Chapter 3
"Brrr." Avatar shivered; "It's sub-zero out here"
Sifan nodded. He could feel the cold winds rant and rave though his ears. Relafen was loading his gunblade. Sifan's was already loaded. He walked over to the white SeeD and examined it. It looked like the typical bad- weather wreck. To add to that, the crew weren't too familiar with these parts.
[They never did like to leave the cetra region. Whatever made them to?]
"Hey!" Relafen cut in, "this ain't a crime scene analysis Leonhart. Those dumb asses didn't know how to run a ship and this happened. That's all there is to it. Now get yer ass ready to go inside." He turned to Avatar, "ya too ninja kid."
They grit their teeth and followed their 'leader'. As they approached the ship head, they found a draw point for the fire spell.
"Hey Leonhart, there's yer fire spell, happy?" Relafen snapped.
Sifan concentrated on the pink aura and soon drew the fire spells into himself. Avatar saw a small chest and on opening it found some phoenix downs and a few potions.
"That should come in handy" Relafen said.
"Okay, all of you, lets get onboard." Relafen said pointing to the lowered board near the hull, "Time to kick monster ass"
The instant Relafen's feet made the board creak; they were greeted with a hiss from the top of the ship's mast. Before they knew what had made the noise, a 20-foot long ice serpent dropped down in front of them revealing its icy-cold crystal fangs.
"OK. People. We're using garden tactic 2. We nail him with every fire spell we got." Relafen said immediately.
"But Relafen..." Avatar said, as the party waited for the serpent to make the first move, "Shouldn't we test his physical defense first? I mean-"
"Shut up kid!" Relafen hissed almost louder than the serpent, "I give the orders around here!"
"Okay. On three..." Relafen said, "One...Two..."
The three of them stepped back charging themselves with the fire spell aura.
Sensing the aura of all the three garden students, the serpent hissed loudly and it cast itself a reflect spell.
"Shit!" Relafen muttered.
"It's too late, we have to discharge the fire spell." Sifan said as the serpent stood, happily hissing away.
"Well... try to miss him dammit." Relafen screamed but it was too late. Sifan was the first to lose control. His fire spell blasted out like a rocket at the reflect barrier, bounced with a scorching sound and headed straight to Relafen. It caught him on the chest causing the flame-haired boy to leave go of his spell on avatar, who in turn released his spell at Sifan. The three of them panted, all burnt badly. The serpent tilted its head as if to say, 'sigh...humans"
"Hmph...so much for garden tactic 2" Avatar mocked Relafen.
"Its reflect is gone..." Sifan said, looking at the serpent, "I say slaughter the damn thing."
"Yeah...make the slithering son of a bitch feel our blades." Relafen agreed for once.
"GO!" Relafen rushed at it from the front while Sifan and Avatar circled in to it. The three of them jumped in to the air. Avatar landed first tearing the icy hide, Relafen arrived next, divulging the flesh and Sifan landed the finishing blow, triggering his gunblade. The flare-up sent the three of them backward and the serpent aloft in to the air. It landed on the ground, slithered round and round for a few seconds and then died.
"That oughta teach him." Avatar said.
Before Avatar could deride the serpent further, the air echoed with a monstrous roar from near the deck.
"Well, whatever ya taught him, I don't think HE liked it." Relafen said, "That's probably the ice giant we need to take out. Let's get this damn thing over with."
Relafen walked slowly with Sifan and Avatar following behind.
"Hey, Sifan..."Avatar whispered.
"What?"
"Did you notice Relafen's fire aura?"
"What about it?"
"It was brighter...I mean I've seen a lot of fire spells being used, but that was bright. Like Squall's."
"Well. How did it FEEL? You were lucky enough to know that too, right?"
"Exactly...it burnt me bad. I can take a couple of fire spells with no problem but that hurt like hell."
"So what are you getting at?"
"HEY!" Relafen interrupted, "There he is."
Sifan walked near Relafen and looked down at the stairway leading to the lower deck. In front of the wooden door stood an ice giant, faced away from them. He was about 25 feet tall, his head almost touching the wooden ceiling. He seemed to be in a befuddled state as to how to go through a small door and fill his stomach with the white SeeDs behind it.
"So, we take on this ice dope and mission done?" Sifan asked.
"Yeah. And we also got white SeeD butt to save." Relafen reminded him, picking up a small stone, "The sooner, the better."
Saying so, he sent the stone spinning at the ice giant, which caught him smack in the back of his head. He turned around and his death cold gaze almost froze Relafen. He took a huge thunderous step towards the party, noticeably very enraged. He shot his arm out and before Relafen could jump away, the huge fingers wrapped around the timid body of Relafen. Holding the party leader in his hand, he headed up to Sifan and Avatar.
