A/N: I know I probably won't get lots of readers, any maybe, just because this doesn't have a main character/main character lovie thing going on, but it doesn't make it bad, I promise. My machine capitalized some things I thought weren't right, but they might be technically correct. Trying to flesh out characters more and even added a new one, I know where its going…sorry…just read pretty please J
Disclaimer: I am remotely aware I own none of these characters, save the ones I invented, and are therefore quite noticeable…
When: Takes place before the second Sorceress war, after the SeeD exam, made this little time slot necessarily longer…
Chapter 1: Disturbing the Quiescence
It was a hazy, shadowy day; torrential rain had been drenching the Acalaud plains since daybreak and at 12'o'clock in the evening showed no signs of halting its impeding race to flood the Garden. The wind whistled about the trees, giving everything the thick aura of being stuck in an old mystery novel, and left the students to sit about contemplating which lightning flash would encompass the gunshot and hide it from their ears.
The gateman had been working steadily since 7:38 am, arriving late due to the fact he ran his day by the sun, and took the time to read yesterdays' newspaper, today's being caught in a delivery truck in Balamb. Being the simpleton he was, brought out specifically by lack of time telling device, he skipped through the business section and began to read the comics. However somebody had snuck a weather report on the page and he groaned at the technicality of the numbers but then laughed when he read the only clearly printed information, 'sunny tomorrow'. Not one to mind things which made his work easier he began to turn the page and learn of some more of Garfield's' exploits.
Lightning flashed for a moment, blinding him with its brilliance and suddenly thunder roared through the skies, physically making the ground tremble, almost in fear of the violent stab the storm brought about in its wake. The lightning attacked again and the man stared up, blinking purple sunspots from his eyes, it was then he saw her. Thin figurine clawing up from the ground. Momentary daylight disappeared and he lost sight of the obviously female figure he'd glimpsed heaving herself onto one of the turnstiles.
They weren't expecting anyone, no one from town would make the trip in this weather and all out students were excused due to the fact the roads had become proverbial rivers.
Thematic lightning flashed once more, he squinted to where she had just been, no, nothing. He had all but acquitted the beings' existence when something tapped the glass enclosure he was seated in, causing him to jump out of his chair and look down. In the faintest of light he saw a girl.
Dr. Kadowaki had been rudely awoken in the middle of the night by a jarring voice on the intercom. She blinked before she could finally recognize the pleading voice at the other end and what the wielder was trying to convey.
Phil, Balamb Garden's Gateman's rough voice sounded almost petrified as he buzzed the infirmary, Kadowaki's residence, "There's a girl, Doctor. Doctor, please come down here, she looks real hurt, I think she's bleedin' bad." The intercom clicked, waiting for a response of some variety from the doctor, Phil hoped instructing him when he felt so helpless.
Dr. Kadowaki was suddenly flooded with the realization that someone was hurt but was cut off on her way jumping out of bed to the microphone by the gateman's voice once more, "There's a young man down here, he was wondering around, he's going to bring her to you."
Kadowaki conveyed a note of comprehension through the electronic vocal system and began to prepare the emergency bed for the patient. She was covering the bed in paper when the most unlikely Good Samaritan walked in, almost self-consciously aware of his good deed and put to shame by it. Seifer Almsay walked over to the doctor and laid the girl down on the bed.
"Do you know what happened to her," he breathed in rather shakily glancing down at his raven boots. He had been out past curfew when he had heard the gateman yelling for help and had rushed to find a girl curled up in a fetal position at the front gate, arm wrapped about a whip, clad in bloody brown fabric. The rather skinny man who had discovered had already tried to lug her up over his shoulder, and discovered his muscles-less body could no more support her then a T-rexaur. Seeing as he had already been found out, Seifer decided to help the woman out and he had, carefully although he'd never admit it, went about carrying her to the infirmary.
The doctor had already started to take clothing off of her, causing Seifer to turn around, blushing. No, it wasn't that he hadn't seen a naked woman before; he simply hadn't seen one without her permission. Dr. Kadowaki's voice was urgent, speaking as she pushed an IV into the girl's gaunt arm, "Looks like she's been hurt bad, the gateman didn't know what happened?" She tapped the IV bag, starting the flow of fluid down the tube, completely ignoring to pause for Seifer's reply, "Seifer, call room 396, tell them there's an emergency in the Infirmary, be quick, then leave quick, I won't tell."
If Seifer had taken the time to glance over at Dr. Kadowaki, who was giving him a half-hearted wink, he probably would have vomited at the site of the injuries. The appeared everywhere, like anger had been wracked upon the woman's average frame and then had decided to leave her for death, which had been chased away in the knick of time.
In all truth, Seifer was quite antsy in that room. He hadn't been able to make a witty, sarcastic retort, nor had he been nipped at. So in all respects its no surprise he completely avoided the bed, fulfilled the doctor's request and ran his lanky blonde frame out of the infirmary.
The rain had died out suddenly in the night, almost consistent with the arrival of the 'mystery girl', as the faculty and students of Balamb had come to christen the woman lying comatose in the infirmary.
Eager students and SeeD wanting to test out their Triple Triad skills on Dr. Kadowaki (a former Garden Champion) had inquired about the unconscious young woman while losing miserably to the Doctor. True she had only revealed that she had showed up last night but young minds have a tendency to elaborate and contemplate as many obscure possibilities as possible. And this situation was just chock full of facts unanswered waiting to be lied about.
