Hello! This is my first Final Fantasy Fanfic, so sorry if it's a bit. well
rubbish. This first chapter is mainly just re-introducing the characters n
stuff. It will get better, I promise!
Oh and if any of the info is off, plz tell me in a review n I'll change it,
thnx!
Disclaimer: I do not own final fantasy! It belongs to Squaresoft! If you sue you won't get nuthin as I penniless!
1. Two Years After
Gaia, a beautiful green planet. Covered by lush green open fields, with flowers of all descriptions and colours dotted randomly. Beautiful forests cut up into sections by winding narrow paths - no horrible fences obstructing your view. Steep rocky precipices with roaring waves crashing upon it's worn faces. Vast deep blue oceans stretching as far as you can see meeting up with the breath-taking azure sky.
One problem. As with every positive - there must be a negative. Destroying the peacefulness roam monsters, fiends, demons and any other savage beast that you could possibly dream up. Once, there was a time when no such things existed but now only the bravest and strongest venture outside the safety of their heavily protected towns or cities.
........................................
Just off the Cape of Good Hope floated a gigantic vessel decorated in many vibrant colours and intricate designs, not to mention it's fascinating structure. An unusual sight around these desolate parts but then again the unusual tends to happen quite often here, so, I guess, it's to be expected. It's most prominent feature was currently hidden by the calm blue waters which concealed the lower half of it's body. This was the sharp knifelike blades which spin endlessly in order to keep the ship afloat - both in water and, when needed, above land.
This splendid sight was the widely known Balamb Garden, one of the few surviving Gardens of this time. The Gardens are schools for training willing students in the ways of their chosen weapon and, when deemed ready, tested to see if they are capable of becoming a member of SeeD Special Forces. SeeD's are, in short, mercenaries. Their 'Headmaster' pays them to do jobs requested by the public, usually only the jobs of great importance are accepted, but when short on money sometimes, any job of any size can be taken in.
Although, now Balamb is the only running Garden. Two years ago, during the terrible time now known as 'The Second Sorceress War', missiles destroyed Trabia Garden. It has been trying valiantly to get back to the standard of work that they had achieved before, but it will be many years before they can even hope to come close to rivalling Balamb. The possessed Sorceress Edea invaded the other, Galbadia Garden. Many of it's students were brutally murdered by the vicious fiends which intruded upon it's grounds, the few that managed to survive were never same.
Balamb is also well remembered for turning out the legendary SeeDs which risked their lives by travelling through time itself to defeat the malevolent Sorceress Ultimecia who - bent on starting time compression - was the cause of the devastating War. But that's another story, for another time.
Although now we turn to those six legendary SeeDs as they head to the orphanage on the Cape of Good Hope, the place where 5 of these 6 spent the majority of their childhood. To see their 'Matron' - more commonly known as the aforementioned Sorceress Edea, who, after being freed of Ultimecia's control is back to being one of the few good sorceress - and their Headmaster, Cid. Cid no longer stays aboard the Garden, he still keeps in touch to see how things are and handles most of the larger 'missions' but from his home along with his wife, who occasionally steps in. Instead he relinquished control to Squall Leonhart (One of the people who 'saved the world'). So now lets go see what our happy little commander is doing now...
........................................
"Commander, we've arrived at the orphanage. Shall I land?" asked a dark haired pilot called Nida; his soft brown eyes flitted over the many screens that cluttered the bridge - yet still he managed to keep an eye on where he was going. A skill that took him a long time to perfect.
"Yes, go ahead. But how many times have I told you not to call me commander?" Squall's piercing sapphire blue eyes, flashed in mock anger. Although over the time that has passed our hero has softened and become more social he has still managed to retain some of his previous fierceness which, besides the flicker of humour that sometimes arises from the depths, makes people do what he says - no questions asked.
The corners of Squall's mouth turned up into what resembled one of his rare smiles as the old orphanage came into view. Most of it was still in ruin even now, but it looked better than last time they visited. Glass had been put in most of the windows and an actual door had been erected in place of the curtain, which did nothing to keep prying eyes away as the harsh winds, which frequented here, had a tendency to blow it away. Plus, even from this height you could see the absence of the many weeds which had attacked the garden.
* * * * * *
Two girls - both were wearing the traditional SeeD outfit which was a knee-length black skirt topped with silver lining. The sleeves of the matching black jacket was ended in a block of scarlet coloured material which had a gold border (of course this wasn't real gold even though it sometimes appeared to be when light shines on it). The young lady whose head donned a beautiful mass of silky black hair (containing slight traces of brown and white) - also known as Rinoa - was trying desperately to put on the gold-tipped red tie, a mandatory part of the uniform, and failing terribly.
