Chapter 11.
Garden code;
Article 8: Line 7
"They found our base. It's completly destroyed." Rinoa told the group as they ran down the TV station's stairs. She spoke causually. Selphie was concerned though.
"And everyone else?" she asked.
Rinoa giggled.
"They're fine. They're good at escaping."
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At he bottem of the stairs, Rinoa sat down, hugging her knees again. She didn't seem sad, but a hint of worry echoed in her voice.
"We have to stay away from Timer for a while." she said. "Is there a safe place you can take me?" she turned to Squall.
Squall put his hand to his forehead with annoyance.
"We're gonna be gophers again...?" he thought. Squall was reverting back to his old personality. Seeing Seifer had helped him to regain his decidedly cinical attitude again.
Rinoa saw his irritation, and she tried to make the request easier for him to swallow...
She turned it into a command.
"This is an order, an order from your client, remember?" she said.
Squall didn't really know where he could take her, but she was right. They had to abide by the contract.
"...Alright." he said.
Rinoa smiled and jumped around excitedly. It was almost as if she had forgotten her and Squall's argument earlier. She seemed so happy now.
Rinoa ran back to the alley and the pub's back door, followed by her SeeD 'escourts'. Inside she was stopped by a heavy-set woman in an apron.
"Rinoa! I heard your base is in serious trouble." she said. "Come over to my place until things settle down."
"I appriciate it. Thank you..." Rinoa replied.
Quistis was standing right behind her. She saw Squall, just coming in.
"What are you waiting for Squall? Com'on!"
Quistis followed Rinoa, and the woman she had spoken with, out of the pub.
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On the street everyone ran quickly, trying to avoid any Galbadian soldiers that might be patroling the area.
"This way!' Rinoa yelled.
Rinoa led them all the way to the 'Timber maniacs' Buliding. She stopped at the house in front of it.
"This is it." she said.
Once they gathered inside the house, the aproned woman spoke.
"I'll tell you if anything changes. 'Til then, make yourself at home." she told the group. She walked outside to keep an eye out for soldiers.
"Thanks, chief." Rinoa said.
Squall folded his arms at this.
"Chief?" he asked.
Rinoa smiled.
"She's the leader of the 'Forest Fox'." she explined. "Almost everyone's a resistance member in this town."
Squall rolled his eyes as she spoke.
"They must be.... It doesn't seem to take much to qualify as one here..." he thought.
"But right now, we're the only ones that are really active." Rinoa giggled a little.
Squall was about to say how 'dumb' he thought that was, but he thought better of it.
"Let's stay here for a while." Rinoa instructed.
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For nearly an hour, no one spoke. The 'Chief' had fed them, which everyone was thankful for, but even after eating, they were still quiet. Everyone was really confused by the events that had erupted.
Finally Selphie got too bored with the silence.
"I still don't get it." she said. "What did Seifer come here for?" she turned to Rinoa, thinking that she might know.
"I think..." Rinoa began. "... he came to help us, the 'Forest Owls'. I talked about it a lot with him."
She noticed everyone staring nervously at the ground. None of them really liked Seifer, and his actions at the TV station had boardered on treason. But no one knew what had happened exactly either. It was too confusing.
Rinoa felt the uncomfortable silence harshly.
"So please... don't think too badly of him." she pleaded.
Sudennly, there was a loud knocking at the door. A deep voice yelled.
"Anybody in here!?" It was a Galbadian soldier.
The 'Chief' responded back.
"What is this!? I have two small children in here. Don't do anything to frighten them!"
A girl ran down the stairs. She was the 'Chief's' daughter.
"Upstairs, hurry!" she commanded. She had heard the soldiers from the upstairs bedroom.
Everyone complied. Rinoa stopped at the foot of the stairs though.
"Will she be ok?" she said, looking at the 'Chief'.
"She'll be fine." the 'Chief's' daughter assured her. "The legend goes... That my mother took down many soldiers with her strength, cooking, and beauty."
Selphie was only half-way up the stairs. She laughed at the story.
"That 'beauty' part sure makes it sound like a legend." she joked.
The 'Chief's' daughter just smirked and rushed them all upstairs.
