Disclaimer: I do not own FFVIII. No matter how much I would like to I
don't. I do own the SeeD candidates, as they are my own inventions. (One of
them is based on me in some ways. I will mention anyone who guesses
correctly which one in the next chapter.)
Briefing
Squall left the elevator on the basement level. He looked around the antechamber in which he stood. It sure had changed since the first time he had come down here, which had also been the last time. Rinoa was sitting in an easy chair in one of the corners talking to Matron. Angel sat at her feet and Rinoa stroked his head from time to time.
Zell was leaning against the wall beside the lift doors. Not only had he actually managed to get hotdogs for once, but he'd also sneaked them out of the cafeteria and was standing there munching on one while he waited. Squall did not consider this sensible behaviour since the Disciplinary Committee had been formed to stop such occurrences and the head of the Committee was sitting not a hundred yards from Zell.
Seifer was scowling and tapping his gunblade on the floor. He had been allowed back into Garden after Edea had spoken for him to clear his name but Squall privately thought it was just because the transfers and new students had more than their share of troublemakers among them. And whatever Seifer's faults, with him heading up the Disciplinary Committee no one stepped out of line.
Irvine and Quistis were cuddling up on a sofa opposite Seifer. Everyone had seemed surprised when they had got together. Squall couldn't understand why. He'd thought it was inevitable, after all he and Quistis were similar in many ways and Irvine did the same as Rinoa when it came to pulling people out of their shells. Since they had started dating, Quistis was far less stressed out and, unlike when he was dating Selphie; Irvine's eyes no longer wandered to any attractive female in sight.
Another odd couple was Seifer and Selphie. She was standing looking out of one off the newly fitted windows as they hovered above the old orphanage but Squall was willing to bet that before long, say the next 15 minutes or so, she'd be over there ruffling Seifer's hair or calling him by some infantile nickname. And, although that would be a death sentence for anyone else, Selphie actually got away with it, which said a lot about Seifer's feelings for her.
"Ah, good. Everyone's here, we can start." The sound of Headmaster Cid's voice jolted Squall out of his thoughts and he belatedly realised that four students were standing in and around the room.
"Be seated." Cid cleared his throat and looked at the assembled SeeDs, before turning his attention back to Squall.
"Squall, it has come to my attention that we have a contract, taken up by this Garden, that has neither been fulfilled nor terminated. Money was taken for this contract several months ago, and should word of this get out our reputation will be in tatters. Moreover, we are honour bound to fulfil the contract to the full extent of the wording. As Commander I am holding you responsible for seeing that this contract gets the proper attention."
Squall frowned at he translated this into English and stood up. "Who was assigned this contract?" Squall privately thought of the lecture the culprits would get when he.
"Yourself, Zell, and Selphie."
"WHAT?!" It took Squall a moment to realise that everyone was staring at him and that the exclamation had come from him. He coughed and said, " You mean the Forest Owls contract? You want Timber liberated?"
"Actually, you were assigned to the Forest Owls for that purpose for an unknown duration until Timber's liberation. It was made clear that no replacement of SeeD members would be possible should you be killed or captured. However, since your reassignment and eventual capture were my fault I have decided to send Irvine, Quistis and Seifer on this mission as well. Furthermore, I am using this as an exam opportunity. These candidates will also accompany you. Should this take longer than I anticipate I ask you to use you own judgement on whether they continue to accompany you or they return to Garden. You'll have to find a way to get in without being recognised. Between the TV Station incident and the parade, your faces are rather well known by the ordinary soldiers. My sources tell me that Galbadia is more 'tense' than usual. I believe that there may be another coup in the making. Until you know where the new leader's sympathies lie, I suggest you stay out of sight. It's up to you from now on, Squall. Best of luck everyone." With a smile Cid took Edea's hand and entered the lift, leaving every person in the room staring after them.
Squall shook himself and turned back to the room. He studied the four candidates closely. At first glance, he had assumed that there were three boys and a single girl. This closer inspection, however revealed that one of the 'boys' was actually a girl with short, spiky blue-streaked hair wearing a boy's uniform. All four of them had lined up automatically when Matron had risen to leave.
"Alright," sighed Squall. "Name, weapon, GF's if you have them." He studied the first person in line.
