Disclaimer: I do not own anything from final fantasy 8
Rinoa's P.O.V
Snow. Ice. That was the scenery from the point of when we left the chocobo's. We were trudging on up Mt. Gray and I was freezing. I had begun to seriously think Seifer was leading us on a wild goose chase. Every now and then I would slip on a piece of ice or get tripped up by snow. Where the hell were we going?
After I had tripped and fallen down on my face, seeing Squall and Seifer look back at me with amused looks, we stopped. Seifer leaned his head against a wall of ice. Putting both his hands either side. I heard him whisper " Crescent Winds". The wall of ice faded, then completely disappeared. An entrance to an icy cave. Seifer nodded and continued inside. Squall was so convinced. He looked at me and raised an eyebrow. I shrugged and followed Seifer in.
There was a small worn path through the enormous cave. The walls were ice and reflective like a mirror. The roof was almost 20 meters above me, the ground thick with snow. I felt so small. Seifer stopped and turned to face us.
"You can't tell anyone about this place" He said, a stern look across his face.
Squall nodded " Ok"
" Alright, in a while we'll get to an arc, once their we'll only have to go a little further until we get to a narrow passage, that will lead us into Crescent Winds"
We nodded and continued. I thought this journey would go on forever until finally the arc Seifer mentioned appeared. It was huge and ice, of course, and had little icicles hanging down. Making it look, almost, freaky.
Sure enough after we had passed the arc we can to a small, almost crumpled, passage. It was about 1 meter in width and 1 and half in length. I groaned. Seifer crawled in. Squall hesitated then followed him in.
I hesitated too. I looked back at the enormous ice cave, frozen in place as if frozen in time. Untouched. I sighed and crawled into the little hole.
It was dark, I could no longer see Squall or Seifer up ahead, but I could here them. I felt along the walls, guiding myself. What had started all this?
The Council.
What made me so scared of being exiled?
The Council
What made me so feared from everyone.
The Council
I silently cursed them and hit my head on a bump in the roof. I blamed the Council for the lump I now felt forming.
Finally I saw a light at the end. I ran towards and was met by Squall and Seifer standing outside. When I stood up the sight froze me in shock.
Crescent Winds was amazing. It was still in an enormous ice cave, except the shear size of it threw me. Platforms of ice were placed along the wall of the cave, as if put in place, on top of them stood little houses and buildings. On the ground beneath these was a village center. A long the sides of this were more houses and at the end was an enormous building decked with ceremonious placing. There was no one in sight, no one in the icy village.
A lady walked out from the large building and ran towards us. Raylin!
When she came closer I realized that it wasn't Raylin. She wore the same outfit but with no silk. Her skin was pale and her hair white, but it was longer and flowed down past her shoulders. She smiled brightly at Seifer.
" Welcome back Seifer!"
"Thanks" He replied walking off.
She turned to Squall and I. " Welcome to Crescent Winds! I'm Rayne"
Rayne…Raylin, so similar
Squall and I both smiled, yet so weak and tired.
" Oh of course you must rest, come ill show you where to go"
We followed her to a small house near the center. She walked in and as did we. First was a small room with a table, a clock and a cupboard. The next room had two bunkbeds. Each made up. The wall had fire leaping up and down them. As if held there by magic.
"The fire on the wall makes it less cold to sleep, but its also good if you sleep in these" She handed us some gray clothes. The warmth from the fire was not extreme and didn't keep the cold out. I kept the bitterness of the cold out and kept the cold in. Get it?
It was almost perfect just still too cold. I shivered.
" I'll see you both in the morning"
Rayne walked out leaving us in the room. I was desperate for sleep. Looking at the beds made me feel like falling asleep on the spot. Squall walked over to the bed further from me. I heard Seifer call for me. I walked out and back into the village center.
" Going to sleep"
I nodded.
" Ok well just make sure you meet right here with Squall when you wake up ok?"
" Ok"
" Right, good…er…goodnight"
I nodded and walked back to the house. Squall was already dressed into his gray clothes and in the bed. Looked like he was asleep. I got dressed and laid in the bed opposite. Squall opened his eyes.
" I wanna go home" He whispered.
I looked over to him, looking sympathetic, " So do I"
Quistis P.O.V
We were all curious. All of us wanted to know more. I had told the gang to meet at my dorm after 7:00pm. They had come of course, along with Xu.
