Poison

I want to love you but I better not touch. I want to hold you but my senses tell me to stop. I want to kiss you but I want it too much, I want to taste you but your lips are venomous poison.

Alice Cooper, Poison

The roar of the T-rexaur made Zell grin. 'Gotcha!' he said under his breath as he flipped over the monsters tail, landing in a crouch before springing up onto its back.

Zell rained down blow after blow on the T-rexaur as it swayed violently to get him off. Zell dug his fingers into the scales of the monsters skin as he pulled himself up its back.

He threw a sleep spell into its eyes which instantly took effect, the T- rexaur dropping to the floor in a deep sleep throwing Zell onto the dusty ground. Zell stood up dusting down his shorts and jacket before wiping the grit stuck to his face. A feminine yell made Zell spin round trying to locate it and he dashed through the trees in its direction.

He burst out into an opening where a girl was battling five grats on her own. The grats leafy tendrils whipped her pale skin leaving red lines on her limbs. She yelled in defiance slashing them with her twin Gundaggers, slicing off the tendrils of two grats as they closed in. Zell stood transfixed by this formidable fighter, her long black hair swaying around her head, flame red streaks catching the sun as she moved.

However good she could fight she wasn't prepared for the sixth grat that popped up from the undergrowth and wrapped a tendril around her neck and slammed her into a tree. Zell dashed in to help her, punching two grats out and kicking a third. By this time the girl had stabbed the offending grat and slit it open before dropping to her knees dazed.

Zell finished off the other two grats with a Booya and a Dolphin Blow before rushing over to the girl, helping her up. 'Are you okay?' he asked concerned.

'Yeah just one grat too many.' She replied softly.

'Hey you're bleeding.' Zell said reaching out to the cut on her shoulder.

The girl pulled away roughly from his touch and ran from the Training centre without a word. 'Wait! What did I do wrong?' Zell called after her. He watched her go clicked his fingers in frustration. 'Dammit!' he said to himself.

Later that day Zell was in his room filing his reports and failing, unable to get the mysterious girl out of his head. 'The hell with it.' He thought to himself and decided to abuse his powers as an Instructor by going into the cadet files.

After ten minutes searching he found what he was looking for. 'Jade Feyr.' He said to himself turning the name over in his head. 'Age seventeen, orphan. Special consideration? What's this?' Zell thought as he read the accessible parts of her file. 'Instructor; Quistis Trepe.' He noted before closing the file more intrigued than he was to begin with.

The next day he spotted her entering the Training Centre again and ran over to her.

'Jade! Wait up!' he yelled to her.

She spun around at the unfamiliar voice calling her name. 'How do you know my name?' she asked 'Instructor?' she added noticing the band on his sleeve.

Zell grinned 'Well I'd be neglecting my duty if I didn't follow up on an injured cadet.' He told her.

She gave him a quizzical look as if not believing him.

'Okay, okay. I just wanted to find out about the mysterious girl whom I couldn't get out of my head.' He admitted cracking under her stare and making her blush.

'Anyway, thanks for yesterday. I'm sorry I ran off like that.' She told him, trying to hide her blush.

'No problem.' He replied running his hand through his spiked hair. 'Say, you wouldn't fancy a little one-on-one would you?' he asked nervously.

'What? Now?' she asked shocked.

'Sure I don't have class now. I've never fought a Gundagger specialist.' He told her.

'Um but you don't have a weapon.' She replied uncertainly, aware of the trouble she'd get into for injuring and Instructor.

'I have my fists.' He replied.

'Can your fists turn aside steel?' she retorted.

'I'll admit they can't but I don't intend to get caught by the blade.' He said grinning.

'What if I use my fists instead?' she told him.

'Oh? You can fight bare-fist?' Zell replied mildly surprised. 'What? You don't think a girl can't fight without a weapon?' Jade replied in mock anger.

Zell rubbed the back of his head remembering the times when Quistis nearly floored him in training. 'No, just thought you used your blades only.' He replied lamely.

'They're just extensions of my hands.' She replied smiling and walked down the corridor to the Training centre, Zell following.

They stopped in the entrance, a triangular area of grass with electronic doors either side leading into the main jungle area of the centre

Jade took off her dagger holster dropping it to the ground, staring straight at Zell.

'Ready?' she said moving forward aiming a blow at his head.

Zell moved his right arm up to block and counter-attack with his left, but jade instead of hitting, trapped his right arm pushing it down against his left locking his arms.

Zell pushed forward unable to move his arms using his shoulder to knock her off balance and back-flipped out of her grasp.

But already she had rushed forward planting her elbow in his stomach, the momentum knocking both of them to the floor, Zell looking up into her eyes, breathing deeply.

In that moment Zell moved to kiss her, driven by desire. 'No!' Jade yelled at him pushing him away.

'I'm sorry.' he told her, his mind in turmoil.

'No I want you to kiss me but I can't.' she told him.

'Why?' he replied confused.

'My blood is poisonous. If you were to kiss me you'd die.' She replied.