In the second floor bedroom, everyone was quiet.
"...Wonder if he's alright...?" Rinoa whispered to herself, hugging her knees in the corner.
Selphie plopped down on the bed and layed flat.
"So tired..."
They hadn't much oppurtunity to rest lately. This was a rare time that they could relax for a minute. Or, at least, they would have. Too much had happened. There was too much to think about.
Zell went over to the corner opposite of Rinoa and squatted down. He was still infuriated at himself for revieling Garden to the president.
"That'll end up doing more damage than Seifer ever could've..." Zell scolded himself.
Finally, Quistis decided to relate what had happened.
"...He was so angry when he found out it was only the three of you dispatched to Timber." she began. "'What!? They might end up fightin' the whole Galbadian force! And all they dispatch are three rookie SeeD members!?'" She recited Seifer's words exactly, even his angry tone. "'Dammit! I'm going to Timber!'"
Quistis used her own voice now.
"I never would have guessed he was serious about it."
Squall folded his arms.
"That guy's always serious. You should know that by now..." he thought. "I've got the scar across my face to prove it, too."
Quistis paced to the window nervously.
"What's going to happen to Seifer?" she asked herself aloud.
"Should be obvious..." Squall thought,.
"He may already be dead." he said plainly.
Everyone was quiet. They disliked him. But Seifer dead? It didn't seem right.
Rinoa was shocked. She didn't want to hear that. Espescially not in such an uncaring tone.
"How can you be so casual?" she asked. "I feel..." She paused. "...sorry for him."
"Feel sorry?" Squall thought. "Seifer would hate to hear that."
He started chuckling to himself. Just the thought of Seifer's classic reaction made him laugh.
"'I hate it when people say that 'they're sorry'. I don't need anyone's pity...' "
Seifer would always play the 'tough-guy' act, with everything and everyone.
"'I love battle. I fear nothing...' "
Rinoa picked herself up from the floor. She eyed Squall accusingly.
"What's so funny!? You're terrible!" she yelled at Squall for laughing.
Selphie didn't want to be in the middle of an arguement, so she innterupted.
"So... Why do you think Seifer may already be dead?" she asked.
"Because ..." Squall started thinking. He decided to finish his thought aloud.
"The president and the sorceress joined forces. Seifer attacked the president. It's no surprise that Seifer may have been killed because of it."
Rinoa couldn't take anymore. She didn't know what had happened, but she hated Squall's hopeless attitude.
"Even so!" she yelled. She rested her hands on her knees and looked up at Squall, like she had on the train. "I still hope he's alive."
Squall turned away from Rinoa, averting his eyes from her saddned gaze.
"Think what you want." he thought coldly. "...Reality isn't so kind. Everything doesn't work out the way you want it to. That's why..." He decided again to finish his thoughts aloud.
"As long as you don't get your hopes up, you can take anything... You feel less pain." He turned to face Rinoa, his face cold and expressionless.
Squall sounded as if he was partly speaking to himself. He was always reminding himself of his philosophy.
"Everyone needs to take care of themselves..."
Selphie didn't like Squall's line of reasoning. But she stayed quiet, not wanting to cause even more of a confrentation.
"You feel less happiness, too, though..." she thought.
"Anyway." Squall continued. "Whatever you wish you have is none of my buisness."
Rinoa just glared at him.
"...You're mean." she said simply. "MEANY!"
She sounded like a little girl who had been teased too much.
"What's with her...?" Squall thought. He gave in slightly to compassion now, but he didn't let it overtake him.
"...Sorry." he said begrudgingly.
After a long, drawn out silence, the 'chief' came upstairs.
"The Galbadian forces are withdrawing. Only the soldiers normally stationed here will stick around."
Everyone's ears perked up. This was their chance to get out of Timber.
"If you're gonna leave town, now's your chance! You know how persistant those soldiers can be!" she warned.
Everyone ran out of the room, leaving only Squall and Rinoa. Rinoa started walking towards the steps, but she turned around and looked at Squall. It wasn't an angry glance, though.
Rinoa, as mad as she was at Squall right now, felt a little sorry for him too.
"He's so... cold." she thought. "...How can he live like that...? He's really mean..."