"We're nearly there! Come on Rinoa! Hurry up!!!" the ever happy-go- lucky Selphie jumped around her friend Rinoa, in her normal hyperactive manor - which hasn't dulled one bit. She too was one of the SeeDs which faced Ultimecia, although she was transferred from Trabia to do her SeeD Exam before the whole mess started. Selphie often checks in on Trabia Garden and lends a helping hand whenever it's called for, but lives in Balamb with her friends. Her gorgeous auburn coloured hair is now shoulder length, unfortunately even at that length, it still curls at the bottom, much to her dismay. The dresses she wears are just as short - Maybe even shorter, if that's possible! - as the ones she wore two years ago. Some girls stick their noses in the air at this but the male population of Balamb Garden have absolutely no objections!
"Wait... Wait a second..." mumbled Rinoa, as she fiddled with the tie before it was thrown to the floor in frustration. She glared at the object of her anger in annoyance, then shouted, "Darn it! Nothing is going right! Humph..." Selphie bent down pick up the fallen object and grabbed Rinoa's hand. "For heavens sake!" she started, while beginning to drag the poor brown-eyed girl down a corridor, "We have to go. Now! I'm sure Squall would prefer it if you were on time and messed up, than late but presentable!"
As Selphie ranted on Rinoa's small squeaky cries of 'But... ' were drowned out as they marched toward the elevator leading to the 3rd floor on which the bridge was situated, as well the Commander - Squall.
Rinoa is the stubborn but springy only daughter of the famed General Caraway and the late Julia Caraway - who was a well-known singer. Like Selphie, Rinoa helped stop time from being compressed, although at the time she wasn't a SeeD. As the 'Princess' of the Timber Owls, she hired Squall to help her liberate Timber just before Sorceress Edea's ascension. Upon the failure of this mission she became a part of the group. Rinoa, after getting used to leadership with the Timber Owls, likes to get her way and can be very persistent when denied what she wants.
She has grown her former shoulder-length hair down past her waist but still, even though it is so long now, she rarely puts it up in a ponytail. Also, as well as her fringe, she has chin length bangs that frame her perfect china-like face.
One thing, which Rinoa is most known for in Balamb, is being one of the very few people able to make the emotionless Squall smile and maybe if he's in a really good mood - laugh. She does feel that it is her duty as his girlfriend to get him to 'loosen up' and 'express his thoughts and emotions more' at which he seems to have a definite problem with. Sometimes he'd stand there for ages pondering with a frown adorning his face and, at the end of it all, barely grant the world a sentence of what he discovered through his lengthy meditation! But before Rinoa came along he would probably just conclude with his favourite word - 'Whatever'' - so, I guess we have an improvement!
Rinoa is set apart a little from her SeeD friends because she did not spend the majority of her earlier years in the orphanage.
* * * * * *
"Can the following SeeDs report to the Bridge and prepare for arrival at the Cape of Good Hope. I repeat ~ Can the following SeeDs report to the Bridge and prepare for arrival at the Cape of Good Hope. Selphie Tilmitt, Rinoa Heartilly, Zell Dincht..."
"Oh crap!" came a muffled cry from a guy in an arrangement of brightly coloured clothes, as he quickly jammed the last of his beloved hotdogs in his mouth. On finishing them he jumped up in a hurry from his place in the Cafeteria accidentally knocking his chair over in the process. "Darn!"
Titters could be heard travelling through the crowd and various shouts of things such as 'Way to go Zell' or 'Clumsy as always...' Zell span round and glared at the offending people before righting his chair and running to his Dormitory to change into his uniform. The men's uniform is slightly different to the women's; obviously the skirt is switched with a pair of plain black trousers. The jacket - as with the girls' - is tipped with the gold and red borders but there is a strip of black material with an extravagant gold and white pattern at the bottom adorning each shoulder. They are joined at the corner by a chain. Around the waist they have a belt that goes on top of the jacket, also black.
All of this black made Zell's shock of bright blond hair stand out like a treat, which he still had sticking up in exactly the same style as he had 2 years ago - God knows how much money he's spent on hair gel! The tattoo on his cheek stood as much as ever. Well, as most have probably already guessed - he did help Squall and co.
Zell's mouth is as big as it was before and still continues to spurt out secrets which are best left untold. He often complains about always being the last to know stuff, but it's not surprising really... Also he remains to be known for punching air when bored ( or as a certain ... ahem... friend of his would say - 'swatting flies') and his love of hot-dogs.
After changing, Zell hurried to the opposite side of Garden. To where the elevator was waiting.
* * * * * *
"Rinoa Heartilly, Zell Dincht, Irvine Kinneas..."