" Headmaster Cid isn't telling me anything," She said.
I nodded. " Have you managed to find anything yourself?" She grinned. " Yes"
I seemed shocked. "How?" I spluttered. The conversation was between me and Xu now.
The others seemed as non-informed as I was and stayed silent.
" A student got out of the garden and went across the plains surrounding Deling. He didn't see a single Council guard" Not one? That's impossible. Xu continued. " The Council doesn't have any guards anywhere, their not even looking Quistis" But why?
" Why would the Council do that?"
" I don't know Quistis, I really don't, but the student's name is Dean, he wants to talk to you" I nodded and looked toward the others. " Stay here I'll be back soon" I told them.
I walked out with Xu to Dean's dorm. I didn't know what to expect.
When we got there, Dean was alone in the dorm. He saluted then the three of us sat down. " So Dean I heard about you making it out of the garden…impressive…what did you want to talk to me about?"
He seemed nervous, probably because I was putting on my instructor voice gain, but he spoke. " Well…wouldn't it be better if we got a mole into the Council? It would be so easy" I frowned. He wanted to go in as a mole.
" I don't know Dean…I mean it would be dangerous.."
He shook his head.
" I'm an expert, trust me!"
Xu nodded, " I've seen him Quistis, he's good"
Sighing, I nodded. " Ok, I hope I'm doing the right thing"
Authors P.O.V
Donas walked in Manches's office once more. " Sir, you requested to see me?"
Manches nodded. " Donas, the Collector is almost finished. We finished creating the first few types of Grogoids. They're perfect, I'll send a few to hunt the sorceress and knight down" Donas nodded. " Very good indeed sir, what do you wish me to tell the gardens?"
Manches thought for a moment. " Tell them we have found the Knight and he is imprisoned" Donas smiled. " Yes sir" She turned on her heals after giving him a solid salute and walked out. Manches laughed heartily to himself. "Perfect…just perfect"
Donas silently walked down the corridor away from Manches's office. I'm not supposed to question him but is he serious? The gardens are going to realize we're lying through out teeth. Donas shook her head. The Grogoids, he says they're perfect, but are they? How could a simple grat mutation be so dangerous?, I just don't get it. Despite her growing concerns she continued on to give the gardens the new 'information'.
Rinoa P.O.V
I wanna go home That's what he had said. Home. The Garden. I felt the same as him, garden is home. But we can't just go back. We just couldn't. What if we're hated? I couldn't handle that, I doubt Squall could either. Selphie, Irvine, Quisty, Zell, what are you all doing now? Are you all ok? I wanted to know how they were so bad. But how was it possible?
I looked over at Squall. He was definitely asleep. He had his face toward me and his arm draped across his chest. He looked so calm, so peaceful. I wish I could be asleep right now. But I was scared again. Would Raylin be there? I hoped so. I needed to talk to her. Maybe Rayne and Raylin are related? I'll find out
That night I did fall asleep. I did dream of Raylin once again.
~Dream~
" Hi Raylin"
She turned around and smiled in her special way." Hello again"
" I need to ask you something"
"Yes?"
" Do you know about a place called Crescent winds? Do you know a lady called Rayne?"
Her smile faded slightly. " Yes I do" She replied. " Crescent Winds was my old home, Rayne was my daughter, I left a long time ago, and I havn't seen her since"
This was not all too surprising. I nodded. " Why did you leave?"
She smiled again, " I will tell you another time" I understood.
She began he advice speech. "Rinoa, about Seifer, you really should trust him, he truly wishes to help you" I figured " I know, but its hard, I mean he was my enemy. I can never forget what he did" Raylin closed her eyes " Yes your right Rinoa, but forgive him, he is a misunderstood child" I laughed slightly. " He would hate to hear that" She laughed also, " Yes you're right again"
Looking back up at her I looked at her eyes. So icy, deep and faded with blue. " Your going to wake up now Rinoa" I sighed. " These dreams becoming so short" She agreed. "Yes but I need to explain things to you slowly." I nodded, still disappointed.
Author's Note: This took me all night. There may be quite a few spelling errors in it. I'm too tired to go over it now, but I will go back and edit it. Please review with ideas and comments.
Thanks to:
Renegade Seraph
inoa2360;eartily
