Chapter 2
Chloe
Terra's P.O.V.
A/n: ok, the real credit for this one goes out to my dear friend Chloe, who's helping me.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, absolutely nothing pertaining to this story except the Witches Three and possibly the idea. What, you thought that if I can write a story, I could write a disclaimer? Get real! It's all Squaresoft's or whoever. Anyways… enjoy!
"Hey, stop shouting!" I said. "Don't get so mad at me."
"Mad?" Raven asked mockingly. "Why would I be mad? I mean, yeah, you and your Latin transportation devices have once again gotten us into a strange place with four strange beings from another universe, but is that any reason to get mad?!?"
"Hey, it was you who said, and I quote, 'Wouldn't it be cool if we could travel to the FF8 world?' I granted your wish. I thought you'd like it."
"He-llo! Earth to Miss Briar! I said it would be nice. I never said I actually wanted to go. Thinking it'd be cool to go and wanting to go are two different things!"
My name is Merriweather Briar, but everyone just calls me Terra. Except, of course, when people are mad at me for little things, they call me something weird like Miss Merriweather Raine Briar.
That Raven. She's usually pretty calm, but when I decide to pull another one of my spell stunts, she goes ballistic.
Luna still had her ears plugged, ducking away to avoid the shouting. She's shy and antisocial, the complete opposite of me; I'm energetic and bold, and she's . . . well, timid. But don't let that fool you: when she needs to be, she can be a hurtling ball of fire and fury, making boulders fly and ordering ivy plants to strangle her victims. In fact, the only people that can match or even exceed her power are me and Raven.
"I told you not to do it!" Raven yelled. "I told you, but oh, no, you just had to, didn't you?"
"Oh, live a little, Birdie," I responded, using the nickname that she loathed so much. "I'm just trying to have some fun."
"Well, do you have any way of getting us back?" Raven asked. "Do you?"
"Of course I do," I replied, "but I don't want to leave now –"
The bewildered guys beside us – Squall, Seifer, Zell, and Irvine – had apparently had enough. Irvine stepped forth and separated us, placing a hand on each of our shoulders and pulling us away from each other.
"Hey, hey," he said in his smooth Southern twang, "calm down, gals. Let's not get into a bloody catfight, 'kay? Wouldn't want to see such lovely girls get any bruises."
"Shut up, Irvine," Seifer said, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. "I'm getting sick and tired of having to watch you flirt with every single girl you meet."
"Yeah, give it a rest, will you?" Zell said.
Raven sighed, calmer now, and held her head in her hands. "You'd better get us back somehow," she said.
"Just don't worry about it," I replied. I turned to Luna, still plugging her ears, and said, "It's safe now."
She unplugged them for a minute and said, "Are you sure?"
"It's alright, little lady," Irvine said. "No need to be scared of nothin'." She sighed in relief.
Zell came forward and asked, "So what the hell are you doing falling outta the sky like that? It's not fun being squashed like a bug."
"Unless they happen to be three very pretty females," Irvine interjected. "Right, guys?"
"I told you to shut up," Seifer said, glaring at him.
"Squall?" Irvine asked him. "Your opinion?"
Squall just looked away and said, "Whatever –"
"– Whatever. I knew it."
"Anyway," Zell interrupted, clearing his throat. "Can you girls explain what happened?"
"Well, it's not like it was anything we could control," Raven said. "It wasn't exactly pleasurable having to fall on top of you for us, either."
Zell shrugged. "Ah, well. No worries."
"Who are you, anyway?" Luna asked.
Raven and I gave her a strange look. "What kind of stupid question is that?" I asked. "Who do you think they are? Squall Leonhart, Zell Dincht, Seifer Almasy, and Irvine Kinneas. The ones that you were obsessing over during that boss battle with Adel?"
The guys' eyes bulged.
"How the hell did you get that information?" Zell asked. "You don't know us. We don't know you. What are you, stalkers or something?"
I waved my hand dismissively. "Long story," I explained. "We'll tell you later."
Zell and Seifer looked away uncomfortably. Squall just stood there, saying nothing, while Irvine smiled.
"Well, you seem to know us," he said. "I think I'd like to get to know you girls." He walked up behind me and slipped his arms around my waist. "We'll start with you, babe."
Seifer sighed in aggravation. "Kinneas, you are disgusting."
I giggled. "The name's Terra. Terra Briar."
"Mmm," Irvine said with an impish grin. "It suits you. A gorgeous name for a gorgeous girl."
He looked at Raven next, still wrapped around me, as she raised an eyebrow at me. She doesn't like how I let guys flirt with me like that. She thinks I'll lose my innocence. Just by letting them flirt. Yeah, right.
