Disclaimer: I don't own FFVIII, but if I did, would make a sequel called FF8 Part 2, unlike those tightwads at Square...
Squall slowly walked back to Rinoa's dorm. How am I going to tell Rinoa that her father died? How will she react?...I don't want to hurt her feelings. Reluctantly, he knocked on her door. No answer.
"Rinoa? It's Squall. Please let me in." Still no answer. She must be at the old oak tree.
The oak tree was a colossal tree outside Balamb Garden. It was the location of Squall and Rinoa's usual rendezvous; the place where they could go and talk in private. As he exited Garden, Squall saw Rinoa standing beside the ancient tree. Rinoa saw him approach.
"Hello, Squall! You wanted to meet me here?" Squall's eyes were cast down, head hung. Something's wrong with Squall. This is unusual behavior, even for him.
"Hey, boy-o, what's wrong?" She asked, concerned. Squall sighed.
"Rinoa...there's something I need to tell you."
"What is it?" Squall took a deep breath. Here goes.
"It's your father. He's...dead." He closed his eyes. Rinoa sank to her knees. She looked up at Squall, eyes brimming with tears.
"Dead?" Slowly, he nodded. Rinoa burst into tears. Squall kneeled down and pulled her closer to him in a warm embrace. Sobbing, she rested her head on his chest. Squall's heart began to ache for her.
"...Please don't cry, Angel." He whispered softly. Rinoa felt even more tears come to her eyes at the use of Squall's pet name for her. She gloomily looked up at him.
"How did he die?" The question Squall had been dreading. He took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, but, I think that question is better left unanswered."
"Please tell me something."
"They think an animal did it." Rinoa sighed shakily.
"We never got along well, but I never wanted him dead..." She trailed off quietly.
"...I know." Squall replied.
The two young lovers sat beneath the archaic oak tree and watched the fiery sun dip into sapphire sea.
***
"Irvine! You're cheating! No one can possibly get all GF cards in one hand with Random Rule!"
"Am not! Zell, Quistis, am I cheating?" Irvine and an extremely peeved Selphie were matched in a card game using the random rule. Zell and Quistis were their audience. Quistis tried to hide a smile with her hand.
"I don't know Irvine...an all GF hand sounds pretty unusual..." Zell laughed.
"I know how to see if he's cheating!" He jumped up and grabbed Irvine's arm and reached up the sleeve of his overcoat.
"Hey-"
"Aha!" He exclaimed, pulling out a deck of GF and Character cards.
"IRVINE!" Shrieked Selphie. Irvine glanced around. A nearby troop of girls giggled.
"Guys...you aren't helping matters any..." He ducked just in time to avoid Selphie's flying Nachaku. She stormed off. Some one behind them laughed sardonically.
"Heh heh heh...I guess Cowpat isn't as smooth with the ladies as he says he is..." Zell, Quistis, and Irvine spun around to see Seifer and the remainder of his posse, laughing at the sharpshooter's misfortune with Selphie.
"So where'd Selphie storm off to?" Irvine just glared at him. Seifer pulled an angry, indignant face.
"Hey, it wasn't my fault she ran off."
"Probably was. Bet she smelled a rat approaching." Zell mumbled to Quistis under his breath. Seifer shot him a dirty look.
"Shut up, Chicken-Wuss." Zell's left eyelid twitched. Seifer stretched and yawned.
"So where's Puberty Boy and Rinoa?"
"Right here." Seifer turned around to find a less than happy Squall and a crying Rinoa.
"What's wrong?" Quistis was concerned.
"...My father died. Some wild animal killed him." Rinoa began to cry softly again. Sympathy and consolation was given by all.
***
Four heavy paws padded softly outside Balamb Garden in the moonlight. The creature lifted it's silver-flecked muzzle and sniffed. It could smell prey.
The beast slunk around a corner of Garden and stopped beneath a window. It's first thought was to break through the window and attack the unsuspecting prey inside it. It leaped up, but the window was too high, and the animal's claws raked the side of Garden. It snarled in frustration. Viciously, it stalked off in a rage, vowing to kill it's prey soon...
Inside, Squall awoke inside his dorm with a start, a loud crack resounding as his head connected with the headboard. He had clearly heard something pound against his outside wall. Rubbing his aching forehead, he groggily walked over to the window and peered through. Nothing. Squall relaxed and then snapped to attention as he heard a timid knock on the door.
"Oww...come in..." Rinoa stepped into the dorm softly. She saw Squall rubbing his head.
"Are you okay?"
"I just hit my head. I'm alright. What do you want?" He asked rather sharply.
"I was feeling really depressed. Would you let me stay with you tonight?" Squall thought it over.
"Keep the door open. We don't want anyone getting ideas." Rinoa nodded and walked over to Squall. He moved the sheets over and let Rinoa lay down beside him. They curled against each other and fell into a deep sleep.
***
When Rinoa woke up, she saw that her and Squall were holding each other like it was 10° below. That wasn't surprising, considering the way Squall kept his dorm temperature. She rested her head on her knight's chest and gazed at his face. Rinoa loved to look at Squall while he was sleeping. He always looked so peaceful, caught in a warm net of dreams, a comfortable place to be. His long, thick, black lashes rested against his perfect cheekbones, and his lips had a slight curve to them this morning . Rinoa marveled at the difference of Squall's face when he was awake and when he was sleeping; he usually looked deep in thought. Squall started to stir and opened his eyes sleepily.
