Yolei didn't have time to ponder her feelings before the Garden vessel docked and everyone quickly stood up, filing out much like ants in line.
The first thing that the girl noticed was the view of the city before her. Esthar was big, that much she knew, but she never would have imagined just how big. Just going by first glance, Yolei thought that there was enough room in this wonderland of brightness and technology to fit at least three towns the size of her beloved Timber within its borders.
Zell noticed her reaction, wide eyes and gaping mouth, and chuckled.
"Big, huh?" She jumped at his voice, blushed nervously, and nodded. "Wait till ya see the whole thing."
"It's like, bigger than the moon!!!"
"Aah, not quite. But it ~is~ a cool city. You should have seen it before the Lunar Cry, back before the President knew what a Real monster was." The blonde chuckled again, clearly amused. "Anyway, we should really get to Camp before all the action starts. "
At this moment, a question began to plague Yolei's mind, and she hesitated.
"Uh, Zell? What exactly is an Elnoyle?"
"You'll see!" His voice was too cheerful to be allowed, especially under the circumstances. He was obviously not too happy about whatever this Elnoyle thing was.
Nothing else was said until the pair reached the camp where the trainees would be staying. It was gloomy, with several tents displaying the Balamb Garden emblem, which made the place look more like a military barrack than a campsite. To make matters worse, the sound of monsters shrieking could be heard. After dropping off the gear he was carrying outside of a tent, Zell turned to Yolei.
"Look over there." He pointed his gloved hand to the south. "See that big thing?"
"Umm, the big, black thing with the fangs?"
"Yes! That, my dear, is an Elnoyle. You stay away from that unless you want to die!"
It took a few seconds for this to register into her mind, and her face went paper-white.
"A…Aren't we uh, supposed to fight that?!"
"Yeah. Unfortunately. I just meant that you should stay away from it when you're alone." If Zell had been a little bit more open with his feelings, he would've hugged her. Hyne only knew that girl needed a hug more than anything. Zell Dincht was not one to go around hugging girls he hardly knew, mostly because he was unsure about how the girl in question would react. Besides, now was not the time for such insignificant actions as hugging. "Hey, want to bunk with me?"
"H…..Huh?!"
"I meant, uh, wanna share a tent? I won't like, bite ya or anything. Besides, it's better than bunking with Seifer." He wasn't flirting with her. In his mind, the man was just keeping his promise to watch out for the girl. She seemed to agree with him.
"Uh, Sure!" The gear she carried was dropped to the ground by the tent, except for her crossbow. "When do we start?"
A huge grin spread across Zell's face.
"We've already started, YoYo. As soon as we leave, we're probably gonna get attacked by an Imp or something. Don't worry. You'll be fine. Just make sure your GFs are equipped!"
"Done!" Guardian forces were the one thing Yolei was sure about. She always had them equipped, and spent quite a bit of time engaging in conversation with the spirits. They were always talking, especially after battle. Only one thing about them really bothered her, and that was the fact that they were just…there.
Noone had given them to her, except for Ifrit, and she had fought long and hard for control of the Fire monster. In truth, her Guardian Forces seemed to have been born with her, or just recently in some cases.
It wasn't natural, and she knew it, choosing to keep her mouth shut for that reason alone.
"Okay then!" Zell bounced, throwing a couple of air punches. Of course, Yolei thought that this was plain cute, and almost giggled. "Let's go!"
With a wave, he took off, going in the opposite direction of the cruel Elnoyle. The girl had no intention of getting eaten, and therefore had no choice but to follow him. In the process of catching up, she realized something. Zell Dincht was one hell of a fast runner, and it was no wonder that his legs were so muscular. Not that Yolei had looked. Well, not very much, anyway..
The only time that she had ever looked was right when they had first met, and she didn't really have a say in the matter. He had been wearing shorts, and was kneeling when he checked to see if she was all right. How could she NOT have noticed? It wasn't like she was hitting on him by quietly noticing his legs, so the thought slipped from her mind.
