"Welcome to Winhill, strangers. How can I help you?" asked the aging woman
that walked over to Jace and Sonya as soon as they entered through the
gates of the town.
"Hi," said Jace with a charming smile on his face. "You wouldn't happen to have a phone anywhere around here would you?"
"We might," replied the lady. "it depends on where you plan on calling."
"We don't actually know where the person we want to call is," replied Jace. "He should be at Esthar, so we were going to try ringing there." The lady stepped back in disbelief, then shook her head.
"Sorry, young'un, the only phone we have in this town can only ring around Galbadia, no further."
"Shit!" shouted Sonya from the other side of the car, prompting another shake of the lady's head.
"Now now, young lady, you shouldn't use language like that," she said angrily. Jace reached over and tapped the woman gently on the arm.
"Sorry, she's just been under a bit of stress lately."
"She still shouldn't speak like that," replied the lady, but with a little more kindness.
"Alright. Thanks anyway, but we have to get to another town before our fuel runs out." The lady looked down for a second, then looked back up.
"Looks like your fuels already gone." Jace shook his head.
"That can't be, the tank was full less than an hour ago." He opened his door and looked at the ground. Sure enough, there was a growing puddle of petrol on the ground. "How the hell did this happen?" he asked.
"The monsters around here have evolved a bit. We now have a breed of tiny bugs with damn sharp claws. One of 'em must've hit your gas tank," replied a man, stepping up next to the lady.
"Looks like you're a guest of Winhill for a while. Welcome, I'm Janelle, and this character here is Rupert," said the lady.
"Hi," said Jace, reaching out to shake Rupert's hand. Rupert complied, and grabbed Jace in an iron grip. Grinning, Rupert grabbed onto Jace's arm with his other hand, and yanked him bodily out of the car, and threw him to ground. Jace got back up, only to find Rupert's closed fist flying right at him face. Relying purely on reflex, Jace spun to the side and grabbed the arm, then brought his knee up and drove it right into Rupert's elbow, completely shattering the bone in the man's arm
"Aargh!" yelled Rupert as he dropped to his knees. Janelle immediately ran over to him.
"Not too rough!" she yelled at Jace, who was standing beside Rupert, not wuite sure of what was happening. Janelle knelt down beside Rupert and cast a Curaga, and above the healing wind Jace could hear the cracks as Rupert's splintered elbow rejoined.
"Whats going on here?" asked Sonya, who came up next to Jace, her daggers in her hands.
"Rupert here was one of the original SeeD's to come and defend this place years ago. For some reason, even after all these years we've been married, he still likes to fight newcomers to the town."
"Oh," said Jace, embarrassed about what he had done. "Sorry about the arm." His body completely healed, Rupert laughed.
"Don't worry about it, boy. You looked like you needed a stress reliever." Jace smiled, and Sonya let out a little laugh.
"Yeah, we've been going for a while." Rupert got to his feet, and gently grabbed Sonya's wrist and pried the dagger from her hand.
"Then follow me. I have the perfect place for you to unwind." He tossed the dagger to Jace, then led Sonya into the house directly behind them.
"This house was once used by Laguna Loire, the president of Esthar," said Janelle, obviously very proudly.
"Really?" said Sonya, pretending to be interested so as not to dishearten the kind lady.
"Janelle, they don't really need to hear about that. It was over fifty years ago." Rupert smiled, then patted his wife on the shoulder. "We'll leave you two to your rest."
"Thanks," said Jace as the two left. Jace looked around the house, while Sonya climbed into bed. In his search, he managed to find a draw point hidden inside a cupboard, and the phone that Janelle had mentioned earlier. He picked it up and walked over to the bed where Sonya was sleeping like a baby. He dialed in the number to the Ragnorak's onboard phone, fully expecting to be given a notice that he couldn't do it, but sat up in shock when it started ringing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Squall was pacing up and down the cockpit as Selphie piloted the ship towards Esthar.
"Squall, I really think we should go to Timber and find that guy you talked to," said Zell. "I mean, it wouldn't take that much time. We're still on Galbadia."
"I'm not going anywhere without having some sort of backup. Laguna owes me a few favours, so he might be able to help." Suddenly, the onboard phone rang. Squall moved over and picked it up. "Hello?" A crackly voice came over the line.
"...uall?" Squall immediately stood up straight.
"Jace?" he asked.