Relafen couldn't move in the giant's grip but that didn't mangle the voice out of him, "HEY! YOU DUMB ASSES! WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT! GET ME DOWN!"
"You know...nothing would please me more than to leave Relafen warm and comfy in the big guy's hand but then again, we would have to give too much details when we go back..." Sifan said, "So...I guess we have to get him down..."
"Sigh. Yes. Any ideas?" Avatar replied.
"Fire spell his wrist, I'll follow it with a jump slash"
"Fine, here goes..." Avatar stepped back and charged his fire spell as the ice giant keenly looked at the annoyed Relafen kicking about madly.
"Hold still godammit!" Avatar yelled at Relafen, "or you'll be going home with a baked face."
Relafen complied almost immediately.
"Good boy..." Sifan said and got ready for the jump slash. Things, however, had their own way this time. The ice giant shot out his left foot at Avatar sending him sprawling on the ground. Before Sifan could counter, the giant's left hand knocked Sifan to the wall against his back. Soon, both Avatar and Sifan were on their knees, gasping for breath.
[Damn...this guy's strong.]
The ice giant returned to his assessment of Relafen. Obviously, this seemed to be his first experience with humans. Relafen was growing intolerant by the minute, "C'mon you MORONS! Get up! Get up!"
Sifan was still wheezing badly. Avatar, having received the full contact of the blow, was still a bit wobbly.
Convinced that his catch wouldn't give him any sort of digestive disorders, the giant opened his mouth, revealing huge, whale-like teeth and a stench that made Relafen's head reel.
"Whoa! Big fella!" Relafen shouted, "You wont like me...I taste real bad...! SHIT!"
Relafen closed his eyes and gulped. Just as he was getting ready to say his last prayers, he felt his finger tighten around his gunblade trigger. Without losing a second, he pulled it hard. The bullet seemed to have found its way through the icy covering on the giant's palm. He roared with pain and with flaring fury, he raised his hand and threw Relafen to the ground. Relafen bounced on the floor once and fell flat, almost unconscious. He turned around slowly and faced the giant who was worriedly groping his hand.
Sifan tried to get up but he was still too weak. Avatar was almost on his feet, but still staggering about. The ice giant was advancing. Relafen looked at his party. They were almost crushed.
"Damn those garden bastards!" He closed his eyes and let a powerful green aura encircle him.
Sifan could hardly believe his eyes while Avatar managed to waddle towards him, "h-hey, Avatar... l-look!"
The black-haired boy turned around and also saw the green aura that was swirling around Relafen, "how the h-hell d-did he?"
"It c-can't be!" Sifan said, watching his own body turn translucent.
"It's happening alright. That explains the aura we saw and the intensity of that fire spell. He's got a guardian force."
The next thing they knew, all the three of them were indiscernible and looked like mere holograms. The ground started quaking violently as the ice giant tried to sustain his balance in vain. He fell down on the floor unaware of the impending doom. He roared when the ground in front of him tore into two and a huge beast three times taller than him flew out with a ball of fire swirling in front of him. The ice giant was feeling a nightmare already, watching the guardian force Ifrit ascend in front of him. Ifrit looked at the scrawny 'giant' and sent his enormous fireball blazing through the air with a deafening snarl. Sifan, Avatar and Relafen closed their eyes as the giant was engulfed in hellfire. Soon, everything was back to the way it was. The giant, however, was lying on his back, scorched and as dead as hell.
************
Both the hovercrafts disappeared over the horizon against the sunset that was giving the sky a cosmic orange radiance. Sifan sat at the edge of the wrecked white SeeD ship, Avatar sitting next to him. Relafen stood a little away as usual, with a foot resting on a rolled-down barrel. They didn't speak anything.
Relafen broke the stillness, "Yeah, I know what ya losers are thinking."
Silence again.
"How the hell did the great Relafen Almasy manage to get a guardian force which was never in our garden curriculum?"
"I really don't give a damn how or where or when you got Ifrit Relafen." Sifan said, "but...if it results in annulment of our SeeD graduation, I'll get- "
"Of Course, they'll cancel it godammit!" Relafen fumed, "Those bastards will do anything."
"Relafen...for God's sake! Why the hell are you talking like that?" Avatar said, "Geez, leader... relax."
"Look, once we get our asses back in balamb, after meeting that goddamn loser of a headmaster, meet Quistis at the cafeteria. She'll explain a few things." Relafen said as Ragnarok appeared on the horizon.
"There's something going on behind the scenes, huh?" Sifan said, watching the ocean waves rise.
"Hell, sure is...Leonhart...sure is." Relafen said and walked away to the Ragnarok that landed near the ruined white SeeD ship.