Zell was right. Roughly a minute after the little journey began, the deafening roar of a Torama made Yolei jump. The cat leapt, and knocked the girl down with its massives paws. Stifling a moan of pain, she pulled out her trusty crossbow and started firing at the beast. It screamed, and lunged forward again, claws scratching her cheek. Seconds later, she felt what seemed to be a cool breeze blowing over her, and immediately felt some of the sting fade away. Right off, she knew that Zell had given her a cure spell. He wasn't exactly being inactive. Between curing, he was making fast work of beating the Torama senseless. It roared weakly, and kneeled down. Zell knew from experience that Toramas, like most other monsters, tended to save their most aggressive attacks for the very end of the battle.
"YoYo! Look out!" The cat opened its mouth, and some sort of fire magick slipped from its lips. She dove to the side, barely missing being burned. It was unusual. Toramas certainly weren't fire elemental. Zell knew that for a fact. Some sort of mutation must have occured in the two years since the Cry, but no mutation could possibly change a creature's element. That didn't change the fact that the air still smelled of smoke, and certainly didn't make the battle any easier. Suddenly, the air turned chilly, and an unmistakable blast of ice magick struck the Torama. That was no mere blizzard spell, he realized, and respect bordering on admiration for the girl welled up inside him. But Zell Dincht admired noone, regardless of how attractive, female, and skilled with magick the person was. The poor boy's heart had already been crushed once before, and he had no intention of going through ~that~ again, regardless of how tempting the idea of love was.
No. Never. He couldn't waste his time thinking about this, especially in the middle of a rather difficult battle.
The Torama fell then, letting out a strangled cry as it hit the ground. The battle had been won. When Zell finally got up the courage to look Yolei in the eye, his face reflected absolute shock and amazement.
"What the hell did you DO?" Yolei blushed, and tried to stammer out an apology. "Er, oops. I meant, how did you do that? Whoa! When I took my SeeD test, I didn't even have a Blizzard spell!"
"I...um, have an Ice element. Is that..wrong?"
"Nah. Don't worry about it. I think it's cool!"
"So..The element thing...?" She was confused. He saw that, and was determined not to confuse her any more.
"Like I said, don't worry about it. I have an element too, see?" He pointed a finger and grinned as a spark flew from his fingertip to the ground. "Lightning. Cool, huh?" She nodded, smiling from both relief and amusement, and got up, making sure her crossbow was secured on her arm. In a split second, they moved on. A series of long, grueling battles followed as the pair travelled into the heart of Esthar. Little did they know that the roughest battle was yet to come.
An ordinary battle with an ordinary Elnoyle was what Zell had in mind when they approached the creature. When he saw the Elnoyle that they were supposed to fight, he almost fainted.
This was no ordinary Elnoyle! It had blood red eyes, was nearly twice the size it should have been, and had dark green veinlike patterns on its body. What Zell and Yolei noticed first, however, were its fangs. Like freshly sharpened daggers, they shone in the late afternoon sunlight, showing the blood of whatever poor creature it had chosen for its last meal. Judging by the clutch of monster eggshells nearby, it was the mother and cause of all the mutation, and therefore had to be stopped.
After it devoured several arrows and dodged dozens of Zell's best punches, it was clear that physical attacks were pretty much useless. Zell solved this problem by summoning Quezacotl, the legendary Thunder bird that Yolei had only heard of, and never seen. The bird flapped its wings, sending jolts of lightning into the Elnoyle's body. Damage had finally been done to the creature, judging by the roars of pain echoing through the air. It roared again, and decided to vent its rage on Yolei. Before she had a chance to escape, Freak Elnoyle was closing his fangs on her knee. Its claws struck her across the face, and Zell, who was in the middle of a limit break, stepped back in shock. Little did he know that in the process of being bitten, the girl's crossbow had gotten unstrapped from her arm, and was now right behind the boy's feet. When he stepped back, he consequentially stepped on the weapon, creating a loud crunch. Yolei looked up, her face pale and her eyes violently glaring at Zell.
"YOU FU-Uugh.." Whatever she was calling him was forgotten as the creature swiped at her again, not clawing her but knocking her to the ground.
"A...An...Angelina..." Her voice was horribly weak, but the Guardian Force heard its mistress's voice. Holy white light flooded the area, and Zell felt all pain fade from his body. What looked like a legendary angel appeared, with long hair the colour of the sun, and vast wings. If he had been thinking clearly, Zell would have seen a slight resemblance between Angelina and Yolei. As it was, he was too preoccupied with watching the Elnoyle being slaughtered.