"I heard she's from Balamb," Selphie spoke, tapping the cafeteria table trying to rid herself of excess caffeine. Zell, Squall and Selphie had congregated in the Cafeteria for lunch, or was it more Zell and Selphie congregated around an unwilling Squall. Either way the conversation, along with most others in the cafeteria, was beginning to be directly based on the speculation of the 'mystery girl'.
Squall ran a hand through his chocolate brown hair and refused once more to comment. Though he'd never tell, he found this all a bit sophomoric, they had just succeeded at becoming the newest members of SeeD and now they were gossiping with the rest of the garden? Of course he was also bothered that people were getting quite so creative with the girls history and ignoring the possibility her car may have just broken down and she got attacked by a monster while looking for help. He punched himself mentally for the conjecture running about his brain.
Alas, silence is easily broken when sitting at a table with two happy fully caffeinated people, and Zell began to rant as if he had been plotting the death of the peaceful quiescence all along, "How would anybody know? I just heard she's so disfigured the guy who took her to the infirmary won't even leave his room." He spoke in a matter-of-factly way, the style of a five year old child argue without reason or rhyme.
"I don't think so…Nida, one of the SeeDs' who talked to Dr. Kadowaki, said she was pretty. How could he know if she was burned or something," she put on her best thinking face, cheeks puffed up, flecked eyes upward, then finally remembered to breath. She heaved a sigh and resumed her table drumming.
Across the room Seifer stirred, catching the conversation of Squalls' table. She hadn't been that horribly hurt right? He, in fact, couldn't remember an instant where he had laid eyes on upon her face; he had just truly been trying to be careful. For a second he felt kind of bad, just a second. However, never one to doubt himself, he decided to visit the infirmary and hope for the girls miraculous recovery, maybe just so she could thank him.
His posse, seated directly before him, had been stunned into silence. They were clearly staring at Seifer's deeply contemplative face, and continued to look on, confused, as he appeared to snap out of it. Seifer is an angry boy; deep calm thought is not exactly his thing. For Hyne sakes! The boy has a hit list!
"WHATHA," Fuijin crammed two words together as to not forget her eccentric speech pattern. Okay, so maybe it was a stretch, but she tried really hard to make it one word.
Raijin, perhaps more cautious after years of peer abuse, managed a meek, "ah, so what are ya' thinkin' about Seifer, that girl?" He contained the words 'ya know', tightly in his throat to avoid what Fuijin had been telling him lead to his perception as being a man lacking intelligence. They had been informed that Seifer had been the one to to take her to the infirmary, but were slightly distressed when he refused to give up details.
Seifer glanced at both, wondering what could be the source of such mayhem at the table, only to realize it was his brain. Feeling as though it was none of their business Seifer rose from the table and got up to leave.
He had gotten but ten feet from the table when Fuijin shouted, "BITCH!" and Raijin waited impeccably calmly for the woman's anger to pass.
Seifer, fully used to Fuijin's arsenal of insults, all stemming from her rejection at the moment, continued to breeze past Squall's table and out of the cafeteria, narrowly missing Midge, the cafeteria lady with the son and husband (which he would know all about had he not been avoiding her due to her annoying reputation as an excessive conversationalist).
True, the distance from the cafeteria to the infirmary was minimal, but it was indeed, enough time to start an internal conversation with himself. Mostly it was filled with this insane need to deflate someone's ego, or wreak revenge upon the headmaster for his punishment. But a little tiny bit of Seifer felt remorse and responsibility for what had happened, as well as deep regret. All hopes of fulfilling his dreams, the ones that included SeeD at least, were momentarily crushed and waiting to be rescheduled into his life.
Of course, he had rounded the fountain by the time his deep thought had concluded he was screwed and was entering the infirmary when his mind blanked. He arrived only to a solemn nod from the knowing, but slightly out of date, Kadowaki and decided to enter the room the girl was in.
The moment he saw the pale, gaunt girl he was stricken with an immense sense of deja'vu, unable to pick at the source of what seemed to be an emotional scar he decided to take a seat beside the bed.
It was fully debatable, but the girl appeared to be around Seifer's age. Her hands had been wrapped in soft cotton bandages, placed at her sides almost engulfed in the ruffles of stiff industrialized bedding. When he looked up at her face he was half engulfed and half repulsed, for the lack of a better words. Three long gashes, drawn from the far left corner of her left eye to her hairline, stood prominently, stitches still visible through blackened skin. She was so pale it was almost as if someone had applied a bluish undertone to her skin. Other then these obvious drawbacks she appeared to be quite pretty, in an odd way. Large eyes, though deeply bruised, were the prominent feature of her face, and a slightly disproportioned mouth and nose struggled to compliment the rest. She would have appeared dead if not for the swirl of red hair haloing her head. It seemed to catch and capture the suns warm light and it crept in stealthily through the shades, somewhat afraid of the girl.
Realizing it was quite hopeless for her to awaken at this moment, Seifer reveled in the disturbingly pretty girls aura for a moment before deciding to retreat to the training center. He had realized that violence was the only thing that could quell his intimidating nature.
Almost as if she had been frightened into submission by the strange visitor, the woman in the bed proceeded to gasp, scream and then awaken from her comatose state as soon as Seifer had cleared out. Now there was only the question of what she had to tell…
A/N: Please review! If you write you know how special that makes you feel! Constructive criticism please! No flames! If your going to insult my story better know how it could be made better or your pretty damn contradictory. I tried to create an imperfect, odd character, although you haven't really experienced her in this chapter. So stay tuned, its to include drama, irony, rejection, grudges and recollected romance.