**************
"Brrr." Avatar shivered; "It's sub-zero out here"
Sifan nodded. He could feel the cold winds rant and rave though his ears. Relafen was loading his gunblade. Sifan's was already loaded. He walked over to the white SeeD and examined it. It looked like the typical bad- weather wreck. To add to that, the crew weren't too familiar with these parts.
[They never did like to leave the cetra region. Whatever made them to?]
"Hey!" Relafen cut in, "this ain't a crime scene analysis Leonhart. Those dumb asses didn't know how to run a ship and this happened. That's all there is to it. Now get yer ass ready to go inside." He turned to Avatar, "ya too ninja kid."
They grit their teeth and followed their 'leader'. As they approached the ship head, they found a draw point for the fire spell.
"Hey Leonhart, there's yer fire spell, happy?" Relafen snapped.
Sifan concentrated on the pink aura and soon drew the fire spells into himself. Avatar saw a small chest and on opening it found some phoenix downs and a few potions.
"That should come in handy" Relafen said.
"Okay, all of you, lets get onboard." Relafen said pointing to the lowered board near the hull, "Time to kick monster ass"
The instant Relafen's feet made the board creak; they were greeted with a hiss from the top of the ship's mast. Before they knew what had made the noise, a 20-foot long ice serpent dropped down in front of them revealing its icy-cold crystal fangs.
"OK. People. We're using garden tactic 2. We nail him with every fire spell we got." Relafen said immediately.
"But Relafen..." Avatar said, as the party waited for the serpent to make the first move, "Shouldn't we test his physical defense first? I mean-"
"Shut up kid!" Relafen hissed almost louder than the serpent, "I give the orders around here!"
"Okay. On three..." Relafen said, "One...Two..."
The three of them stepped back charging themselves with the fire spell aura.
Sensing the aura of all the three garden students, the serpent hissed loudly and it cast itself a reflect spell.
"Shit!" Relafen muttered.
"It's too late, we have to discharge the fire spell." Sifan said as the serpent stood, happily hissing away.
"Well... try to miss him dammit." Relafen screamed but it was too late. Sifan was the first to lose control. His fire spell blasted out like a rocket at the reflect barrier, bounced with a scorching sound and headed straight to Relafen. It caught him on the chest causing the flame-haired boy to leave go of his spell on avatar, who in turn released his spell at Sifan. The three of them panted, all burnt badly. The serpent tilted its head as if to say, 'sigh...humans"
"Hmph...so much for garden tactic 2" Avatar mocked Relafen.
"Its reflect is gone..." Sifan said, looking at the serpent, "I say slaughter the damn thing."
"Yeah...make the slithering son of a bitch feel our blades." Relafen agreed for once.
"GO!" Relafen rushed at it from the front while Sifan and Avatar circled in to it. The three of them jumped in to the air. Avatar landed first tearing the icy hide, Relafen arrived next, divulging the flesh and Sifan landed the finishing blow, triggering his gunblade. The flare-up sent the three of them backward and the serpent aloft in to the air. It landed on the ground, slithered round and round for a few seconds and then died.
"That oughta teach him." Avatar said.
Before Avatar could deride the serpent further, the air echoed with a monstrous roar from near the deck.
"Well, whatever ya taught him, I don't think HE liked it." Relafen said, "That's probably the ice giant we need to take out. Let's get this damn thing over with."
Relafen walked slowly with Sifan and Avatar following behind.
"Hey, Sifan..."Avatar whispered.
"What?"
"Did you notice Relafen's fire aura?"
"What about it?"
"It was brighter...I mean I've seen a lot of fire spells being used, but that was bright. Like Squall's."
"Well. How did it FEEL? You were lucky enough to know that too, right?"
"Exactly...it burnt me bad. I can take a couple of fire spells with no problem but that hurt like hell."
"So what are you getting at?"
"HEY!" Relafen interrupted, "There he is."
Sifan walked near Relafen and looked down at the stairway leading to the lower deck. In front of the wooden door stood an ice giant, faced away from them. He was about 25 feet tall, his head almost touching the wooden ceiling. He seemed to be in a befuddled state as to how to go through a small door and fill his stomach with the white SeeDs behind it.
"So, we take on this ice dope and mission done?" Sifan asked.
"Yeah. And we also got white SeeD butt to save." Relafen reminded him, picking up a small stone, "The sooner, the better."
Saying so, he sent the stone spinning at the ice giant, which caught him smack in the back of his head. He turned around and his death cold gaze almost froze Relafen. He took a huge thunderous step towards the party, noticeably very enraged. He shot his arm out and before Relafen could jump away, the huge fingers wrapped around the timid body of Relafen. Holding the party leader in his hand, he headed up to Sifan and Avatar.