"And you?" he asked her.
"Um . . . Raven Moss," she told him.
"Nice. Very nice. And how about you, chickadee?"
Luna looked up nervously. "L-Luna Bush."
"Yep," I said, "that's the three of us." I broke away from Irvine and walked up to Squall, who was standing away from the group by himself, watching us. He stood up when he saw me coming and crossed his arms. I stopped in front of him and asked him, "And you're Squall, right?"
"Um . . . yeah," he replied. "Squall Leonhart."
"Yes, I've heard of you. I hear you're great with a gunblade."
"I train hard, that's all."
Luna came up in my head and whispered, "Stop it, Terra. You're making him nervous."
"I'm making you nervous, you mean."
"That too."
"Come on, I'm on a roll. I'll get him talking." I turned back to him and said, "Aren't you the son of the ruler of Esthar? What was his name . . . Laguna Loire?"
"Yeah, but . . . we aren't close."
I smiled. "Hmm . . . tall, handsome, and silent. Come on, you can hang out with me." I took him by the arm and tried to pull him toward the rest of the group, but he resisted.
"I'd prefer to stay here."
I shrugged. "Suit yourself."
"So, do you have any place to stay?" Irvine asked.
Zell groaned. "Irvine, you're driving me nuts. Cut it out with the flirting already!"
"I'll have to go with Chicken Wuss," Seifer added. "Cowboy-wannabe here doesn't know what he's saying. Ignore him."
"Actually, we don't have a place to stay," Raven told them.
"You could come with us to Balamb Garden," Squall said, pointing behind us. I looked behind me, and I saw the gigantic blue military academy floating a little ways away, glowing.
"I think we could use some rest," I said. "How about you, Raven?"
Raven just sighed and replied, "Fine. Luna?"
"Alright," she responded.
"Alright, then," Zell said. "Come on. We'll show you around. One place you've gotta visit is the cafeteria – they've got the best hot dogs!"
Seifer rolled his eyes as we started walking towards the Garden. "One, the hot dogs taste like crap, so quit babbling, Zell. Two, Cid might not like having these girls camping out there."
"They have extra rooms," Irvine said. "We'll be fine." He walked over to my side and put an arm around my waist. "So, Terra . . . tell me more about yourself."
As we continued to flirt with each other, Squall stared at each of the strange newcomers from the sky, probably wondering how we'd managed to suddenly drop in. But I noticed that when his eyes fell on me, they sort of stayed there, watching. I smiled at him, and he immediately looked away.
We came to a bunch of large, golden chocobos – great big canaries that can be ridden like a horse. I've always loved chocobos, so naturally I was thrilled at the chance to ride one.
"Whoa!" I said in amazement. "Chocobos!"
"Nice, ain't they?" Irvine said.
He studied us all for a second before saying, "There's four chocobos and seven of us. Three of us will have to carry one of the girls." He grinned at me and announced, "I'll take Terra."
"Oh, no, you don't," Zell objected. "You've done enough of that mess. You're not getting anybody."
"Shoot," Irvine said, snapping his fingers.
"So who rides with who?" Raven asked. "Luna, why don't you go with Zell?"
Luna studied Zell for a minute before saying, "Okay."
"And somebody's going to have to go with Seifer . . ." I trailed off.
Raven immediately pointed at me. I retaliated by pointing back and adding, "And it's not going to be me."
She let her arms fall in defeat and walked over to Seifer. I went up to Squall and said, "I'm with you, then."
Irvine gave me the puppy dog eyes and took my hand. "Come on, Terra, don't listen to them. Why don't you come with me?"
I pulled away and replied, "Because my escort has already been chosen. Sorry."
"Shoot."
Luna and Raven were already being taught how to mount the chocobos as I struggled to lead Squall by the arm over to our chocobo. "Come on," I said, "we're supposed to be leaving now."
"I'm used to riding alone," he replied.
"You're going to have to start socializing at some point in your life, Squall. Try something new for once and help me with the chocobo, unless you want to walk back to the Garden."
He finally gave in and followed me. He lifted me up onto the chocobo's back and swung his leg over it in front of me. Once everybody was settled, we took off.
The experience was exhilarating. We went at a fairly fast pace, sending my hair flying behind me. The wind rushed past my ears as the chocobo sprinted toward Balamb Garden, and I couldn't help but laugh out loud.
This would be the start of a very amazing adventure.
Like it? Love it? Think I should grab Irvine's gun and shoot my computer? Tell me- in the review. ^_^