Chapter 9: Irvine Kinneas, At Your Service.

Mattius2k04: Anyone wanna see Squall and Tidus duke it out? Yes? Well, now's your chance! As for visualization, imagine Squall (erm, that's "Leon") from Kingdom Hearts. If you haven't played it, tough luck. Now, I am going to work on my Fire Emblem fanfic. Chapter one almost up! Oh by the way, sorry about the looong chapter. But since I'm too lazy to change it myself, too bad suckas!

"So, how are we going to do this?" Tidus asked, as he seated Yuna and himself at the table in his dorms. Wakka had left to work with Lulu, so Tidus and Yuna decided it would be best that they work at one of their dorms, as there was more peace. And seeing Rikku was still at home, Yuna and Tidus agreed it was best they worked at his place.

"Well, there are a couple ways." Yuna explained. "We can look up books, or we can go out and fight them."

"Let's fight them!" Tidus replied enthusiastically. "We could get some nice training, get a head start on our missions!"

"Well, it's a little dangerous, don't you think?" Yuna asked, tilting her head to one side.

"Hah!" Tidus mocked. "Danger doesn't scare me!"

"Well, that sounds fun then. Count me in!" Yuna replied enthusiastically. "Let's go to the training center!"

They had quickly gathered their weapons, and were making their ways down to the training center. They walked along slowly, eventually coming to the branching path through the inside of Balamb Garden that led to the designated training area. There, they found a somewhat unexpected sight. Inside, Tidus immediately recognized Squall Leonhart fighting off a group of 'grats', plant-like creatures with stinging, green tendrils and gaping mouths. Leaves covered most of their bodies, and this, Tidus noticed, caught fire easily.

Squall was like a god of battle, leaping through the air, twisting and turning, and flinging spells around like he invented them. A grat caught on fire, squealing it's high-pitched scream and eventually flailing to the ground. The fire immediately vaporized. In the meantime, Squall had taken care of another monster with his gunblade, cutting it in two clean halves, green liquid coming from the fatal wound.

"No match!" Squall shouted, unaware as of yet that the two students were watching him, amazed. He leaped up, at least three meters high, and brought his powerful gunblade down upon another grat, cleaving it from gaping mouth to tiny, stone-like feet. The final grat charged, but Squall simply stood his ground. Tidus gasped in fear, thinking that the gunblade master had been caught off guard. But Squall ducked so fast, he seemed to leave a trail of smoke in his wake. The grat tumbled past him, and Squall simply snapped his fingers, destroying the grat in a wave of fire. Squall simply turned, eyes closed, smirking.

"Woooooow!" Tidus exclaimed. "You, like, crushed them!"

Squall opened his eyes and stared at them, and Tidus noticed he wasn't even sweating. "It was nothing."

"Well, can you... show me how to do that sometime?" Tidus asked. He walked up to Squall, who grinned.

"How about we have ourselves a little match now, then?" Squall grinned, a cocky grin, like a little boy who was sneaking into the kitchen at night to nab some food. Normally, Tidus would have dismissed this grin as arrogance, but from his last display, Squall definitely had power to back up his arrogance.

"What do you mean? You'd kill me!" Tidus said. "You know I'm just a beginning student."

"A beginning student, with a lot of potential... so I hear." Squall replied. "Sir Auron tells me you have quite the gift. At any rate, you're probably more challenging then a bunch of flowers."

"But what about... you know, death?" Tidus asked. "I really don't think it's good for my reputation to die."

Squall stopped grinning. "Well, then I suppose we can always try a simple protect spell?"

"Protect! Of course!" Yuna gasped. "It can completely nullify most physical damage, the recipient receiving only minor attacks, which can be healed."

"And as long as your friend keeps her concentration up, you will be fine." Squall explained. "So shall we?"

Tidus gave it some thought, but eventually came to a decision. Smiling, and unsheathing his sword, he grinned. "Let's do this!"

Yuna muttered a few words of magical lore, and Tidus watched as a glowing shield enveloped Squall and himself for a split second, before disappearing. Squall put his gunblade on his shoulder, and, his left hand idle, he snapped his fingers. He put his left hand in his jeans pocket and began walking forwards, slowly, his stare alone almost enough to unnerve Tidus.

He's good! Tidus thought, keeping his gaze steady as Squall slowly made his way forwards. He stares his foes down, and then attacks! Oh, I bet I can beat him! Tidus was getting ahead of himself, and could not even notice Squall dash forwards and deliver a punishing blow from his left hand. Tidus staggered back.

