Chapter Eight
Black Boxes
The Dragon rounded on Selphie, leaving its pale blue neck unprotected. Squall picked himself up off the icy cavern floor. The Dragons jaw opened wide and lunged down over Selphies cowering figure. Squall charged at the Dragons neck and brought his gunblade slashing down on it.
The Dragon roared. Selphie screamed.
Squall lashed out again with his gunblade, severing the neck further. Dark blue dragons blood washed around his feet. The dragon raised his head above Selphie and turned to look at Squall. It lashed out with a clawed foot and knocked Squall back. Selphie shook her foot free of the blanket and crawled out from under the Dragon.
Squall stood again and cast a firaga spell on the deep gash that he had opened on the Dragons neck. The dragon roared again and from its other side Selphie cast death on it.
A dark hole opened on the ground in front of the wounded Dragon. A cloaked figure rose out of it and with a flash of light, the figure disappeared and the Dragon slumped onto the ground, lifeless.
Panting heavily, Selphie walked around the head of the dragon to see Squall disappearing past the Dragons corpse into the cavern from which it had appeared.
******
Rinoa dropped the box of Black Wormroot and followed Quistis back to their Sand Buggy. It was a slow trip. The ground constantly rumbled and shook. Rinoa stopped by Quistis, who had fallen over after a particularly violent tremor. Looking back, Rinoa saw huge scaled worms rising up out of the sand. A collection of 6 or 7 had gathered around the place where the box had been dropped.
"They're so fast!" she exclaimed to Quistis, who was back on her feet now. They carried on running towards their Buggy. The ground shook violently again.
"They're following us." Quistis told Rinoa. They reached the Sand Buggy and Quistis shouted at the driver to get them out of there. The ground shook again and the two girls watched as the sand vanished beneath them.
"It's under us!" Rinoa shouted in a panic. The worm rose higher with the Sand buggy on top of it. Quistis leaned out of the Buggy's window and cast a small spell on the worm. As soon as the spell hit the worm the Buggy fell to the ground and they were racing away from the desert.
******
In the far corner of the second cavern was a chest. Squall kicked at the padlock with his foot and was surprised to see it shatter along with the side of the chest.
"That dragon must have frozen it." Selphie said, coming up next to Squall. They kicked the rest of the chest to pieces to reveal a black box inside it.
"Yay!" Selphie cheered but then covered her mouth with her hands as Squall frowned at her.
He opened the box. Inside was a folded white cloth. Squall pulled it out and unfolded it but was annoyed to find that it only contained a lump of ice.
"Oh, well." Selphie whispered, "Should we bring it back with us?"
Squall shook his head. "We'll leave it here. It's no use to us."
"But it might contain a clue of where the other boxes are." Selphie suggested.
"There won't be anything." Squall sighed, "We shouldn't have expected something so valuable to be so easy to find. Let's go."
Squall waited while Selphie got out pair of socks from her pack and put them both on her bare foot. Then, the two SeeDs left the icy cavern and headed back to the Shumi Village.
******
On the short trip across solid land back to Garden, Rinoa thought about asking Quistis about Squall. She started to speak, but didn't know what she wanted to say.
"Quistis," she started, "Do...you...er...think...uh..."
Quistis looked up from the report she was writing and smiled at Rinoa.
"Sorry, you're busy." Rinoa apologised.
"What's wrong?" Quistis asked, putting the loose papers back in her folder.
Rinoa paused.
"Do you have a boyfriend?" she asked suddenly.
"Are you worried about Squall?" Quistis smiled again.
"Am I that obvious?" Rinoa joked. "Or are you just avoiding the question?"
Quistis laughed. "I'm sure that if it's Squall, you're just being paranoid."
"That's what I was thinking."
"Well considering what you've both been through, not many people would still be together after all that. You must have something special."
"I don't know..." Rinoa stared down at her hands.
"But since you asked, yes, I do have a boyfriend."
Quistis laughed at Rinoas surprised expression. "Hey, it's not THAT hard to believe, is it?"
They both laughed as their Buggy arrived at the Garden.
