Chapter 4
I don't own anything except for any original characters and the idea for my story.
He stood on the outdoor balcony of the Garden, the wind trying in vain to rake through his gelled blonde hair. His blue eyes stared out to the South, straining to make out the vague forms of the Centra continent's outlying islands.
After the incident with Rinoa and her vision, they had decided to return to the Garden so that Rinoa could get some much needed rest. It was then that they had noticed the bright lights from the South, and they had decided to investigate.
Most of the gang had went their separate ways to prepare for a possible battle, but Zell felt compelled to come out on the deck and watch for the approaching continent. He felt himself being unexplainably drawn toward it, and with growing impatience because it seemed to be taking so long to get there. Although he knew that the Garden had to detour around the long bridge that connected Fisherman's Horizon to Esthar and Galbadian continents, he still thought that they were making incredibly slow progress to their goal.
He began to fidget and started dancing back and forth on his toes, punching the air in a quick series of punches.
"Zell, are you alright?" came a worried voice from behind him. He turned around and saw behind him was Quistis, standing near to the large metal door that lead out to the balcony.
"Yes, it's just taking too long to get there. I want to be able to get to the bottom of this!" he threw another few punches into the air, his well- defined muscles flexing in a known pattern.
"Don't we all?" Quistis walked over and placed her elbows on the edge of the balcony and sighed, her eyes also drawn to the South. The wind picked at her clipped hair and managed to loosen a strand of silky blonde hair. The wind tugged at it, trying to get it to wander the plains and mountains of the world, in essence to become the wind itself. Quistis felt the piece become loose, and tucked it behind her right ear.
"How's Rinoa?" Zell asked suddenly, stopping his movements and standing still, watching Quistis' back.
"She was still sleeping last time I saw her. Dr. Kadowaki says it was probably heat stroke from being out in the sun too long without anything to drink." Quistis turned and placed her elbows so only the crooks rested on the edge of the railing and faced Zell. "You should probably go see her…Squall as well. He pretends that it's not affecting him that much, but I can tell he's hurting."
"Alright, see you later then Quistis!" Zell said with a quick wave as he trotted off to find Squall. Quistis smiled and turned her attention back to the ocean that lay before her. How long until they reached Centra…? Each passing moment felt like an hour and the dread in her heart was growing the closer and closer they got to Centra. She hoped that it had just been some hicks and with fireworks that had gone off at an inappropriate time. Quistis was always one for false hope.
The bubbly brunette smoothed down the midnight-black hair of the girl lying on the cot in the infirmary. "You just sleep and get better ok?" The girl on the bed made no response, and Selphie's emerald eyes flickered with concern.
Selphie saw that being there at the moment was hardly useful, so she wandered off aimlessly through the Garden, trying to find someone she knew. The students who passed by her were almost shocked at the sullen look on her face, not accustomed to a non-smiling Selphie. She walked for what seemed like hours around and around the Garden, just making her way through the crowds of milling students as they were excused for the rest of the day.
Eventually, she found herself on a bench just to the right of the entrance in front of the library, just watching as the people walked by. She sighed, leaned her head against the back of the bench and closed her eyes, a little exhausted.
"Hey, if you want to sleep don't do so in public…I'll give you my room number." Selphie's eyes flew open and saw a grinning Irvine, his cowboy hat tipped coyly and covering much of his face.
"Irvine! You scared me, I thought it was someone else!" Selphie's smile returned to her face; just being around Irvine amplified her energy.
"Oh, so did I disappoint you?" Irvine asked, pretending to be hurt. Selphie shook her head, her curls bouncing around.
"That's my girl," he said, putting his arm around her. Selphie snuggled closer to him, glad that for the moment she was the only woman who held his attention.
"What do you think about the stuff that happened in the distance? Someone bombing a village?" Selphie asked, a little tinge in her voice revealing her excitement.
"Whatever it is, I think it's trouble. I cleaned and reloaded my gun, just in case." Irvine patted his Exeter, it's newly shined casing glowing garishly in the lighting of the Garden hallway.
"Yeah…I made sure that my Strange Vision wasn't in too bad of a shape… Hey! I know what we should do!" Selphie cried suddenly, standing up so fast that her head felt light for a few seconds.
"What's that?" Irvine asked, tipping his hat back so that he could look at Selphie from his spot on the bench, his eyes glittering with amusement.
"We could get Rinoa's weapon ready for her so that when she wakes up she won't have to do it herself!" Selphie squealing, searching Irvine's face to see what he thought.