But she remained quiet and walked down the stairs.
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On the bottem floor, Selphie was looking out the window, longingly.
"I wanna go home!" she whined.
Zell and Rinoa were both silent.
"Seems like everyone's tired..." Quistis observed. She looked up at Squall.
"Squall, any thoughts on where to go?" she asked.
"We have to get out of here first..." Squall thought.
As if reading his mind again, Quistis spoke.
"Getting out of here is only the first step."
Squall thought for a moment. She was testing him.
"I guess old habits are hard to break." he thought, remembering that Quistis was no longer an instructor.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"Garden code, Article 8, line 7." Quistis hinted.
Squall searched through his mind. He almost had the entire Garden codebook memorized.
"8:7..." Squall thought, "In the event that returning to the assigned Garden is not possible, report to the nearest Garden..."
"Head for the nearest Garden..." he answered.
"Very good!" Quistis commended. "From here, that would be Galbadia Garden.
Rinoa chimed in.
"We can take the train from here and get off at a station called the 'East academy'."
Quisits nodded.
"From there, we have to go through the forest west of the station to get to Galbadia Garden. I've been there several times. We should be okay.
"...Ok then..." Squall agreed. "We'll escape from Timber and head to Galbadia Garden."
*--------------------------PLACE MARKER BONUS!---------------------*
(Sick of reading right now? Take a break, and find your spot right here when you come back to the story! Oh, and for my third 'Placemarker Bonus!', here is all the possible party combinations at this point in the game. Read down and then left to right.)
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-Squall Squall Squall
Zell Zell Zell
Selphie Rinoa Quistis
-Squall Squall
Quistis Quistis
Rinoa Selphie
-Squall
Rinoa
Selphie
Tip for first timer's
-At this point in the game, you're gonna want to make sure that Selphie and Quistis have GFs and magic junctioned. (I won't give it all away yet, but just trust me. 'They' are gonna be in your party whether you choose them or not.)
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Kind of useless, I know. But these will get better. I promise! ^_^
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Before they went out, the 'chief' had somthing for them.
"You be careful now. Take this with you."
She handed Squall a medicine kit. It came with potions, pheonix down, and several other items.
"This is good stuff here..." Squall thought. He wasn't sure how heavily popualted the monsters were near Galbadia, but the number of monsters had increased dramatically all over the world lately. The medicine would come in handy if they were attacked on their way to Galbadia Garden.
"Thanks." Squall said.
As they all stepped outside the 'Cheif's' house, Squall saw a Galbadian soldier running toward them.
"Not good!' Zell yelled, prepareing to fight. Everyone stood, ready to defend.
The soldier squeeled as they came closer though.
"It's me, sir! It's me!"
Squall recognized the overly polite tone imediatly. It was Watts.
"Got some info, sir." he reported. "Timber station will be shut down temporarily."
"Mega-bummer!" Selphie replied.
"Not necessarily." Watts assured her."It's not completly shutdown yet. The last train out of here is bound for the 'East Academy'."
Squall nodded. That was just what he wanted to hear.
"We're getting on that train." he said firmly.
Watts looked at Rinoa from under his shiny Galbadian helmet.
"You're going too, right Rinoa?"
"Yeah." Rinoa began, slightly confused. Wasn't Watts coming too?
"What about you, Watts?"
"No need to worry 'bout me, I'll go gather more info!" Watts said confidently.
Rinoa ran over to him. Resting her hands on her knees, she looked up at Watts.
"I promise I'll be back. You take care, ok?" she said.
Watts sighed happily. Rinoa's concern for him made Watts feel good. He looked over to Squall.
"Squall, please take care of Rinoa." Watts pleaded.
He would never forgive himself if Rinoa was harmed. But he trusted Squall.
"These SeeDs will be able to keep her safe better than we could..." Watts thought.
"Yeah, don't worry." Squall replied. "Client's orders."
He was about to leave at that, but Squall was unsure about something.
"Their base was destroyed... How will they hide...?"
"What about you? Will you be safe here?" Squall asked.
Watts was surprised. He would never have expected concern like that from this, usually cold, SeeD member.