"Squall!" came Jace's slightly distorted voice over the phone. "We...ed...help,...nya's here...Winhi...quick!" the signal cut out abruptly.
"Zell!" Squall commanded. "Get me a trace on that line. Selphie, turn us around. Head us for Winhill!"
"Uh, Squall, if you know where he is, why do you want a trace?" asked Zell.
"I've been burnt by someone giving the wrong detail before. I want to make sure when my daughter's concerned."
"Ah." Zell turned around and got to work. A few minutes later, he had it. "It's spot on. Winhill. President Loire's old house, to be exact."
"Can you go faster, Selphie?" asked Squall, dropping into a chair.
"If a Ruby Dragon bad-tempered?" asked Selphie, pushing the throttle lever forward.
"How come you feel the need to break the sound barrier, Squall?" asked Zell, who was being forced back into his seat.
"Jace sounded like he was in trouble. I hope we're not too late to help him, though."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ragnorak arrived at Winhill only to find the entire town alight. The ship touched ground with its hangar door already open, and Squall ran out.
"No!" he shouted. "I'm so close!" Suddenly, he heard a groan over the crackling flames, and he rushed over. He found an old man, groaning in pain on the ground.
"Help me," said the man. Squall immediately cast a Curaga on the man, who sat up when he regained his breath.
"Do you know where Jace Thompson is?" asked Squall as he helped the man to his feet.
"I helped him fight off the guys who came into town after him."
"Do you know where he is?" asked Squall, growing excited.
"He's in that cabin there. You'll have to go in alone, I need to go and find my wife, Janelle." The man ran off through the flames, while Squall turned and smashed down the flaming door. He ran inside, and found Jace unconscious on the bed. Squall cast a Phoenix Down on him, then helped him to his feet.
"Oh man, what a day," he growled.
"Come on!" shouted Squall, and the two of them made their way out of the cabin. When they were out in the street, something occurred to Squall. "Sonya!" he shouted, turning to go back inside. But he was stopped by Jace grabbing his arm.
"Don't worry," said Jace, breathing heavily.
"Why not?" asked Squall, a sense of dread growing in his chest.
"Because those guys that came, they weren't after me. They were after her."
"Well where is she?" asked Squall, recognizing an old feeling in his stomach, the anger that he had held onto for so many years as his source of energy.
"They got her. They took her just before they knocked me out."
"Hi," said Jace with a charming smile on his face. "You wouldn't happen to have a phone anywhere around here would you?"
"We might," replied the lady. "it depends on where you plan on calling."
"We don't actually know where the person we want to call is," replied Jace. "He should be at Esthar, so we were going to try ringing there." The lady stepped back in disbelief, then shook her head.
"Sorry, young'un, the only phone we have in this town can only ring around Galbadia, no further."
"Shit!" shouted Sonya from the other side of the car, prompting another shake of the lady's head.
"Now now, young lady, you shouldn't use language like that," she said angrily. Jace reached over and tapped the woman gently on the arm.
"Sorry, she's just been under a bit of stress lately."
"She still shouldn't speak like that," replied the lady, but with a little more kindness.
"Alright. Thanks anyway, but we have to get to another town before our fuel runs out." The lady looked down for a second, then looked back up.
"Looks like your fuels already gone." Jace shook his head.
"That can't be, the tank was full less than an hour ago." He opened his door and looked at the ground. Sure enough, there was a growing puddle of petrol on the ground. "How the hell did this happen?" he asked.
"The monsters around here have evolved a bit. We now have a breed of tiny bugs with damn sharp claws. One of 'em must've hit your gas tank," replied a man, stepping up next to the lady.
"Looks like you're a guest of Winhill for a while. Welcome, I'm Janelle, and this character here is Rupert," said the lady.
"Hi," said Jace, reaching out to shake Rupert's hand. Rupert complied, and grabbed Jace in an iron grip. Grinning, Rupert grabbed onto Jace's arm with his other hand, and yanked him bodily out of the car, and threw him to ground. Jace got back up, only to find Rupert's closed fist flying right at him face. Relying purely on reflex, Jace spun to the side and grabbed the arm, then brought his knee up and drove it right into Rupert's elbow, completely shattering the bone in the man's arm
"Aargh!" yelled Rupert as he dropped to his knees. Janelle immediately ran over to him.
"Not too rough!" she yelled at Jace, who was standing beside Rupert, not wuite sure of what was happening. Janelle knelt down beside Rupert and cast a Curaga, and above the healing wind Jace could hear the cracks as Rupert's splintered elbow rejoined.