The last thing Yolei saw before she blacked out was Zell's sneakers.
The first thing that the girl noticed was the view of the city before her. Esthar was big, that much she knew, but she never would have imagined just how big. Just going by first glance, Yolei thought that there was enough room in this wonderland of brightness and technology to fit at least three towns the size of her beloved Timber within its borders.
Zell noticed her reaction, wide eyes and gaping mouth, and chuckled.
"Big, huh?" She jumped at his voice, blushed nervously, and nodded. "Wait till ya see the whole thing."
"It's like, bigger than the moon!!!"
"Aah, not quite. But it ~is~ a cool city. You should have seen it before the Lunar Cry, back before the President knew what a Real monster was." The blonde chuckled again, clearly amused. "Anyway, we should really get to Camp before all the action starts. "
At this moment, a question began to plague Yolei's mind, and she hesitated.
"Uh, Zell? What exactly is an Elnoyle?"
"You'll see!" His voice was too cheerful to be allowed, especially under the circumstances. He was obviously not too happy about whatever this Elnoyle thing was.
Nothing else was said until the pair reached the camp where the trainees would be staying. It was gloomy, with several tents displaying the Balamb Garden emblem, which made the place look more like a military barrack than a campsite. To make matters worse, the sound of monsters shrieking could be heard. After dropping off the gear he was carrying outside of a tent, Zell turned to Yolei.
"Look over there." He pointed his gloved hand to the south. "See that big thing?"
"Umm, the big, black thing with the fangs?"
"Yes! That, my dear, is an Elnoyle. You stay away from that unless you want to die!"
It took a few seconds for this to register into her mind, and her face went paper-white.
"A…Aren't we uh, supposed to fight that?!"
"Yeah. Unfortunately. I just meant that you should stay away from it when you're alone." If Zell had been a little bit more open with his feelings, he would've hugged her. Hyne only knew that girl needed a hug more than anything. Zell Dincht was not one to go around hugging girls he hardly knew, mostly because he was unsure about how the girl in question would react. Besides, now was not the time for such insignificant actions as hugging. "Hey, want to bunk with me?"
"H…..Huh?!"
"I meant, uh, wanna share a tent? I won't like, bite ya or anything. Besides, it's better than bunking with Seifer." He wasn't flirting with her. In his mind, the man was just keeping his promise to watch out for the girl. She seemed to agree with him.
"Uh, Sure!" The gear she carried was dropped to the ground by the tent, except for her crossbow. "When do we start?"
A huge grin spread across Zell's face.
"We've already started, YoYo. As soon as we leave, we're probably gonna get attacked by an Imp or something. Don't worry. You'll be fine. Just make sure your GFs are equipped!"
"Done!" Guardian forces were the one thing Yolei was sure about. She always had them equipped, and spent quite a bit of time engaging in conversation with the spirits. They were always talking, especially after battle. Only one thing about them really bothered her, and that was the fact that they were just…there.
Noone had given them to her, except for Ifrit, and she had fought long and hard for control of the Fire monster. In truth, her Guardian Forces seemed to have been born with her, or just recently in some cases.
It wasn't natural, and she knew it, choosing to keep her mouth shut for that reason alone.
"Okay then!" Zell bounced, throwing a couple of air punches. Of course, Yolei thought that this was plain cute, and almost giggled. "Let's go!"
With a wave, he took off, going in the opposite direction of the cruel Elnoyle. The girl had no intention of getting eaten, and therefore had no choice but to follow him. In the process of catching up, she realized something. Zell Dincht was one hell of a fast runner, and it was no wonder that his legs were so muscular. Not that Yolei had looked. Well, not very much, anyway..
The only time that she had ever looked was right when they had first met, and she didn't really have a say in the matter. He had been wearing shorts, and was kneeling when he checked to see if she was all right. How could she NOT have noticed? It wasn't like she was hitting on him by quietly noticing his legs, so the thought slipped from her mind.
Zell was right. Roughly a minute after the little journey began, the deafening roar of a Torama made Yolei jump. The cat leapt, and knocked the girl down with its massives paws. Stifling a moan of pain, she pulled out her trusty crossbow and started firing at the beast. It screamed, and lunged forward again, claws scratching her cheek. Seconds later, she felt what seemed to be a cool breeze blowing over her, and immediately felt some of the sting fade away. Right off, she knew that Zell had given her a cure spell. He wasn't exactly being inactive. Between curing, he was making fast work of beating the Torama senseless. It roared weakly, and kneeled down. Zell knew from experience that Toramas, like most other monsters, tended to save their most aggressive attacks for the very end of the battle.