"Not fair!" Tidus whined, rubbing his cheek. He packs a punch! I felt that even with the spell on!

"Keep your guard up!" Squall yelled back, his voice as toneless and emotionless as always. His leather jacket swung in the slight wind, and his silver necklace jangled. His multiple belts moved fluidly, as if with a mind of their own. He dashed forwards once again, but this time, Tidus was ready. Leaping high, he dived to Squall's blind side and swung his sword. With a roar of "Argh!", Squall was sent flying from the attack. He safely landed on his feet, and stood up. Turning around, Squall's expression was still unchanged.

"I got you!" Tidus exclaimed happily.

Not trying. Squall thought. "It doesn't matter."

"Don't get cocky, Tidus!" Yuna warned. "Keep your guard up!"

"Sure thing, Yuna." Tidus saluted to Yuna, but once again, was unable to notice as Squall dashed forwards. His gunblade collided painfully with Tidus' midsection, who was sent spiraling into a tree. With a groan of pain, he strained to his feet. Damn, he's good.

Tidus ran forwards, and Squall stood perfectly still, his face calm, his body still. He's gonna jump! Tidus realized, and he was right. He faked running straight, and Squall leaped high into the air. Tidus looked up, and leaped high, swinging his gunblade as hard as he could. Squall didn't block, and was sent to the ground. This time, he didn't land on his feet. Dirt was sent flying, and rocks crashed away. Squall stood up, still unfazed, and a smile appeared on his face.

"You're not bad, kid." Squall muttered.

"'Course not!" Tidus laughed, landing on his feet. "I trained long and hard. But is that the best you can do? Come on, I know you're not trying!" Tidus was getting arrogant.

"Well, you're smarter than you look." Squall taunted. "But, as much as I enjoy this, it must end."

"Try it!" Tidus jeered. Squall only smiled, the same arrogant smile. He closed his eyes, and a second later, he ran forwards so quickly that Tidus was almost unable to block his first vicious attack. Never mind the first! Squall delivered a series of attacks, from unpredictable angles, and Tidus was forced back, barely deflecting each blow.

Eventually, they came to a checkmate. Squall, with a yell of "It's over!", swung his gunblade incredibly painfully. The blow knocked Tidus astray, and the fight was over.

"N-no!" Tidus grunted. His whole body ached, his arms from the vibrations caused by deflecting Squall's gunblade. He attempted to get up, but could not. His whole body hurt way too much. But, as he watched, Squall raised his hand. For a moment, Tidus thought he was dead, that he'd pissed Squall off. But a moment later, a green light escaped from Squall's gloved right hand, and sped forwards, enveloping Tidus in an aura of healing. He felt his body's aches lessen, he felt pain leave, and soon, he was perfectly fine.

"Good match." Squall spoke softly. He offered his hand to Tidus, who took it. Squall lifted him to his feet with ease, and patted him on the shoulder once. "I'm not disappointed. But next time, concentrate more."

"Y-yeah, thanks." Tidus answered sarcastically. Even though Squall had praised his skill, supposedly a greatly flattering moment, his ego was bruised. Damn, that was over in under two minutes! Ah, oh well, at least I hit him a couple times. But man, he's good! He wasn't even trying! Tidus tried to comprehend the magnitude of Squall's power, when he was interrupted by Yuna, who had ran behind him and hugged him.

"You did great!" Yuna exclaimed. "Oh, I'm really impressed!" Her shy voice, ever-present, was almost overcome by happiness.

"Well, thanks, Yuna!" Tidus turned over to hug Yuna. Gee, I guess it's not THAT bad. Tidus laughed inwardly.

"What do you think you're doing?" Lulu asked. Somehow, she'd ended up with Wakka. They were on the fields of Balamb, searching for monsters to record.

"Bringin' out my papers!" Wakka replied. He searched his bag for the elusive items, and had eventually found them when Lulu had placed her hand on the papers and put them back in his bag.

"We don't want you recording information on monsters when I am busy fighting them off! Or the other way around." Lulu explained. Wakka looked at her, confused, but eventually figured it out.

"Ah, so we... wait until we're done?" Wakka asked.

"Yes, then we take notes." Lulu explained. She put her head in her hands, shaking slowly.

"Well, let's find one!" Wakka spoke enthusiastically. He dashed off into the nearby cover of trees, and Lulu had opened her mouth in shock of his carelessness.