"Whats going on here?" asked Sonya, who came up next to Jace, her daggers in her hands.
"Rupert here was one of the original SeeD's to come and defend this place years ago. For some reason, even after all these years we've been married, he still likes to fight newcomers to the town."
"Oh," said Jace, embarrassed about what he had done. "Sorry about the arm." His body completely healed, Rupert laughed.
"Don't worry about it, boy. You looked like you needed a stress reliever." Jace smiled, and Sonya let out a little laugh.
"Yeah, we've been going for a while." Rupert got to his feet, and gently grabbed Sonya's wrist and pried the dagger from her hand.
"Then follow me. I have the perfect place for you to unwind." He tossed the dagger to Jace, then led Sonya into the house directly behind them.
"This house was once used by Laguna Loire, the president of Esthar," said Janelle, obviously very proudly.
"Really?" said Sonya, pretending to be interested so as not to dishearten the kind lady.
"Janelle, they don't really need to hear about that. It was over fifty years ago." Rupert smiled, then patted his wife on the shoulder. "We'll leave you two to your rest."
"Thanks," said Jace as the two left. Jace looked around the house, while Sonya climbed into bed. In his search, he managed to find a draw point hidden inside a cupboard, and the phone that Janelle had mentioned earlier. He picked it up and walked over to the bed where Sonya was sleeping like a baby. He dialed in the number to the Ragnorak's onboard phone, fully expecting to be given a notice that he couldn't do it, but sat up in shock when it started ringing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Squall was pacing up and down the cockpit as Selphie piloted the ship towards Esthar.
"Squall, I really think we should go to Timber and find that guy you talked to," said Zell. "I mean, it wouldn't take that much time. We're still on Galbadia."
"I'm not going anywhere without having some sort of backup. Laguna owes me a few favours, so he might be able to help." Suddenly, the onboard phone rang. Squall moved over and picked it up. "Hello?" A crackly voice came over the line.
"...uall?" Squall immediately stood up straight.
"Jace?" he asked.
"Squall!" came Jace's slightly distorted voice over the phone. "We...ed...help,...nya's here...Winhi...quick!" the signal cut out abruptly.
"Zell!" Squall commanded. "Get me a trace on that line. Selphie, turn us around. Head us for Winhill!"
"Uh, Squall, if you know where he is, why do you want a trace?" asked Zell.
"I've been burnt by someone giving the wrong detail before. I want to make sure when my daughter's concerned."
"Ah." Zell turned around and got to work. A few minutes later, he had it. "It's spot on. Winhill. President Loire's old house, to be exact."
"Can you go faster, Selphie?" asked Squall, dropping into a chair.
"If a Ruby Dragon bad-tempered?" asked Selphie, pushing the throttle lever forward.
"How come you feel the need to break the sound barrier, Squall?" asked Zell, who was being forced back into his seat.
"Jace sounded like he was in trouble. I hope we're not too late to help him, though."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Ragnorak arrived at Winhill only to find the entire town alight. The ship touched ground with its hangar door already open, and Squall ran out.
"No!" he shouted. "I'm so close!" Suddenly, he heard a groan over the crackling flames, and he rushed over. He found an old man, groaning in pain on the ground.
"Help me," said the man. Squall immediately cast a Curaga on the man, who sat up when he regained his breath.
"Do you know where Jace Thompson is?" asked Squall as he helped the man to his feet.
"I helped him fight off the guys who came into town after him."
"Do you know where he is?" asked Squall, growing excited.
"He's in that cabin there. You'll have to go in alone, I need to go and find my wife, Janelle." The man ran off through the flames, while Squall turned and smashed down the flaming door. He ran inside, and found Jace unconscious on the bed. Squall cast a Phoenix Down on him, then helped him to his feet.
"Oh man, what a day," he growled.
"Come on!" shouted Squall, and the two of them made their way out of the cabin. When they were out in the street, something occurred to Squall. "Sonya!" he shouted, turning to go back inside. But he was stopped by Jace grabbing his arm.
"Don't worry," said Jace, breathing heavily.
"Why not?" asked Squall, a sense of dread growing in his chest.
"Because those guys that came, they weren't after me. They were after her."
"Well where is she?" asked Squall, recognizing an old feeling in his stomach, the anger that he had held onto for so many years as his source of energy.
"They got her. They took her just before they knocked me out."