"Well then ladies, I guess I'll have to get back to you later..." the slick-tongued cowboy reluctantly unwound his arms from around the waists of the two beautiful ladies he was 'escorting'' to the library.
"Awww...Irvine, do you have to go?" asked one in a sickeningly sweet voice, batting her long eyelashes simultaneously.
"Afraid so." Irvine said with a devastated look gracing his face, as he started toward the elevator.
"Awww..." both girls sighed again and began to turn in the opposite direction, when Irvine voice called back to them.
"I'll be sure to catch up with you later! See ya." at this the girls giggled and ran the rest of the way to their class. Irvine smirked and continued his short journey. "After all, never miss a chance..." he mumbled.
Irvine, like Selphie, wasn't originally from Balamb but from Galbadia. Of course he couldn't go back there after the war so he stayed here. The self-called 'loner' whose motto is - 'the only thing that matters in life are girls and guns. Or guns and girls. It doesn't really matter.' - is the only SeeD in whole of Garden that refuses to wear the uniform but instead wears a old cowboy get up that has been replaced, mended and patched up many times and his age old cowboy hat to match. Not only that but he is the only one of the famed SeeDs who is using his glory to it's full advantage. For example - before if he made a move on any woman he'd only be rewarded with a slap in the face. But now, much to his delight, girls are flocking in to get a piece of him.
The womaniser sighed contentedly and whistled happily as he walked.
* * * * * *
"I remember when I was his instructor... I can't believe I thought I used to understand him!" a high tinkling laugh came from the 20-year-old former instructor. "I mean, it's one thing to know what he's going do or say but it's a wonder to know why! And that Seifer... Sometimes I wonder if it was my fault he ended up the way he did..."
"Don't be silly dear! It definitely wasn't your fault... But those two! The amount of times they got dragged in here with various injuries. I think their names made up half of my old record book!" replied a forty-five year old woman with greying brown hair and dressed in sterile bright white clothes, from the pocket of the long coat hung a badge saying - Dr. Kadowaki, head of Infirmary. The two were currently sitting in the uncomfortable aluminium chairs of the cramped office of the Infirmary.
"Quite so! But still, even though they were incredibly troublesome, I must give them credit for being the only two gunblade masters Balamb had had for...Who knows how many years! And after -", she paused mid-sentence as the familiar static crackling from the PA system started up. She giggled, "Here we go again..."
"Selphie Tilmitt, Rinoa Heartilly, Zell Dincht, Irvine Kinneas and Quistis Trepe... I repeat ~ Selphie Tilmitt, Rinoa Heartilly, Zell Dincht, Irvine Kinneas and Quistis Trepe. Please arrive as quickly as possible... ...Thank you..."
After the transmission ended, both women burst into laughter.
"Ha ha ha! ...Sometimes I wonder *giggle* if that's really a *hic* robot taking Squall's place *snort*... He sounds so monotonous *peals of laughter*!" cried Quistis. After the last of the giggles subsided the bright orange haired woman stood and dusted her self off, trying to regain what was left of her dignity. "Well then doctor, I must take my leave. I enjoyed talking to you, we must do it again sometime..."
"Well I need to be leaving too. Shall I walk you out?" offered the older woman.
When the reached the main circular corridor they said their goodbyes and went in the opposite direction.
Out of the group, besides the stoic Squall, was the most responsible and calm as some of her former teacher-ness stayed with her even after she was demoted. She still acts sensible around the other students of the school so as not to ruin her reputation but tends to mess around more with Sefie and Rinoa.
When Squall became Commander he offered her her old job back but she refused, claiming that it was too much work and stress.
Quistis also hasn't done much to change the style of her hair, apart from the fact that she wears it down more often.
* * * * * *
Each of Balamb's ground floor areas are represented by a colour, the particular corridor was a shade of purple - the dormitories. The violet corridor was a peaceful place. Cadets and SeeDs alike walked at their own leisurely pace. The polished floors glittered in the sunlight which shone through the windows that looked out onto the Quad, where people of all ages were enjoying the good weather and life in general. Perfection. When...
A figure sped past disrupting the calm, leaving behind him a trail of rude or obscene comments and irritated people.
Zell, in a mass of ruffled up clothes and flattened hair, ran at the speed of light down the corridor coming off the SeeD's dorms breathing heavily and carrying a bottle of a strange yellow coloured liquid. When he came to the turning into the main corridor he swerved suddenly and skidded perilously around the many people which blocked his way. Unfortunately two girls, who we know to be Selphie and Rinoa, running almost as fast as our one and only Zell, failed to notice to madman performing suicide stunts ahead of them...