Relafen couldn't move in the giant's grip but that didn't mangle the voice out of him, "HEY! YOU DUMB ASSES! WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT! GET ME DOWN!"
"You know...nothing would please me more than to leave Relafen warm and comfy in the big guy's hand but then again, we would have to give too much details when we go back..." Sifan said, "So...I guess we have to get him down..."
"Sigh. Yes. Any ideas?" Avatar replied.
"Fire spell his wrist, I'll follow it with a jump slash"
"Fine, here goes..." Avatar stepped back and charged his fire spell as the ice giant keenly looked at the annoyed Relafen kicking about madly.
"Hold still godammit!" Avatar yelled at Relafen, "or you'll be going home with a baked face."
Relafen complied almost immediately.
"Good boy..." Sifan said and got ready for the jump slash. Things, however, had their own way this time. The ice giant shot out his left foot at Avatar sending him sprawling on the ground. Before Sifan could counter, the giant's left hand knocked Sifan to the wall against his back. Soon, both Avatar and Sifan were on their knees, gasping for breath.
[Damn...this guy's strong.]
The ice giant returned to his assessment of Relafen. Obviously, this seemed to be his first experience with humans. Relafen was growing intolerant by the minute, "C'mon you MORONS! Get up! Get up!"
Sifan was still wheezing badly. Avatar, having received the full contact of the blow, was still a bit wobbly.
Convinced that his catch wouldn't give him any sort of digestive disorders, the giant opened his mouth, revealing huge, whale-like teeth and a stench that made Relafen's head reel.
"Whoa! Big fella!" Relafen shouted, "You wont like me...I taste real bad...! SHIT!"
Relafen closed his eyes and gulped. Just as he was getting ready to say his last prayers, he felt his finger tighten around his gunblade trigger. Without losing a second, he pulled it hard. The bullet seemed to have found its way through the icy covering on the giant's palm. He roared with pain and with flaring fury, he raised his hand and threw Relafen to the ground. Relafen bounced on the floor once and fell flat, almost unconscious. He turned around slowly and faced the giant who was worriedly groping his hand.
Sifan tried to get up but he was still too weak. Avatar was almost on his feet, but still staggering about. The ice giant was advancing. Relafen looked at his party. They were almost crushed.
"Damn those garden bastards!" He closed his eyes and let a powerful green aura encircle him.
Sifan could hardly believe his eyes while Avatar managed to waddle towards him, "h-hey, Avatar... l-look!"
The black-haired boy turned around and also saw the green aura that was swirling around Relafen, "how the h-hell d-did he?"
"It c-can't be!" Sifan said, watching his own body turn translucent.
"It's happening alright. That explains the aura we saw and the intensity of that fire spell. He's got a guardian force."
The next thing they knew, all the three of them were indiscernible and looked like mere holograms. The ground started quaking violently as the ice giant tried to sustain his balance in vain. He fell down on the floor unaware of the impending doom. He roared when the ground in front of him tore into two and a huge beast three times taller than him flew out with a ball of fire swirling in front of him. The ice giant was feeling a nightmare already, watching the guardian force Ifrit ascend in front of him. Ifrit looked at the scrawny 'giant' and sent his enormous fireball blazing through the air with a deafening snarl. Sifan, Avatar and Relafen closed their eyes as the giant was engulfed in hellfire. Soon, everything was back to the way it was. The giant, however, was lying on his back, scorched and as dead as hell.
************
Both the hovercrafts disappeared over the horizon against the sunset that was giving the sky a cosmic orange radiance. Sifan sat at the edge of the wrecked white SeeD ship, Avatar sitting next to him. Relafen stood a little away as usual, with a foot resting on a rolled-down barrel. They didn't speak anything.
Relafen broke the stillness, "Yeah, I know what ya losers are thinking."
Silence again.
"How the hell did the great Relafen Almasy manage to get a guardian force which was never in our garden curriculum?"
"I really don't give a damn how or where or when you got Ifrit Relafen." Sifan said, "but...if it results in annulment of our SeeD graduation, I'll get- "
"Of Course, they'll cancel it godammit!" Relafen fumed, "Those bastards will do anything."
"Relafen...for God's sake! Why the hell are you talking like that?" Avatar said, "Geez, leader... relax."
"Look, once we get our asses back in balamb, after meeting that goddamn loser of a headmaster, meet Quistis at the cafeteria. She'll explain a few things." Relafen said as Ragnarok appeared on the horizon.
"There's something going on behind the scenes, huh?" Sifan said, watching the ocean waves rise.
"Hell, sure is...Leonhart...sure is." Relafen said and walked away to the Ragnarok that landed near the ruined white SeeD ship.
**************