"I'll be fine, sir! I'll put up the fight of my life!" he said, proudly saluting the group.
Everyone saluted back. Watts felt glad to have the support.
"I'm happy, sir!" he said. And then Watts ran off to 'collect more info.'.
Squall led them to the Station on the far side of town, near the pub. Now that the trains were running, they could board the one headed for the 'East Academy' station.
As they walked over to the station, they noticed a strange man walking around.
"Rinoa! Squall! it's me!"
Rinoa was surprised.
"Zone!"
Zone was disgused, quite ingeniously, as an elderly man. He was wearing some make-up that gave his skin a worn, wrinkled look, and some old, dirty overalls. He even hunched over perfectly.
"You need to go to the East Academy, right? There's no more tickets left." Zone informed them, trying to make his voice sound aged and raspy.
They were all dissapointed at this. They were tired, but Selphie needed to rest espescially. As long as they stayed in Timber, they would have to keep on their toes. She didn't know how much longer she could keep it up.
"Super-duper-mega-bummer!" Selphie cried.
Squall was determined though.
"We'll stow away if we have too... Don't know when we'll get the chance to leave town like this again."
Galbadian security was going to be on full alert after all that had happened today. Though Squall knew that they could fight off a fair amount of soldiers, and probably find somewhere to hide, he didn't want to take any chances. Galbadia had recently developed a means of using 'magic' through the use of specially designed weapons. Though it wasn't very powerful magic, and the soldiers were only able to use basic elemental skills, Galbadian forces always seemed to have some trick up their sleeves to make up for anything they lacked.
Besides that, Squall and the others wouldn't be able to catch a train after this one. Walking to Galbadia Garden would take a long time, and getting past security without any commotion would be near immpossible.
This was their only option.
"We'll do whatever it takes to get on that train." Squall said.
Zone smiled. He was up to something.
"You won't have to do that." he said slyly. "Looky here! I have eveyone's ticket right here!"
Zone pulled out several train tickets.
"Good planning..." Squall thought. This was one time that the 'Forest Owls' had actually impressed him.
Zone walked to Rinoa first.
"One for you." he said properly.
Then he walked over to Squall.
"Three for you SeeD people. Here I'll give them to the leader." He shoved the tickets into Squalls hand.
"And the last one is for me...." Zone's voice trailed off. he saw that an extra person was present now... Quistis.
Zone walked over to her slowly, and handed her his ticket.
"Go on. Take it." he offered.
Quistis couldn't accept this. She didn't want to leave this guy stranded in Timber.
"I can't take that. It's yours!" Quistis replied.
"Ouch!" Zone yelled out sudennly. He shoved the ticket into Quistis' hand and walked off before she could refuse.
"Ouuuuuuuuch!" he moaned. "My stomach hurts! Ouch!" Zone sat down on the ground, clutching his stomach.
But everyone just stood there. Seeing that they weren't buying his 'act', Zone urged them to go.
"Just get going! The train's leaving."
Quistis walked over to him.
"Thank you." she said softly.
Rinoa, too, ran over to Zone. She squatted down and put her hand on his sholder.
"Zone... We're gonna see each other again, ok?" she said. "No matter what, you have to survive. We have to liberate Timber together, remember?"
"I know, I know..." Zone replied. "I'll go hide in a bathroom or something... Now get going."
Everyone nodded and ran off to the train platform. As Squall walked by, Zone gestured for him to come over.
"Ouch..." he said, still clutching his stomach. "Take care of Rinoa, will you? I'll kill you if you let anything happen to her." His voice sounded serious, and harsh.
Squall didn't know how to reply to Zone's serious command. He just walked over to the train platform, leaving the 'Forest Owl' to his 'stomach ache'.
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Two young children were playing on the platform's bridge.
"The bridge splits apart when the train comes!" a little boy yelled. "You gotta make it across just as it splits!"
Squall ran across the bridge, past the kids, and over to the train entrance. They heard the train annoucer speak.
"This train is bound for Dollet, stoping at 'East Academy'. This is the last train for today. Please hurry onboard."
Quistis was waiting for Squall with the others.
"Com'on!" she urged.
All five of them boarded the train.