Everything seemed to travel in slow motion, Rinoa noticed first and pulled Selphie back in an attempt to stop the inevitable but the wheels were already in motion. A small crowd began to gather around the intersection...
The two collapsed on to Zell, who was pushed to the floor - the wind knocked out of him. The weird yellow bottle flew into the air. Higher ... Higher...
Zell made a pathetic attempt to grab at it but, still suffering from the momentary shock, missed totally. As the label caught the sun the words - 'Dr. Odines All Purpose Hair Gel! Works a treat for all of your hair doing needs. Now with added bleach at the fantastic discount price of 3000Gil!' -, could be read.
Still the bottle went higher. The cap began to loosen... The now quite large crowd gasped.
Defeated, Zell stared at the floor already mourning the loss of his new bottle of dye when he heard the telltale patter of a light piece of plastic falling to the floor. He looked up. Sure enough on the ground in front of him was a little yellow bottle cap.
"Oops..."
Club - of the CC Card Group - was walking up and down his usual spot on the purple corridor, waiting for some silly soul dumb enough to challenge him to a card game just as he always does. But today was different, last week he finally passed his SeeD exam and this morning to his joy his SeeD uniform had arrived. Being careful to treat it with his utmost care - because after all you only get one a year unless you have a sudden spurt of growth or it was ruined during a mission - he had put it on. So now he was not only waiting for a challenge but also showing off his brand new outfit as proof of his achievement.
"Hi, congratulations!" Club turned round to face Dr Kadowaki who was smiling at him. "But even if you are a SeeD you need to tie your laces!"
Club flushed and bent down to tie the shoelace. While he was doing so a few shouts could be heard but he took no notice of it. When he got up again he looked at the doctor, "Sorry, thank..." Splash... Drip, drip, drip... Crash
Club stood open mouthed as a liquid dripped down from his soaked forehead, but quickly closed it again as some of it threatened to go in his mouth. Then in horror he looked down at his brand spanking new outfit... slowly loosing it colour along with the bleach, which soaked through it.
Dr. Kadowaki on the other hand was staring at the spot just beyond Club, where a pile of broken glass lay. "Who on Gaia just threw that bottle?! That was the most dumbest thing I have ever seen in my whole LIFE!" she shouted, borderline on hysterics. "It could have killed him!"
The crowd slowly dispersed leaving a clear path to the heap of people in the centre. The three looked up into the flaming eyes of the enraged doctor.
"Umm... Oops?" mumbled Selphie.
Rinoa quickly got to her feet and dusted herself off. "I am really really sorry... We were just running so fast and ... and ... We really need to be going... So um... Bye!" After uttering her last word she dragged Zell and Selphie to their feet and fled as fast has her little feet would carry her. Leaving behind the livid Dr. Kadowaki and the horror-stricken SeeD.
* * * * * *
Irvine strode confidently along the circular corridor that surrounded the centre of Garden. Flapping softly behind him in the faint wind, his creamy brown duster snatched at the passing students ankles. Faltering slightly, he made a small detour to wink at a cute girl in a short skirt, and then resumed his former path. When he heard the familiar voice of one of his many female friends, drifting towards his ears.
"S'cuse me! Sorry, in a hurry... Ack! Move it please!" the words came out in a jumble of hurried sentences, as the onyx haired girl pushed past the crowds of frustrated people, her uniform now ruffled and unkempt. Following a little way beyond her was two other well-known faces.
Irvine stepped boldly into the path of the rampaging trio and opened his mouth to speak, "Hi... Uh... Wha-aah!"
The black haired angel fell to the floor, the poor unsuspecting cowboy breaking her fall. They both lay there dazed for a few seconds before a cheeky grin began to creep up onto Irvine's face. "Well, hey there!" the grin slowly changing into a smirk, and a familiar twinkle appeared in his eyes. Rinoa looked up, her silky hair falling over her face. "This is a new way to greet someone... I could get used to it..."
Understanding dawned on the pretty girl's face and she hastily stood blushing slightly. "Shut up smart-ass! Anyway sorry for bumping into you! Gotta dash! Bye!" she rushed. Turning quickly, she sprinted away from the grinning moron.
Laughing quietly to himself, Irvine dusted himself off and straightened his clothes. "Oh well... That was different. Hmm but I wonder wha-..." Yet again he fell to the unforgiving ground, this time with not one but two bodies crushing him. "Oww... Zell...? Selphie...?"
Recovering quicker than the confused guy, the aforementioned people scurried to their feet muttering apologies before chasing after Rinoa.
"That smarts...", still lying on the floor, ignoring the looks he was getting, he watched and the purposeful feet of a certain doctor marched past. "Strange..."