The boy was about seventeen. He had blue/green eyes and silver hair worn long and loose in a style that reminded Squall of his father, Laguna. Some of it was draped over his shoulder and the rest presumably trailed down his back. He wore He had twin pistol holsters strapped to his thighs and something about his stance reminded Squall of Irvine, which worried him slightly, as one cocky gunslinger was more than enough trouble, without adding another one into the mix. The boy saluted.
"Yamato Yamada. Gun user. My GF's are Ramuh and Kjata. Ramuh's a thunder GF and Kjata is a combination of Fire, Ice and Thunder. Call me Matt."
Squall turned his attention to the next person in line the girl wearing trousers. Something else about her was bothering him, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Before he could speak however, Seifer butted in.
"Hey, you, blue hair is against Garden regulations. So is wearing the incorrect uniform."
The girl looked annoyed as she snapped "I didn't know the test would be so soon. So I dyed my hair for tonight, the Garden Festival. And the headmaster gave me a special dispensation for the uniform, because there was no way I was going to use my chosen weapon wearing a skirt." She tossed her head and gave an annoyed snort. As she did so a braid of hair that must have reached her waist flew over her shoulder. Her silver eyes sparkled with anger.
Squall had started to speak when Quistis burst in coldly, "And just what is your chosen weapon?" Squall was getting mildly pissed of with all these interruptions.
"The gauntlet, see?" She held up her hands, which were in gloves identical to the ones Zell had worn during their SeeD exam. "My name is Raine Yamada." "Yamada? Are you two related?" said Rinoa jolting Squall out of his wandering thoughts. He now knew what it was that had been bothering him. Between her spiky haircut, her uniform, weapon and stance, she bore an amazing resemblance to Zell.
"Yeah, he's my big brother. My GF's are Madeen and Fenrir. Madeen's a holy GF like Alexander and Fenrir's earth like The Brothers but I can change his attack by wearing a certain accessory." Raine looked at Zell. Hey you've got hotdogs. Can I have one? I mean you've already eaten three and I'm starving. Please?" She fell to her knees and clasped her hands together over her head in a manner that made her look even more like Zell. He looked a little wild-eyed but handed one over.
"What are you, my twin sister?" He muttered.
"No, actually she's mine." An amused female voice said. Squall turned to the end of the line where a dark haired beauty was stepping forward. She carried a thin staff and her hair, which came down to mid-thigh, was pulled together at the base of her spine with a blue ribbon. Her hair had a curious shimmer to it - as if flames were moving across her hair. Her violet eyes twinkled with the amusement Squall had heard in her voice.
"My name is Flamara Yamada. I use a staff or rod like this one but I'm far stronger with magical attacks than physical ones. My GF's are NeoBahamut and Phoenix."
"WOW! You can actually summon Phoenix? I thought no one had ever seen it. We have to rely on Phoenix pinions." exclaimed Selphie.
"I know." said Flamara in what Squall thought was a rather too smug manner. "I have a naturally affinity with fire."
A sardonic snort came from behind her and Squall looked around her. The last of the four was pushing himself away from the wall he was leaning on in a manner that reminded Squall of himself.
The boy had curious eyes - they were the same green/yellow as a cat's. He had short black hair that fell forward in a natural fringe, and his face was set. He carried a long thin blade. He had a look in his eyes that marked him down as what Squall had once been - a lone wolf, even within his own family. Squall had no doubt that he was related to the other three, and the boy's next words confirmed it.
"Student no.986391 Takahiro Yamada. GF's Odin and Atomos both non- elemental. Weapon masamune. If we've quite finished gossiping could we continue with the briefing? It would be nice to hear more about this mission."
Squall cleared his throat and attention shifted back to him. "We need to brainstorm a way to get into Timber, and Galbadia if need be, without attracting attention. For obvious reasons the Garden and the Ragnarock are out. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated, so let's think people."
Quistis looked at Squall curiously - she could tell he was being excessively buoyant.
The white haired boy, Matt?, had taken a map from one of his pockets and had spread it out on the floor. He was tracing patterns on it with one finger and muttering under his breath.
Suddenly he looked up. "Commander, I can see three ways of *getting* to Timber, but one of them's useless for our purposes. The other two have potential, though."
"Three?" frowned Quistis.