A grin lit up his face; Selphie's personality was so infectious. "Alright, let's go. It's better than sitting around doing nothing." Irvine stood and offered Selphie his arm, which she took gladly, oblivious to the many stares she got from jealous onlookers.
Squall wiped his arm across his forehead, the sweat from his excursions coming off and soaking into his sleeve. His tired eyes gazed around the foliage of the training center, waiting for his next challenge to appear. He had been fighting in here ever since he saw Rinoa off to the infirmary, and his feelings were still raging inside of him.
A grat burst from the bushes to his right, giving him no time to think anymore on the matter, it's long arms flaying wildly above Squall's head. He took his Lionheart and dashed madly toward the grat, throwing caution to the wind. The grat had never been attacked in that manner before, and paused for a second, wondering what to do. That second was all that Squall needed.
He took his gunblade and speared the grat deep within it's chest, cutting to it's very heart. It screamed it's horrible scream, one shared by almost all the monsters that were slain in combat, and then it's body slowly turned to dust.
"Good riddance, bastard," Squall heaved, trying to catch his breath. The only GF that he had bothered equipping was Diablos, and the dark demon's strength seemed to also be wavering with the numerous battles in the training center.
Many times Squall had wondered where they found the monsters to be captured and put in the training center, but he never bothered asking. It was irrelevant to anything immediate in his life; as long as he could train to take his mind of things, he was happy.
He walked across the rickety bridge that spanned across the small pond of water in the training center, when he saw the withered bouquet of flowers sitting on the bottom of the pond near the bridge. Peering over, he saw that they were the tiny skeletons that roses and other such flowers leave behind, stems and petals before they rot away.
Leaning over further, he saw that a stone had been attached to the flowers to keep them from floating away on the surface. Someone must have fallen in battle here, or somewhere near here.
Squall only shook his head. He had warned new student after new student that fucking around in the training center could end up with you dead. He wasn't entirely without sympathy though…he wondered who the poor soul was that had drawn their last breath here.
His thoughts were interrupted by the intercom. "Squall, please report to the bridge. I repeat, Squall, please report to the bridge."
"We must have reached Centra," he muttered before making his way back to the bridge, making a mental note to ask Nida or Xu if they had heard of any recent deaths in the training center.
I don't own anything except for any original characters and the idea for my story.
He stood on the outdoor balcony of the Garden, the wind trying in vain to rake through his gelled blonde hair. His blue eyes stared out to the South, straining to make out the vague forms of the Centra continent's outlying islands.
After the incident with Rinoa and her vision, they had decided to return to the Garden so that Rinoa could get some much needed rest. It was then that they had noticed the bright lights from the South, and they had decided to investigate.
Most of the gang had went their separate ways to prepare for a possible battle, but Zell felt compelled to come out on the deck and watch for the approaching continent. He felt himself being unexplainably drawn toward it, and with growing impatience because it seemed to be taking so long to get there. Although he knew that the Garden had to detour around the long bridge that connected Fisherman's Horizon to Esthar and Galbadian continents, he still thought that they were making incredibly slow progress to their goal.
He began to fidget and started dancing back and forth on his toes, punching the air in a quick series of punches.
"Zell, are you alright?" came a worried voice from behind him. He turned around and saw behind him was Quistis, standing near to the large metal door that lead out to the balcony.
"Yes, it's just taking too long to get there. I want to be able to get to the bottom of this!" he threw another few punches into the air, his well- defined muscles flexing in a known pattern.
"Don't we all?" Quistis walked over and placed her elbows on the edge of the balcony and sighed, her eyes also drawn to the South. The wind picked at her clipped hair and managed to loosen a strand of silky blonde hair. The wind tugged at it, trying to get it to wander the plains and mountains of the world, in essence to become the wind itself. Quistis felt the piece become loose, and tucked it behind her right ear.
"How's Rinoa?" Zell asked suddenly, stopping his movements and standing still, watching Quistis' back.
"She was still sleeping last time I saw her. Dr. Kadowaki says it was probably heat stroke from being out in the sun too long without anything to drink." Quistis turned and placed her elbows so only the crooks rested on the edge of the railing and faced Zell. "You should probably go see her…Squall as well. He pretends that it's not affecting him that much, but I can tell he's hurting."
"Alright, see you later then Quistis!" Zell said with a quick wave as he trotted off to find Squall. Quistis smiled and turned her attention back to the ocean that lay before her. How long until they reached Centra…? Each passing moment felt like an hour and the dread in her heart was growing the closer and closer they got to Centra. She hoped that it had just been some hicks and with fireworks that had gone off at an inappropriate time. Quistis was always one for false hope.