Thus Endth Chapter One
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Disclaimer: I do not own final fantasy! It belongs to Squaresoft! If you sue you won't get nuthin as I penniless!
1. Two Years After
Gaia, a beautiful green planet. Covered by lush green open fields, with flowers of all descriptions and colours dotted randomly. Beautiful forests cut up into sections by winding narrow paths - no horrible fences obstructing your view. Steep rocky precipices with roaring waves crashing upon it's worn faces. Vast deep blue oceans stretching as far as you can see meeting up with the breath-taking azure sky.
One problem. As with every positive - there must be a negative. Destroying the peacefulness roam monsters, fiends, demons and any other savage beast that you could possibly dream up. Once, there was a time when no such things existed but now only the bravest and strongest venture outside the safety of their heavily protected towns or cities.
........................................
Just off the Cape of Good Hope floated a gigantic vessel decorated in many vibrant colours and intricate designs, not to mention it's fascinating structure. An unusual sight around these desolate parts but then again the unusual tends to happen quite often here, so, I guess, it's to be expected. It's most prominent feature was currently hidden by the calm blue waters which concealed the lower half of it's body. This was the sharp knifelike blades which spin endlessly in order to keep the ship afloat - both in water and, when needed, above land.
This splendid sight was the widely known Balamb Garden, one of the few surviving Gardens of this time. The Gardens are schools for training willing students in the ways of their chosen weapon and, when deemed ready, tested to see if they are capable of becoming a member of SeeD Special Forces. SeeD's are, in short, mercenaries. Their 'Headmaster' pays them to do jobs requested by the public, usually only the jobs of great importance are accepted, but when short on money sometimes, any job of any size can be taken in.
Although, now Balamb is the only running Garden. Two years ago, during the terrible time now known as 'The Second Sorceress War', missiles destroyed Trabia Garden. It has been trying valiantly to get back to the standard of work that they had achieved before, but it will be many years before they can even hope to come close to rivalling Balamb. The possessed Sorceress Edea invaded the other, Galbadia Garden. Many of it's students were brutally murdered by the vicious fiends which intruded upon it's grounds, the few that managed to survive were never same.
Balamb is also well remembered for turning out the legendary SeeDs which risked their lives by travelling through time itself to defeat the malevolent Sorceress Ultimecia who - bent on starting time compression - was the cause of the devastating War. But that's another story, for another time.
Although now we turn to those six legendary SeeDs as they head to the orphanage on the Cape of Good Hope, the place where 5 of these 6 spent the majority of their childhood. To see their 'Matron' - more commonly known as the aforementioned Sorceress Edea, who, after being freed of Ultimecia's control is back to being one of the few good sorceress - and their Headmaster, Cid. Cid no longer stays aboard the Garden, he still keeps in touch to see how things are and handles most of the larger 'missions' but from his home along with his wife, who occasionally steps in. Instead he relinquished control to Squall Leonhart (One of the people who 'saved the world'). So now lets go see what our happy little commander is doing now...
........................................
"Commander, we've arrived at the orphanage. Shall I land?" asked a dark haired pilot called Nida; his soft brown eyes flitted over the many screens that cluttered the bridge - yet still he managed to keep an eye on where he was going. A skill that took him a long time to perfect.
"Yes, go ahead. But how many times have I told you not to call me commander?" Squall's piercing sapphire blue eyes, flashed in mock anger. Although over the time that has passed our hero has softened and become more social he has still managed to retain some of his previous fierceness which, besides the flicker of humour that sometimes arises from the depths, makes people do what he says - no questions asked.
The corners of Squall's mouth turned up into what resembled one of his rare smiles as the old orphanage came into view. Most of it was still in ruin even now, but it looked better than last time they visited. Glass had been put in most of the windows and an actual door had been erected in place of the curtain, which did nothing to keep prying eyes away as the harsh winds, which frequented here, had a tendency to blow it away. Plus, even from this height you could see the absence of the many weeds which had attacked the garden.
* * * * * *
Two girls - both were wearing the traditional SeeD outfit which was a knee-length black skirt topped with silver lining. The sleeves of the matching black jacket was ended in a block of scarlet coloured material which had a gold border (of course this wasn't real gold even though it sometimes appeared to be when light shines on it). The young lady whose head donned a beautiful mass of silky black hair (containing slight traces of brown and white) - also known as Rinoa - was trying desperately to put on the gold-tipped red tie, a mandatory part of the uniform, and failing terribly.