"YoYo! Look out!" The cat opened its mouth, and some sort of fire magick slipped from its lips. She dove to the side, barely missing being burned. It was unusual. Toramas certainly weren't fire elemental. Zell knew that for a fact. Some sort of mutation must have occured in the two years since the Cry, but no mutation could possibly change a creature's element. That didn't change the fact that the air still smelled of smoke, and certainly didn't make the battle any easier. Suddenly, the air turned chilly, and an unmistakable blast of ice magick struck the Torama. That was no mere blizzard spell, he realized, and respect bordering on admiration for the girl welled up inside him. But Zell Dincht admired noone, regardless of how attractive, female, and skilled with magick the person was. The poor boy's heart had already been crushed once before, and he had no intention of going through ~that~ again, regardless of how tempting the idea of love was.
No. Never. He couldn't waste his time thinking about this, especially in the middle of a rather difficult battle.
The Torama fell then, letting out a strangled cry as it hit the ground. The battle had been won. When Zell finally got up the courage to look Yolei in the eye, his face reflected absolute shock and amazement.
"What the hell did you DO?" Yolei blushed, and tried to stammer out an apology. "Er, oops. I meant, how did you do that? Whoa! When I took my SeeD test, I didn't even have a Blizzard spell!"
"I...um, have an Ice element. Is that..wrong?"
"Nah. Don't worry about it. I think it's cool!"
"So..The element thing...?" She was confused. He saw that, and was determined not to confuse her any more.
"Like I said, don't worry about it. I have an element too, see?" He pointed a finger and grinned as a spark flew from his fingertip to the ground. "Lightning. Cool, huh?" She nodded, smiling from both relief and amusement, and got up, making sure her crossbow was secured on her arm. In a split second, they moved on. A series of long, grueling battles followed as the pair travelled into the heart of Esthar. Little did they know that the roughest battle was yet to come.
An ordinary battle with an ordinary Elnoyle was what Zell had in mind when they approached the creature. When he saw the Elnoyle that they were supposed to fight, he almost fainted.
This was no ordinary Elnoyle! It had blood red eyes, was nearly twice the size it should have been, and had dark green veinlike patterns on its body. What Zell and Yolei noticed first, however, were its fangs. Like freshly sharpened daggers, they shone in the late afternoon sunlight, showing the blood of whatever poor creature it had chosen for its last meal. Judging by the clutch of monster eggshells nearby, it was the mother and cause of all the mutation, and therefore had to be stopped.
After it devoured several arrows and dodged dozens of Zell's best punches, it was clear that physical attacks were pretty much useless. Zell solved this problem by summoning Quezacotl, the legendary Thunder bird that Yolei had only heard of, and never seen. The bird flapped its wings, sending jolts of lightning into the Elnoyle's body. Damage had finally been done to the creature, judging by the roars of pain echoing through the air. It roared again, and decided to vent its rage on Yolei. Before she had a chance to escape, Freak Elnoyle was closing his fangs on her knee. Its claws struck her across the face, and Zell, who was in the middle of a limit break, stepped back in shock. Little did he know that in the process of being bitten, the girl's crossbow had gotten unstrapped from her arm, and was now right behind the boy's feet. When he stepped back, he consequentially stepped on the weapon, creating a loud crunch. Yolei looked up, her face pale and her eyes violently glaring at Zell.
"YOU FU-Uugh.." Whatever she was calling him was forgotten as the creature swiped at her again, not clawing her but knocking her to the ground.
"A...An...Angelina..." Her voice was horribly weak, but the Guardian Force heard its mistress's voice. Holy white light flooded the area, and Zell felt all pain fade from his body. What looked like a legendary angel appeared, with long hair the colour of the sun, and vast wings. If he had been thinking clearly, Zell would have seen a slight resemblance between Angelina and Yolei. As it was, he was too preoccupied with watching the Elnoyle being slaughtered.
The last thing Yolei saw before she blacked out was Zell's sneakers.