Once inside, they heard the train engine rumbling loudly. The Trains P.A. system was then activated.
"This train, bound for 'East Acamdemy', will depart shortly." The announcer said.
The train statred moving, causing the group to stumble slightly.
"Well... we..." Squall began.
"Open, open OPEN!" Selphie interupted. She was waiting by the door which lead to the inner hallway of the train. She wanted to look out the window.
"...made..." Squall continued, but Selphie innterupted again.
"Please..." she asked, yelling at the door."Open up!"
Squall turned to her, glaring.
"Better let her have her way." he thought.
He walked ove to the keypad and slide his ticket in. He heard the small computer beeping.
"Confirming... Access granted..." a computerized voice came fom the speakers.
The door slide open.
"Tee-hee! Thanks!" Selphie said to Squall. She ran into the front to gaze out the train's windows.
Rinoa wanted to finish hearing what Squall had to say.
"Weren't you just saying something?" she asked.
"Oh... Just that... We made it..." Squall said quietly.
"It really wasn't important..." he thought.
"I have to thank Zone for that." Quistis replied.
Rinoa looked over at Quistis and giggled.
"He's into naughty magazines." she said sudennly.
Quistis was a bit put-off by the odd comment.
"I'll keep that in mind..." she said, looking strangly at Rinoa.
"She looks familiar..." Quistis thought. "Oh! She's that girl that Squall danced with last night...!" she realized, not sure if she was entirly pleased with the situation. "What a coincedence..."
Zell had positioned himself in a corner again. He was still beating himself up over his 'big-mouth'.
"(...Oh man...)" he whispered.
No one seemed to notice, but Zell was being unusually quiet. He was getting really depressed.
Squall frowned. He wasn't sure why, but somthing didn't feel right. It was more than the uncomfortable silence that now prevaded the room.
"...Of course..." Squall thought to himself. "Nothing feels right now. Not after what we just went through..." but the feeling went beyond that. It puzzled Squall.
Rinoa saw his expression. Despite their earlier argument, she was somewhat concerned about him now.
"What? What's the matter?" she asked.
Squall just shook his head, signifiing that it wasn't anything important. He decided to go inside with Selphie. He needed some room to breath.
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Selphie was leaning up agaisnt the window sill, staring out the window. It was almost exactly the same as the train ride that had brought them to Timber. She was even whispering to herself in the same way.
"I love trains." she said. Selphie started singing the same lullaby that she had sung on the way to Timber.
"...Before we all passed out..." Squall remembered.
"Train Train, take us away,... Take us away, far away,..." Selphie sang softly, but cheerfully. "To the future we will go... Where it leads, no one knows..."
Squall knew that he definatly had heard the tune before. He just couldn't place his finger on when and where.
"It sounds so familiar..." he thought. This feeling, too, made Squall uncomfortable. He decided to leave the train hallway..
He sat down on the floor in the entrance area. Quistis began speaking.
"No time to even rest, really." she started. Her voice trailed off, though.
Everyone was quiet for the rest of the trip.
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End chap 11.
Not much action here. Lotta dialog. But I had fun with this one anyway.
Any one else catch that kinda erie message in Selphies song?
Here it is in its full form. (So far...?)
"Train,Train, Take Us Away
Take us Away, Far Away,
To The Future, We Will Go,
Where It Leads, No One Knows,"
*Spolier alert! Don't read on if you haven't played the game!*
I mean, the whole thing ends up being about the future and time and falling in love etc... (It's all very poetic and beautiful, etc...) I'm gonna use Selphies song to preface some later chapters I think. The game's all about love, but its also carrys themes about remebering your childhood, your life, not wasting it, looking to the future, not knowing what the future holds... Shoot! Even the loser-editor of the 'Timber maniacs' has something significant to say about this stuff... If only Squall would listen...
*End spolier*
Next up! chapter 12: Dreaming part Deux! (Or somthing. any sugestions?)
Anyway, the next chapter will be really exciting. It's another Laguna chapter. It starts off a little differntly than the other one. It'll be a short seqence in the forest with our lovable main charecters (Squall, Rinoa, Quistis,Selphie, Zell,) and then we'll go to Laguna's part.
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