"We're nearly there! Come on Rinoa! Hurry up!!!" the ever happy-go- lucky Selphie jumped around her friend Rinoa, in her normal hyperactive manor - which hasn't dulled one bit. She too was one of the SeeDs which faced Ultimecia, although she was transferred from Trabia to do her SeeD Exam before the whole mess started. Selphie often checks in on Trabia Garden and lends a helping hand whenever it's called for, but lives in Balamb with her friends. Her gorgeous auburn coloured hair is now shoulder length, unfortunately even at that length, it still curls at the bottom, much to her dismay. The dresses she wears are just as short - Maybe even shorter, if that's possible! - as the ones she wore two years ago. Some girls stick their noses in the air at this but the male population of Balamb Garden have absolutely no objections!
"Wait... Wait a second..." mumbled Rinoa, as she fiddled with the tie before it was thrown to the floor in frustration. She glared at the object of her anger in annoyance, then shouted, "Darn it! Nothing is going right! Humph..." Selphie bent down pick up the fallen object and grabbed Rinoa's hand. "For heavens sake!" she started, while beginning to drag the poor brown-eyed girl down a corridor, "We have to go. Now! I'm sure Squall would prefer it if you were on time and messed up, than late but presentable!"
As Selphie ranted on Rinoa's small squeaky cries of 'But... ' were drowned out as they marched toward the elevator leading to the 3rd floor on which the bridge was situated, as well the Commander - Squall.
Rinoa is the stubborn but springy only daughter of the famed General Caraway and the late Julia Caraway - who was a well-known singer. Like Selphie, Rinoa helped stop time from being compressed, although at the time she wasn't a SeeD. As the 'Princess' of the Timber Owls, she hired Squall to help her liberate Timber just before Sorceress Edea's ascension. Upon the failure of this mission she became a part of the group. Rinoa, after getting used to leadership with the Timber Owls, likes to get her way and can be very persistent when denied what she wants.
She has grown her former shoulder-length hair down past her waist but still, even though it is so long now, she rarely puts it up in a ponytail. Also, as well as her fringe, she has chin length bangs that frame her perfect china-like face.
One thing, which Rinoa is most known for in Balamb, is being one of the very few people able to make the emotionless Squall smile and maybe if he's in a really good mood - laugh. She does feel that it is her duty as his girlfriend to get him to 'loosen up' and 'express his thoughts and emotions more' at which he seems to have a definite problem with. Sometimes he'd stand there for ages pondering with a frown adorning his face and, at the end of it all, barely grant the world a sentence of what he discovered through his lengthy meditation! But before Rinoa came along he would probably just conclude with his favourite word - 'Whatever'' - so, I guess we have an improvement!
Rinoa is set apart a little from her SeeD friends because she did not spend the majority of her earlier years in the orphanage.
* * * * * *
"Can the following SeeDs report to the Bridge and prepare for arrival at the Cape of Good Hope. I repeat ~ Can the following SeeDs report to the Bridge and prepare for arrival at the Cape of Good Hope. Selphie Tilmitt, Rinoa Heartilly, Zell Dincht..."
"Oh crap!" came a muffled cry from a guy in an arrangement of brightly coloured clothes, as he quickly jammed the last of his beloved hotdogs in his mouth. On finishing them he jumped up in a hurry from his place in the Cafeteria accidentally knocking his chair over in the process. "Darn!"
Titters could be heard travelling through the crowd and various shouts of things such as 'Way to go Zell' or 'Clumsy as always...' Zell span round and glared at the offending people before righting his chair and running to his Dormitory to change into his uniform. The men's uniform is slightly different to the women's; obviously the skirt is switched with a pair of plain black trousers. The jacket - as with the girls' - is tipped with the gold and red borders but there is a strip of black material with an extravagant gold and white pattern at the bottom adorning each shoulder. They are joined at the corner by a chain. Around the waist they have a belt that goes on top of the jacket, also black.
All of this black made Zell's shock of bright blond hair stand out like a treat, which he still had sticking up in exactly the same style as he had 2 years ago - God knows how much money he's spent on hair gel! The tattoo on his cheek stood as much as ever. Well, as most have probably already guessed - he did help Squall and co.
Zell's mouth is as big as it was before and still continues to spurt out secrets which are best left untold. He often complains about always being the last to know stuff, but it's not surprising really... Also he remains to be known for punching air when bored ( or as a certain ... ahem... friend of his would say - 'swatting flies') and his love of hot-dogs.
After changing, Zell hurried to the opposite side of Garden. To where the elevator was waiting.
* * * * * *
"Rinoa Heartilly, Zell Dincht, Irvine Kinneas..."
"Well then ladies, I guess I'll have to get back to you later..." the slick-tongued cowboy reluctantly unwound his arms from around the waists of the two beautiful ladies he was 'escorting'' to the library.