"Whoa-WHOA!" she heard Wakka shout. A moment later, she heard a loud roar, and Wakka came crashing out of the forest. A second later, a T-Rexaur came bursting out after him.

The T-Rexaur, still young by its size, was a gigantic lizard creature. It stood on two muscular legs, which more than made up for its puny arms. It had an extremely large and thick tail, which it was known to use as a weapon. Its face was a bestial, snarling visage, sharp rows of pointed teeth opened in a brain-shaking roar. Its eyes were tiny, and also known to be barely of any use. The T-Rexaur was known to use its nose to search out prey. Lulu recognized it immediately as a monster, not a fiend.

"Wakka, duck!" Lulu exclaimed. Weaving her hands in and out of the air, she conjured a lightning spell. She realized she was too late, as the giant monster used its giant head to knock Wakka into a nearby bush. She realized she had to distract it, and quickly flung the electrifying spell at her foe. The monster roared in pain and anger, and turned away from Wakka's crumpled body to face Lulu. You'd better not be dead! Lulu thought angrily, but was somewhat happy to see him groan and move around slowly. He was in pain, and she would be too if she didn't do something.

The monster roared, and lunged for Lulu. She was surprisingly agile for her physical appearance and choice of clothing. The monster was slow, and she easily kicked off the ground. The monster kicked up ground in front of its snarling mouth, and Lulu shot another spell into its scaly, orange hide. The monster roared again as fire caused an ugly, painful black mark on its hide. It swung around, and Lulu found herself on the wrong end of the monster. Its tail collided painfully with her shoulder. Thankfully, the monster had not intended to attack, but to move back several steps to gain momentum for a charge. Still, Lulu felt the taste of blood, and felt some escape her mouth. She landed on the ground and tumbled a few steps before coming to a halt. She felt pain everywhere, her body felt numb. The monster turned, and Lulu realized she was about to die.

Have to do something! Lulu thought.

"If I don't do something, Lulu's gonna die! Then I'll be joinin' her, too!" Wakka muttered. The pain in his body was mostly gone, and he began searching the foliage for his gunblade. Behind him, Lulu flung a fire spell, which had caused the monster to turn, and its tail had, almost accidentally (the monster had not meant it as an attack), knocked Lulu a great distance away. He watched as her body skidded away, and felt the great desire to defend her. The battle had become stale very quickly.

He searched desperately for his gunblade, but found it lodged in a tree. He could not free it, no matter how much strength he applied. Behind him, the monster had turned, and roared loudly, foretasting victory. He looked around desperately for one last chance, and found it in the shape of a blue ball. Blitzball! Wakka thought. He remembered the peaceful days of his youth, playing the underwater sport blitzball. The ball had obviously been discarded or lost. Grass almost covered it, and it was extremely dirty. Nonetheless, it would have to do. His aim was always dead-on, and he needed to rely on that now.

"Gotta do it!" Wakka shouted, grabbing the ball. Dashing out of the tree cover, he ran straight for the now-charging T-Rexaur. Halting suddenly, he reared back, took aim, and threw the ball as hard as he could. The ball soared through the air, and made a direct hit right on the T-Rexaur's skull. Wakka heard a loud, painful smash, and the monster was shot the other way by the sheer force of the blow. "How did I hit it that hard?" Wakka thought.

"Looks like some people got themselves into some good ol' trouble." Whispered a shadowy figure among the tree's shadows. He wore a cowboy had, brown trenchcoat, and purple dress shirt. In his hand he carried a powerful rifle. On his belt, the name "Irvine Kinneas" gleamed in the occasional spot of sun that leaked through the trees.

Irvine watched silently as the man with orange hair dodged an attack from the monster, stepping aside, and kicking it hard in its' snarling face. The man laughed tauntingly, but the monster swung its tail, and hit the man with a loud 'thwop'. The man was sent dashing away, skidding right beside the other, pretty one, who had apparently been unable to struggle to her feet. Irvine knew this was his cue. Running straight through the trees, with expert guidance his rifle found its mark, and the T-Rexaur gurgled to a halt, surprising its almost-victims. With a death sigh, it crumpled to the ground, and the weight of its giant body connecting with the earth made a loud sound before dust began settling, still.

"Looks like you two almost became that thing's next meal." Irvine yelled over. "Can you even get up?"

The man with orange hair stood up, with some trouble, and helped the other one get up. He put her arm around his back and assisted her over to him. "Thanks, brudda. We coulda died!"

