stats. 'Everything seems normal… Wait a second… He has a Sleep spell cast on him.'

"Sleep spell huh? Ok then!" He then touched his forehead again and cast a second spell. "Esuna!" As soon as the spell finished Irvine began to moan lightly and sit up as the spells effects wore off.

Looking around, Irvine noticed Nida and Zell standing over him. "Whoa, when did you guys get here." Then as everything that had happened began to come back to him he jumped up fast enough to startle the others. "Never mind! We have to find Headmaster Cid right now!"

Noticing the looks of confusion he was receiving he related what had transpired earlier while they were gone.

As soon as he was done telling them everything, the three set off to find the Headmaster. Within a matter of minutes they were aboard the elevator heading up.

{---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------}

"So you see that's what happened. I checked and it looks like he took the Ragnarok and left." Finished Irvine before turning and sitting back down in a chair next to Headmaster Cid's Office.

"Yeah, and while I was waiting in Balamb I saw the Ragnarok pass over heading out towards sea." Added Nida from his leaning spot against the far wall. Headmaster Cid sat silently for several moments while glancing around at everyone who was assembled in his office. Leaning against the far wall next to Nida were Selphie and Zell. And seated next to Irvine was Quistis. And behind himself was Balamb's new Garden Master, Tomas Slater.

Cid slid his glasses off and rubbed the bridge of his nose for a moment while trying to figure out where to start. The decision was taken from him however as Slater stepped forward and addressed everyone in the room. "Very well then. As of now, Squall Leonhart is considered a criminal and is to be apprehended on sight." Sensing everyone ready to stand up for their friend and Commander he stepped forward and continued. "He has broken several of SeeD's codes and he also attacked a fellow SeeD. He is to be captured and returned for Court Martial. Due to the fact that you are all apparently biased on this subject I will be contacting Galbadia Garden and having them send out a team immediately to retrieve Commander Leonhart. They will be authorized to use any force necessary should he refuse to come in voluntarily. Meanwhile, you may continue your search for the missing girl. Miss Heartilly I believe was her name. That is all. Now if you will excuse us, the Headmaster and I have some business that needs addressed."

He then turned and left the room before anyone could object. Headmaster Cid also stood up but instead of leaving he walked over to where everyone was standing and added. "Listen, I understand how you all must feel. So here's what I want you to do. Begin the search for Rinoa. But you also have to find Squall. And you have to do it before the other team does or who knows what might happen." With that said he turned and followed Slater out of the room. As he reached the door he turned back one last time and added, "Now go do what you have to do, just do it faster!"

Once he was gone the room burst into an uproar until Quistis stood up and was able to get everyone's attention. "Ok everyone listen up! Here's what we need to do. Nida you stay here and wait for word from us so that you can pass it on to Cid. The rest of us are leaving and will catch the nest train out of Balamb station. Is that understood." Seeing everybody's approving nods she saluted and led the way towards the elevator.

{------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------}

Authors Notes: Sorry this chapter isn't very long but I decided to break it in half. I hope to have the rest up later tonight. And as always any feedback is greatly appreciated. Thanks to the following people for their reviews.

Angelprinczess29, Wolfie, Jenileerose, Blackadder, and Gigashadow. It really helps me to know that this isn't a waste of time. Thanks a bunch!!!!