Black Boxes
The Dragon rounded on Selphie, leaving its pale blue neck unprotected. Squall picked himself up off the icy cavern floor. The Dragons jaw opened wide and lunged down over Selphies cowering figure. Squall charged at the Dragons neck and brought his gunblade slashing down on it.
The Dragon roared. Selphie screamed.
Squall lashed out again with his gunblade, severing the neck further. Dark blue dragons blood washed around his feet. The dragon raised his head above Selphie and turned to look at Squall. It lashed out with a clawed foot and knocked Squall back. Selphie shook her foot free of the blanket and crawled out from under the Dragon.
Squall stood again and cast a firaga spell on the deep gash that he had opened on the Dragons neck. The dragon roared again and from its other side Selphie cast death on it.
A dark hole opened on the ground in front of the wounded Dragon. A cloaked figure rose out of it and with a flash of light, the figure disappeared and the Dragon slumped onto the ground, lifeless.
Panting heavily, Selphie walked around the head of the dragon to see Squall disappearing past the Dragons corpse into the cavern from which it had appeared.
******
Rinoa dropped the box of Black Wormroot and followed Quistis back to their Sand Buggy. It was a slow trip. The ground constantly rumbled and shook. Rinoa stopped by Quistis, who had fallen over after a particularly violent tremor. Looking back, Rinoa saw huge scaled worms rising up out of the sand. A collection of 6 or 7 had gathered around the place where the box had been dropped.
"They're so fast!" she exclaimed to Quistis, who was back on her feet now. They carried on running towards their Buggy. The ground shook violently again.
"They're following us." Quistis told Rinoa. They reached the Sand Buggy and Quistis shouted at the driver to get them out of there. The ground shook again and the two girls watched as the sand vanished beneath them.
"It's under us!" Rinoa shouted in a panic. The worm rose higher with the Sand buggy on top of it. Quistis leaned out of the Buggy's window and cast a small spell on the worm. As soon as the spell hit the worm the Buggy fell to the ground and they were racing away from the desert.
******
In the far corner of the second cavern was a chest. Squall kicked at the padlock with his foot and was surprised to see it shatter along with the side of the chest.
"That dragon must have frozen it." Selphie said, coming up next to Squall. They kicked the rest of the chest to pieces to reveal a black box inside it.
"Yay!" Selphie cheered but then covered her mouth with her hands as Squall frowned at her.
He opened the box. Inside was a folded white cloth. Squall pulled it out and unfolded it but was annoyed to find that it only contained a lump of ice.
"Oh, well." Selphie whispered, "Should we bring it back with us?"
Squall shook his head. "We'll leave it here. It's no use to us."
"But it might contain a clue of where the other boxes are." Selphie suggested.
"There won't be anything." Squall sighed, "We shouldn't have expected something so valuable to be so easy to find. Let's go."
Squall waited while Selphie got out pair of socks from her pack and put them both on her bare foot. Then, the two SeeDs left the icy cavern and headed back to the Shumi Village.
******
On the short trip across solid land back to Garden, Rinoa thought about asking Quistis about Squall. She started to speak, but didn't know what she wanted to say.
"Quistis," she started, "Do...you...er...think...uh..."
Quistis looked up from the report she was writing and smiled at Rinoa.
"Sorry, you're busy." Rinoa apologised.
"What's wrong?" Quistis asked, putting the loose papers back in her folder.
Rinoa paused.
"Do you have a boyfriend?" she asked suddenly.
"Are you worried about Squall?" Quistis smiled again.
"Am I that obvious?" Rinoa joked. "Or are you just avoiding the question?"
Quistis laughed. "I'm sure that if it's Squall, you're just being paranoid."
"That's what I was thinking."
"Well considering what you've both been through, not many people would still be together after all that. You must have something special."
"I don't know..." Rinoa stared down at her hands.
"But since you asked, yes, I do have a boyfriend."
Quistis laughed at Rinoas surprised expression. "Hey, it's not THAT hard to believe, is it?"
They both laughed as their Buggy arrived at the Garden.