"Yes, first, the useless one. We simply get on the train at Balamb. This is useless since any party this large would almost have to come from Garden, whether we change our appearances or not people are going to know we're SeeD."
Squall nodded. "You're right, it is pretty useless." Matt flashed him a grin before leaning over the map to point out the other options.
"Right. The other two options don't have much between them. Option 1: we go to Dollet by vessel. We change our appearances then either walk, drive or take the train to Timber. Option 2: We go to Esthar on the Ragnarock, change our appearances, and travel to Timber by way of the railroad bridge. The advantage of this is that no one will see our vessel and that Esthar aren't likely to tell Galbadia, whereas someone in Dollet might. It also has the advantage that we can claim we're Estharians and they can't check up on us."
Squall glanced at the rest of the team. Seifer was nodding abstractedly while thinking, Quistis looked mad that a student had thought of something she hadn't anticipated and the others were talking about what Matt had said.
Angel whined and Squall looked round to see the dog standing by the elevator. It was obvious he needed to go out. "Alright. We'll take a short break. We'll meet upstairs at (checks watch) 11:15. Try to come up with something useful."
As everyone got out of the lift at 1F Squall had to jump out of the way to avoid the rush as over a dozen people tried to get in and out of a lift that had doors wide enough for three abreast at most. Squall and Angel walked down the stairs. Zell and Raine were standing at the bottom, behind the directory. Everyone else had disappeared.
"I don't suppose you'd want to spar a little, would you?" said Raine, feinting at Zell. "By the way, thanks for that hotdog."
"Hey, no prob," said Zell waving his hand in the air. "My pleasure. Sure, why don't we go down to the training centre. See ya later, Squall."
Authors Note: Oh Yeah. Thanks to Caleb Nova, CTHKSI, JessyNick and RPG-Adam for reviewing me. Caleb Nova I have an idea what might have happened and I'm going to try and avoid the problem. Thanks again for reviewing me. I now have a new nickname - 'Tigger' because you made me so happy I just couldn't stop bouncing ^^.
I have an idea for the next chapter, but I'm finding it hard to write. I keep getting distracted by this idea for a Digimon fic but I'm not sure I want to start writing in case I get muddled. I'll try to update soon. Please R&R. (
Briefing
Squall left the elevator on the basement level. He looked around the antechamber in which he stood. It sure had changed since the first time he had come down here, which had also been the last time. Rinoa was sitting in an easy chair in one of the corners talking to Matron. Angel sat at her feet and Rinoa stroked his head from time to time.
Zell was leaning against the wall beside the lift doors. Not only had he actually managed to get hotdogs for once, but he'd also sneaked them out of the cafeteria and was standing there munching on one while he waited. Squall did not consider this sensible behaviour since the Disciplinary Committee had been formed to stop such occurrences and the head of the Committee was sitting not a hundred yards from Zell.
Seifer was scowling and tapping his gunblade on the floor. He had been allowed back into Garden after Edea had spoken for him to clear his name but Squall privately thought it was just because the transfers and new students had more than their share of troublemakers among them. And whatever Seifer's faults, with him heading up the Disciplinary Committee no one stepped out of line.
Irvine and Quistis were cuddling up on a sofa opposite Seifer. Everyone had seemed surprised when they had got together. Squall couldn't understand why. He'd thought it was inevitable, after all he and Quistis were similar in many ways and Irvine did the same as Rinoa when it came to pulling people out of their shells. Since they had started dating, Quistis was far less stressed out and, unlike when he was dating Selphie; Irvine's eyes no longer wandered to any attractive female in sight.
Another odd couple was Seifer and Selphie. She was standing looking out of one off the newly fitted windows as they hovered above the old orphanage but Squall was willing to bet that before long, say the next 15 minutes or so, she'd be over there ruffling Seifer's hair or calling him by some infantile nickname. And, although that would be a death sentence for anyone else, Selphie actually got away with it, which said a lot about Seifer's feelings for her.
"Ah, good. Everyone's here, we can start." The sound of Headmaster Cid's voice jolted Squall out of his thoughts and he belatedly realised that four students were standing in and around the room.
"Be seated." Cid cleared his throat and looked at the assembled SeeDs, before turning his attention back to Squall.