"Awww...Irvine, do you have to go?" asked one in a sickeningly sweet voice, batting her long eyelashes simultaneously.
"Afraid so." Irvine said with a devastated look gracing his face, as he started toward the elevator.
"Awww..." both girls sighed again and began to turn in the opposite direction, when Irvine voice called back to them.
"I'll be sure to catch up with you later! See ya." at this the girls giggled and ran the rest of the way to their class. Irvine smirked and continued his short journey. "After all, never miss a chance..." he mumbled.
Irvine, like Selphie, wasn't originally from Balamb but from Galbadia. Of course he couldn't go back there after the war so he stayed here. The self-called 'loner' whose motto is - 'the only thing that matters in life are girls and guns. Or guns and girls. It doesn't really matter.' - is the only SeeD in whole of Garden that refuses to wear the uniform but instead wears a old cowboy get up that has been replaced, mended and patched up many times and his age old cowboy hat to match. Not only that but he is the only one of the famed SeeDs who is using his glory to it's full advantage. For example - before if he made a move on any woman he'd only be rewarded with a slap in the face. But now, much to his delight, girls are flocking in to get a piece of him.
The womaniser sighed contentedly and whistled happily as he walked.
* * * * * *
"I remember when I was his instructor... I can't believe I thought I used to understand him!" a high tinkling laugh came from the 20-year-old former instructor. "I mean, it's one thing to know what he's going do or say but it's a wonder to know why! And that Seifer... Sometimes I wonder if it was my fault he ended up the way he did..."
"Don't be silly dear! It definitely wasn't your fault... But those two! The amount of times they got dragged in here with various injuries. I think their names made up half of my old record book!" replied a forty-five year old woman with greying brown hair and dressed in sterile bright white clothes, from the pocket of the long coat hung a badge saying - Dr. Kadowaki, head of Infirmary. The two were currently sitting in the uncomfortable aluminium chairs of the cramped office of the Infirmary.
"Quite so! But still, even though they were incredibly troublesome, I must give them credit for being the only two gunblade masters Balamb had had for...Who knows how many years! And after -", she paused mid-sentence as the familiar static crackling from the PA system started up. She giggled, "Here we go again..."
"Selphie Tilmitt, Rinoa Heartilly, Zell Dincht, Irvine Kinneas and Quistis Trepe... I repeat ~ Selphie Tilmitt, Rinoa Heartilly, Zell Dincht, Irvine Kinneas and Quistis Trepe. Please arrive as quickly as possible... ...Thank you..."
After the transmission ended, both women burst into laughter.
"Ha ha ha! ...Sometimes I wonder *giggle* if that's really a *hic* robot taking Squall's place *snort*... He sounds so monotonous *peals of laughter*!" cried Quistis. After the last of the giggles subsided the bright orange haired woman stood and dusted her self off, trying to regain what was left of her dignity. "Well then doctor, I must take my leave. I enjoyed talking to you, we must do it again sometime..."
"Well I need to be leaving too. Shall I walk you out?" offered the older woman.
When the reached the main circular corridor they said their goodbyes and went in the opposite direction.
Out of the group, besides the stoic Squall, was the most responsible and calm as some of her former teacher-ness stayed with her even after she was demoted. She still acts sensible around the other students of the school so as not to ruin her reputation but tends to mess around more with Sefie and Rinoa.
When Squall became Commander he offered her her old job back but she refused, claiming that it was too much work and stress.
Quistis also hasn't done much to change the style of her hair, apart from the fact that she wears it down more often.
* * * * * *
Each of Balamb's ground floor areas are represented by a colour, the particular corridor was a shade of purple - the dormitories. The violet corridor was a peaceful place. Cadets and SeeDs alike walked at their own leisurely pace. The polished floors glittered in the sunlight which shone through the windows that looked out onto the Quad, where people of all ages were enjoying the good weather and life in general. Perfection. When...
A figure sped past disrupting the calm, leaving behind him a trail of rude or obscene comments and irritated people.
Zell, in a mass of ruffled up clothes and flattened hair, ran at the speed of light down the corridor coming off the SeeD's dorms breathing heavily and carrying a bottle of a strange yellow coloured liquid. When he came to the turning into the main corridor he swerved suddenly and skidded perilously around the many people which blocked his way. Unfortunately two girls, who we know to be Selphie and Rinoa, running almost as fast as our one and only Zell, failed to notice to madman performing suicide stunts ahead of them...
Everything seemed to travel in slow motion, Rinoa noticed first and pulled Selphie back in an attempt to stop the inevitable but the wheels were already in motion. A small crowd began to gather around the intersection...
The two collapsed on to Zell, who was pushed to the floor - the wind knocked out of him. The weird yellow bottle flew into the air. Higher ... Higher...