The bubbly brunette smoothed down the midnight-black hair of the girl lying on the cot in the infirmary. "You just sleep and get better ok?" The girl on the bed made no response, and Selphie's emerald eyes flickered with concern.
Selphie saw that being there at the moment was hardly useful, so she wandered off aimlessly through the Garden, trying to find someone she knew. The students who passed by her were almost shocked at the sullen look on her face, not accustomed to a non-smiling Selphie. She walked for what seemed like hours around and around the Garden, just making her way through the crowds of milling students as they were excused for the rest of the day.
Eventually, she found herself on a bench just to the right of the entrance in front of the library, just watching as the people walked by. She sighed, leaned her head against the back of the bench and closed her eyes, a little exhausted.
"Hey, if you want to sleep don't do so in public…I'll give you my room number." Selphie's eyes flew open and saw a grinning Irvine, his cowboy hat tipped coyly and covering much of his face.
"Irvine! You scared me, I thought it was someone else!" Selphie's smile returned to her face; just being around Irvine amplified her energy.
"Oh, so did I disappoint you?" Irvine asked, pretending to be hurt. Selphie shook her head, her curls bouncing around.
"That's my girl," he said, putting his arm around her. Selphie snuggled closer to him, glad that for the moment she was the only woman who held his attention.
"What do you think about the stuff that happened in the distance? Someone bombing a village?" Selphie asked, a little tinge in her voice revealing her excitement.
"Whatever it is, I think it's trouble. I cleaned and reloaded my gun, just in case." Irvine patted his Exeter, it's newly shined casing glowing garishly in the lighting of the Garden hallway.
"Yeah…I made sure that my Strange Vision wasn't in too bad of a shape… Hey! I know what we should do!" Selphie cried suddenly, standing up so fast that her head felt light for a few seconds.
"What's that?" Irvine asked, tipping his hat back so that he could look at Selphie from his spot on the bench, his eyes glittering with amusement.
"We could get Rinoa's weapon ready for her so that when she wakes up she won't have to do it herself!" Selphie squealing, searching Irvine's face to see what he thought.
A grin lit up his face; Selphie's personality was so infectious. "Alright, let's go. It's better than sitting around doing nothing." Irvine stood and offered Selphie his arm, which she took gladly, oblivious to the many stares she got from jealous onlookers.
Squall wiped his arm across his forehead, the sweat from his excursions coming off and soaking into his sleeve. His tired eyes gazed around the foliage of the training center, waiting for his next challenge to appear. He had been fighting in here ever since he saw Rinoa off to the infirmary, and his feelings were still raging inside of him.
A grat burst from the bushes to his right, giving him no time to think anymore on the matter, it's long arms flaying wildly above Squall's head. He took his Lionheart and dashed madly toward the grat, throwing caution to the wind. The grat had never been attacked in that manner before, and paused for a second, wondering what to do. That second was all that Squall needed.
He took his gunblade and speared the grat deep within it's chest, cutting to it's very heart. It screamed it's horrible scream, one shared by almost all the monsters that were slain in combat, and then it's body slowly turned to dust.
"Good riddance, bastard," Squall heaved, trying to catch his breath. The only GF that he had bothered equipping was Diablos, and the dark demon's strength seemed to also be wavering with the numerous battles in the training center.
Many times Squall had wondered where they found the monsters to be captured and put in the training center, but he never bothered asking. It was irrelevant to anything immediate in his life; as long as he could train to take his mind of things, he was happy.
He walked across the rickety bridge that spanned across the small pond of water in the training center, when he saw the withered bouquet of flowers sitting on the bottom of the pond near the bridge. Peering over, he saw that they were the tiny skeletons that roses and other such flowers leave behind, stems and petals before they rot away.
Leaning over further, he saw that a stone had been attached to the flowers to keep them from floating away on the surface. Someone must have fallen in battle here, or somewhere near here.
Squall only shook his head. He had warned new student after new student that fucking around in the training center could end up with you dead. He wasn't entirely without sympathy though…he wondered who the poor soul was that had drawn their last breath here.
His thoughts were interrupted by the intercom. "Squall, please report to the bridge. I repeat, Squall, please report to the bridge."
"We must have reached Centra," he muttered before making his way back to the bridge, making a mental note to ask Nida or Xu if they had heard of any recent deaths in the training center.