"Yeah, you would have if I wasn't here." Irvine explained. "Thing is, most people don't realize that fighting a T-Rexaur is a bad idea. 'Cept for me, of course. Name's Irvine." Irvine extended his hand.

"Wakka, and this is Lulu." Wakka informed, taking Irvine's hand.

"Well, could your pretty little friend use a little healing?" Irvine asked. "Oh, and you too, of course."

"That'd be.... Fine by me." Lulu spoke, raising her head. "I don't need your help, Wakka, but thanks." She pulled away from him, and stood up for a moment, before wavering and falling back into Wakka's arms.

"Careful, Lu!" Wakka warned. "You ain't as tough as you think you are."

"No, I'm... stronger." Lulu gasped. "I'm fine, really." She pulled away once again, and this time, stood relatively straight.

"Well, thing is, you two are too far from any place to get there safely without any healing, friends." Irvine spoke, lowering his head on one side and waving a finger in front of them. "I can give you some healin', if you think you can handle being helped out."

"Fine by me!" Wakka laughed. "Don't know 'bout Lu, (at this point, Lulu sighed and told Wakka not to call her 'Lu') but I certainly could!"

"No problemo, muchachos." Irvine replied calmly. He raised a single hand, the other one leaning on his exceptionally large gun. A green light enveloped both Wakka and Lulu, and a moment later, disappeared. They could stand easily once more, having been completely healed in an instant.

"I didn't need your help." Lulu scoffed. "I could've made it if I wanted to."

"Well, little lady, it looked like you had a little trouble just standin', and there's no way I wouldn't help out a lady, especially one like yourself." Irvine spoke. He pointed his fingers in gun shape and pointed at Lulu, winking. Lulu rolled her eyes, and spoke calmly.

"Do that again, and I'll set that lovely head of yours on fire." Lulu growled.

"Well, well, well." Irvine chuckled. "Looks like the kitten has claws." He took off his hat, and bowed. "Doesn't matter, I was only jokin' anyways. Already got a fine woman by my side. But for the moment, Irvine Kinneas, at your service."

Lulu rolled her eyes again, and raised the palm of her hand, lightning dancing for an instant before disappearing, threateningly.

"Well, let's get you two back home." Irvine spoke, whipping around and wielding his gun. "Don't know how a bunch of newbies like you got so far out into the fields."

"Who are you?" Lulu asked.

"I just told you, I'm Irvine Kinneas, sharpshooter extraordinaire." Irvine explained. "Take a look." Smirking, he stooped to pick up a rather small stone, and tossed it to Wakka. "Go ahead, toss it as hard as you can, as high as you can. A second later, you'll only see a cloud of dust."

"Huh, yeah!" Wakka spoke sarcastically. Tossing the stone up once and catching it, he chucked it as high into the air as he could. A split-second later, Irvine whipped his gun into the air, finding his target in an instant. One second, it was sailing through the air with ease, a moment later, and with a loud crack, it fell to the ground in a cloud of dust.

"Told ya." Irvine bragged. "Let's go before I have to waste more ammunition impressing you."

"Well class, I am very impressed." Commented Quistis. "Everyone handed in their papers, and I am pleased with most of the results. Some of you, however, need to get your priorities straight, and work a little harder." Quistis began handing out projects that had been handed in, and Tidus and Yuna were extremely pleased to see that they had gotten 97%, an extremely high mark, obviously.

"Alright!" Tidus exclaimed, leaping out of his chair. Yuna chuckled softly, clapping her hands together.

"We did great!" Yuna said. She and Tidus gave each other a high five, and settled down, allowing Quistis to begin her daily lecture.

The class was long and, as usual, quite interesting. With the hopeful, bright eyes of one proud of himself, Tidus listened to the lectures with rapt attention. He also had another thing on his mind. *Maybe... just maybe...* he thought to himself. *I should ask Yuna to that dance that's coming up next week.*

Right beside him, Yuna sat, pondering thoughts of her own, which, coincidentally, were on the same track as Tidus. *Oh... that dance... I-I can't dance very well, but I want to go with... him.* Yuna concluded in her head. *Oh, I'll try... I'll ask him out.*

The whole class, Yuna and Tidus would quickly dart their eyes back and forth to each other, avoiding eye contact. Eventually, listening to the lesson was more of a problem, considering what was mutual between them, hovering in their minds.

With a loud ring, the classes ended and the students packed up their things and left class. Tidus and Yuna went their separate ways, both distracted and nervous about what the other would say to them. Little did they know it would be a night to remember.