Zell made a pathetic attempt to grab at it but, still suffering from the momentary shock, missed totally. As the label caught the sun the words - 'Dr. Odines All Purpose Hair Gel! Works a treat for all of your hair doing needs. Now with added bleach at the fantastic discount price of 3000Gil!' -, could be read.
Still the bottle went higher. The cap began to loosen... The now quite large crowd gasped.
Defeated, Zell stared at the floor already mourning the loss of his new bottle of dye when he heard the telltale patter of a light piece of plastic falling to the floor. He looked up. Sure enough on the ground in front of him was a little yellow bottle cap.
"Oops..."
Club - of the CC Card Group - was walking up and down his usual spot on the purple corridor, waiting for some silly soul dumb enough to challenge him to a card game just as he always does. But today was different, last week he finally passed his SeeD exam and this morning to his joy his SeeD uniform had arrived. Being careful to treat it with his utmost care - because after all you only get one a year unless you have a sudden spurt of growth or it was ruined during a mission - he had put it on. So now he was not only waiting for a challenge but also showing off his brand new outfit as proof of his achievement.
"Hi, congratulations!" Club turned round to face Dr Kadowaki who was smiling at him. "But even if you are a SeeD you need to tie your laces!"
Club flushed and bent down to tie the shoelace. While he was doing so a few shouts could be heard but he took no notice of it. When he got up again he looked at the doctor, "Sorry, thank..." Splash... Drip, drip, drip... Crash
Club stood open mouthed as a liquid dripped down from his soaked forehead, but quickly closed it again as some of it threatened to go in his mouth. Then in horror he looked down at his brand spanking new outfit... slowly loosing it colour along with the bleach, which soaked through it.
Dr. Kadowaki on the other hand was staring at the spot just beyond Club, where a pile of broken glass lay. "Who on Gaia just threw that bottle?! That was the most dumbest thing I have ever seen in my whole LIFE!" she shouted, borderline on hysterics. "It could have killed him!"
The crowd slowly dispersed leaving a clear path to the heap of people in the centre. The three looked up into the flaming eyes of the enraged doctor.
"Umm... Oops?" mumbled Selphie.
Rinoa quickly got to her feet and dusted herself off. "I am really really sorry... We were just running so fast and ... and ... We really need to be going... So um... Bye!" After uttering her last word she dragged Zell and Selphie to their feet and fled as fast has her little feet would carry her. Leaving behind the livid Dr. Kadowaki and the horror-stricken SeeD.
* * * * * *
Irvine strode confidently along the circular corridor that surrounded the centre of Garden. Flapping softly behind him in the faint wind, his creamy brown duster snatched at the passing students ankles. Faltering slightly, he made a small detour to wink at a cute girl in a short skirt, and then resumed his former path. When he heard the familiar voice of one of his many female friends, drifting towards his ears.
"S'cuse me! Sorry, in a hurry... Ack! Move it please!" the words came out in a jumble of hurried sentences, as the onyx haired girl pushed past the crowds of frustrated people, her uniform now ruffled and unkempt. Following a little way beyond her was two other well-known faces.
Irvine stepped boldly into the path of the rampaging trio and opened his mouth to speak, "Hi... Uh... Wha-aah!"
The black haired angel fell to the floor, the poor unsuspecting cowboy breaking her fall. They both lay there dazed for a few seconds before a cheeky grin began to creep up onto Irvine's face. "Well, hey there!" the grin slowly changing into a smirk, and a familiar twinkle appeared in his eyes. Rinoa looked up, her silky hair falling over her face. "This is a new way to greet someone... I could get used to it..."
Understanding dawned on the pretty girl's face and she hastily stood blushing slightly. "Shut up smart-ass! Anyway sorry for bumping into you! Gotta dash! Bye!" she rushed. Turning quickly, she sprinted away from the grinning moron.
Laughing quietly to himself, Irvine dusted himself off and straightened his clothes. "Oh well... That was different. Hmm but I wonder wha-..." Yet again he fell to the unforgiving ground, this time with not one but two bodies crushing him. "Oww... Zell...? Selphie...?"
Recovering quicker than the confused guy, the aforementioned people scurried to their feet muttering apologies before chasing after Rinoa.
"That smarts...", still lying on the floor, ignoring the looks he was getting, he watched and the purposeful feet of a certain doctor marched past. "Strange..."
Thus Endth Chapter One
So.? How was it? Hmm? Hmm? Plz review! That's right! Click that happt little review button down there! Mwa ha ha ha ha ha! Eh heh. Yeah, I know I'm crazy! Plz though, comments, compliments, flames - they're all welcome!