"Squall, it has come to my attention that we have a contract, taken up by this Garden, that has neither been fulfilled nor terminated. Money was taken for this contract several months ago, and should word of this get out our reputation will be in tatters. Moreover, we are honour bound to fulfil the contract to the full extent of the wording. As Commander I am holding you responsible for seeing that this contract gets the proper attention."
Squall frowned at he translated this into English and stood up. "Who was assigned this contract?" Squall privately thought of the lecture the culprits would get when he.
"Yourself, Zell, and Selphie."
"WHAT?!" It took Squall a moment to realise that everyone was staring at him and that the exclamation had come from him. He coughed and said, " You mean the Forest Owls contract? You want Timber liberated?"
"Actually, you were assigned to the Forest Owls for that purpose for an unknown duration until Timber's liberation. It was made clear that no replacement of SeeD members would be possible should you be killed or captured. However, since your reassignment and eventual capture were my fault I have decided to send Irvine, Quistis and Seifer on this mission as well. Furthermore, I am using this as an exam opportunity. These candidates will also accompany you. Should this take longer than I anticipate I ask you to use you own judgement on whether they continue to accompany you or they return to Garden. You'll have to find a way to get in without being recognised. Between the TV Station incident and the parade, your faces are rather well known by the ordinary soldiers. My sources tell me that Galbadia is more 'tense' than usual. I believe that there may be another coup in the making. Until you know where the new leader's sympathies lie, I suggest you stay out of sight. It's up to you from now on, Squall. Best of luck everyone." With a smile Cid took Edea's hand and entered the lift, leaving every person in the room staring after them.
Squall shook himself and turned back to the room. He studied the four candidates closely. At first glance, he had assumed that there were three boys and a single girl. This closer inspection, however revealed that one of the 'boys' was actually a girl with short, spiky blue-streaked hair wearing a boy's uniform. All four of them had lined up automatically when Matron had risen to leave.
"Alright," sighed Squall. "Name, weapon, GF's if you have them." He studied the first person in line.
The boy was about seventeen. He had blue/green eyes and silver hair worn long and loose in a style that reminded Squall of his father, Laguna. Some of it was draped over his shoulder and the rest presumably trailed down his back. He wore He had twin pistol holsters strapped to his thighs and something about his stance reminded Squall of Irvine, which worried him slightly, as one cocky gunslinger was more than enough trouble, without adding another one into the mix. The boy saluted.
"Yamato Yamada. Gun user. My GF's are Ramuh and Kjata. Ramuh's a thunder GF and Kjata is a combination of Fire, Ice and Thunder. Call me Matt."
Squall turned his attention to the next person in line the girl wearing trousers. Something else about her was bothering him, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Before he could speak however, Seifer butted in.
"Hey, you, blue hair is against Garden regulations. So is wearing the incorrect uniform."
The girl looked annoyed as she snapped "I didn't know the test would be so soon. So I dyed my hair for tonight, the Garden Festival. And the headmaster gave me a special dispensation for the uniform, because there was no way I was going to use my chosen weapon wearing a skirt." She tossed her head and gave an annoyed snort. As she did so a braid of hair that must have reached her waist flew over her shoulder. Her silver eyes sparkled with anger.
Squall had started to speak when Quistis burst in coldly, "And just what is your chosen weapon?" Squall was getting mildly pissed of with all these interruptions.
"The gauntlet, see?" She held up her hands, which were in gloves identical to the ones Zell had worn during their SeeD exam. "My name is Raine Yamada." "Yamada? Are you two related?" said Rinoa jolting Squall out of his wandering thoughts. He now knew what it was that had been bothering him. Between her spiky haircut, her uniform, weapon and stance, she bore an amazing resemblance to Zell.
"Yeah, he's my big brother. My GF's are Madeen and Fenrir. Madeen's a holy GF like Alexander and Fenrir's earth like The Brothers but I can change his attack by wearing a certain accessory." Raine looked at Zell. Hey you've got hotdogs. Can I have one? I mean you've already eaten three and I'm starving. Please?" She fell to her knees and clasped her hands together over her head in a manner that made her look even more like Zell. He looked a little wild-eyed but handed one over.
"What are you, my twin sister?" He muttered.