"Mmmph...gdmrn..." He mumbled halfheartedly. Rinoa laughed and gave him a light kiss on his cheek.
"C'mon, Rip Van Winkle, wake up!" Rinoa got off his chest and allowed Squall to yawn and stretch.
"Feeling better?" Squall asked Rinoa as he combed his fingers through his dark oak- colored hair. Rinoa sighed.
"I still feel a bit depressed, but the pain isn't as sharp anymore. How's your head?"
"...Still hurts..." Squall replied, gingerly touching his throbbing forehead. Rinoa grinned and gave him a peck on his lips. She went back to her dorm so Squall could get dressed.
Later, after Squall had eaten breakfast in the cafeteria, he determined to go outside by his dorm window to check for any signs of an intruder last night. He walked out beneath his dorm window and searched the area. Squall discovered jagged claw marks on the wall and huge paw prints everywhere. What kind of animal did this? he wondered. Just then he began to get the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach that came when something terrible was about to happen. Warily, Squall looked around. Nothing was there. The sky was a clear blue and a healthy breeze blew gently, tousling Squall's hair. Still, something didn't feel right.
Suddenly, a colossal, snarling weight hit him from behind and knocked him to the ground. The dust from the ground clogged his nostrils and made him cough. He tried to turn his head around so he could breathe, but the creature just roared into his ear. Squall roared back and immediately flipped over swiftly and saw his attacker. It was a huge gray wolf! It's ears were laid back, fur at it's nape bristling. It growled deeply and sank it's razor-sharp fangs into Squall's shoulder, narrowly missing his neck.
"AAARGH!" Squall yelled. The wolf jaws began to grind and it actually gnawed on Squall. Shoulder pained and bleeding profusely, he managed to shove the great wolf off him. Squall scrambled to his feet, hand pressed to his shoulder. The wolf recovered quickly and rammed Squall in the gut, knocking him down onto his hands and knees.
Inside, Irvine and Zell were matched together in a card game inside the cafeteria.
"D*** it!" Zell swore as Irvine laughed evilly and took his Shiva card. Just then they heard a loud shout outside. They looked at each other and took off outside. Irvine grabbed his gun.
They went outside and heard ferocious growls and snarls.
"This way!" Irvine shouted, running over to his left, Zell in tow. They sprinted around the corner of Balamb Garden's green- blue wall and saw the unexpected.
Squall was on all fours, trying to stop the blood that was rushing from his mangled shoulder. Beside him, they saw a monster of a wolf, gold eyes flashing maliciously. It's gray muzzle was bloodied. They immediately knew what happened. The beast had attacked Squall.
It saw Irvine and Zell, snarled, and crouched, prepared to attack. Shaking, Irvine lifted his gun and took careful aim at the beast. He pulled the trigger as soon as the wild animal lunged for the critically injured Squall. The wolf shrieked and collapsed, breathing with difficulty as pink bubbles of blood frothed upon its black lips. It growled quietly, with defiance. Irvine fired again. Yelping wildly, it spasmed once, shuddered, and then lay still, never to wreak havoc upon another creature again. Irvine and Zell ran up to Squall. Zell examined his shoulder briefly. Splinters of bone stuck into the surrounding muscle and sinew. Saliva and blood covered the wound completely. The injury was so profound that Squall's collarbone and the bones of the shoulder could actually be seen clearly. The grass beneath Zell's feet was crimson and slick with Squall's life-blood. Zell felt like he was going to be sick. He helped Irvine by easing Squall onto his back. He moaned in agony, breath labored. Irvine took a close look at his shoulder and shook his head. If Squall didn't get medical attention soon, he would quickly bleed to death.
"...Oh s***, if Squall dies on us...poor Rinoa, she just lost her father. C'mon, Squall, you've gotta stay awake! Don't you die on me! Zell, keep him conscious and help me pick him up!" However, it was too late. Squall's eyes glazed over in pain as his world went black. Irvine carefully lifted him up by his shoulders while Zell carried him by his ankles. They awkwardly hauled him into Garden, gathering a concerned crowd.
"Is that Squall Leonhart?"
"What happened?"
"Oh my G**! There's so much blood!" Zell grew increasingly angry at the crowd of anxious people.
"BACK OFF!" He bellowed. "If you aren't going to help then get out of the way!" Having frightened the students off, Irvine and Zell finally made it to the infirmary. They were met by an extremely astonished Dr. Kadowaki.
"Zell! Irvine! What happened to Squall?! Quick! Quick! Get him onto the bed!" Zell explained everything quickly as he and Irvine lay the unconscious Squall on the infirmary bed. Dr. Kadowaki grabbed a tube of some sort of medication and a pair of small silver forceps. She placed the contents of the tube onto Squall's shoulder and gently began to rub it in.
"This ointment should help stop the bleeding..." She then took the forceps and began to pick out splinters of bone, fur, and debris out of Squall's injury. Zell and Irvine rushed off to tell the others what had happened.
I hope this chapter didn't suck as much as the last. Trust me, the story's not great now, but it gets better!