"No, actually she's mine." An amused female voice said. Squall turned to the end of the line where a dark haired beauty was stepping forward. She carried a thin staff and her hair, which came down to mid-thigh, was pulled together at the base of her spine with a blue ribbon. Her hair had a curious shimmer to it - as if flames were moving across her hair. Her violet eyes twinkled with the amusement Squall had heard in her voice.
"My name is Flamara Yamada. I use a staff or rod like this one but I'm far stronger with magical attacks than physical ones. My GF's are NeoBahamut and Phoenix."
"WOW! You can actually summon Phoenix? I thought no one had ever seen it. We have to rely on Phoenix pinions." exclaimed Selphie.
"I know." said Flamara in what Squall thought was a rather too smug manner. "I have a naturally affinity with fire."
A sardonic snort came from behind her and Squall looked around her. The last of the four was pushing himself away from the wall he was leaning on in a manner that reminded Squall of himself.
The boy had curious eyes - they were the same green/yellow as a cat's. He had short black hair that fell forward in a natural fringe, and his face was set. He carried a long thin blade. He had a look in his eyes that marked him down as what Squall had once been - a lone wolf, even within his own family. Squall had no doubt that he was related to the other three, and the boy's next words confirmed it.
"Student no.986391 Takahiro Yamada. GF's Odin and Atomos both non- elemental. Weapon masamune. If we've quite finished gossiping could we continue with the briefing? It would be nice to hear more about this mission."
Squall cleared his throat and attention shifted back to him. "We need to brainstorm a way to get into Timber, and Galbadia if need be, without attracting attention. For obvious reasons the Garden and the Ragnarock are out. Any ideas will be greatly appreciated, so let's think people."
Quistis looked at Squall curiously - she could tell he was being excessively buoyant.
The white haired boy, Matt?, had taken a map from one of his pockets and had spread it out on the floor. He was tracing patterns on it with one finger and muttering under his breath.
Suddenly he looked up. "Commander, I can see three ways of *getting* to Timber, but one of them's useless for our purposes. The other two have potential, though."
"Three?" frowned Quistis.
"Yes, first, the useless one. We simply get on the train at Balamb. This is useless since any party this large would almost have to come from Garden, whether we change our appearances or not people are going to know we're SeeD."
Squall nodded. "You're right, it is pretty useless." Matt flashed him a grin before leaning over the map to point out the other options.
"Right. The other two options don't have much between them. Option 1: we go to Dollet by vessel. We change our appearances then either walk, drive or take the train to Timber. Option 2: We go to Esthar on the Ragnarock, change our appearances, and travel to Timber by way of the railroad bridge. The advantage of this is that no one will see our vessel and that Esthar aren't likely to tell Galbadia, whereas someone in Dollet might. It also has the advantage that we can claim we're Estharians and they can't check up on us."
Squall glanced at the rest of the team. Seifer was nodding abstractedly while thinking, Quistis looked mad that a student had thought of something she hadn't anticipated and the others were talking about what Matt had said.
Angel whined and Squall looked round to see the dog standing by the elevator. It was obvious he needed to go out. "Alright. We'll take a short break. We'll meet upstairs at (checks watch) 11:15. Try to come up with something useful."
As everyone got out of the lift at 1F Squall had to jump out of the way to avoid the rush as over a dozen people tried to get in and out of a lift that had doors wide enough for three abreast at most. Squall and Angel walked down the stairs. Zell and Raine were standing at the bottom, behind the directory. Everyone else had disappeared.
"I don't suppose you'd want to spar a little, would you?" said Raine, feinting at Zell. "By the way, thanks for that hotdog."
"Hey, no prob," said Zell waving his hand in the air. "My pleasure. Sure, why don't we go down to the training centre. See ya later, Squall."
Authors Note: Oh Yeah. Thanks to Caleb Nova, CTHKSI, JessyNick and RPG-Adam for reviewing me. Caleb Nova I have an idea what might have happened and I'm going to try and avoid the problem. Thanks again for reviewing me. I now have a new nickname - 'Tigger' because you made me so happy I just couldn't stop bouncing ^^.
I have an idea for the next chapter, but I'm finding it hard to write. I keep getting distracted by this idea for a Digimon fic but I'm not sure I want to start writing in case I get muddled. I'll try to update soon. Please R&R. (