Chapter 28
The Crash
"Sis… where are you, Sis…?"
A sleeping figure rolled around in his bed, disturbed by images in his mind. Squall's eyes rolled around swiftly within their lids violently.
"I'm alone… a… alone… lone… Ell…"
Suddenly, a sharp tapping sounded from a distance. For a moment, Squall was caught between that fine line of dreams and reality as he woke up. The tapping got louder, and Squall became wary.
"What…what's that…?"
A young girl strode into Squall's dorm room cautiously. Rinoa looked around at the sleeping young man, suppressing a giggle.
Squall opened his eyes and his face flushed red as he noticed her come in.
"Hey, again." Rinoa said.
Squall went on the defensive immediately
"I wasn't asleep" he said, trying to forget the visions from his disturbed rest.
" Oh really?" Rinoa smirked. "I think I heard you talking in your sleep."
Rinoa turned her head and looked up at the ceiling.
"I'm not telling you what you said" she said, defiantly.
There was a long pause.
"Fine by me…" Squall thought, feeling quite embarrassed. He couldn't even remember what he'd said.
Rinoa then spoke abruptly.
"Hey, let's go for a walk" she said.
Squall shook his head wearily, still trying to wake up. He rolled his eyes as he heard Rinoa's suggestion.
"Again?"
Rinoa wined.
"That was a guided tour!"
She then lowered her voice.
"This time, it's a walk."
Squall felt tired, and somewhat angry that she'd come in to bother him about this.
"Just go by yourself. It's safe here" he lamely assured her.
Rinoa folded her arms in frustration.
"It's not that I want a guard with me" she coaxed. Rinoa found herself at a loss for words. How was she supposed to get through to him if he wouldn't let her? What was wrong with him? Didn't he see that she was trying to be friendly? That she needed a friend right now, as well?
"You know…" she started, getting an idea. "You're always too deep in thought."
She sat down on Squall's bed right next to him.
"Why don't you lighten up a little? It's not good to think too much."
Squall didn't give a response. He just sat there, looking uncomfortable.
Rinoa sighed heavily.
"What I'm trying to say is…" she paused a moment, preparing for her little 'joke'. "It would be my honor… to have your company, your highness, in hope that I may get your mind off things."
Rinoa stood and bowed before Squall, mocking allegiance to 'his highness'.
"How about it, your highness?" she said, looking up at him.
This utterly frustrated Squall. He had a lot on his mind at the moment. The sorceress… The whole situation with Ellone… whether or not Selphie and the others were still all right, or even alive. But as sullen as he was feeling at the moment, Rinoa still made him laugh to himself. She seemed to always be able to do that to him…
"God, that's irritating…" he thought. Squall had to admit the fact, even to himself, that Rinoa's odd ways of getting his attention seemed to work.
"Fine" he said, feigning apathy.
Rinoa continued with the teasing.
"Thank you, your highness! Alright, let's get goin'!"
Squall led her out of the dorms, and into the main hallway. Rinoa almost grabbed his hand as they began wandering, but she thought better of it.
Immediately after they started, however, a loud chime sound came in over the Garden's P.A. system, and headmaster Cid's voice sounded.
"Hello everyone. This is the headmaster speaking. The lines have been fixed, and I'm glad to be back on the air" he said "Hurrah!"
The expressions of happiness were cut short by a sudden and abrupt silence. Suddenly, Cid's voice came on again, but in a very different tone.
"UM!? WHOAA!!!" he cried out. And then the floor started to shake.
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A old man sat on a extended crane above the ocean waters, fishing pole in hand, and his rear in a comfortable folding chair. The fisherman rested underneath an old umbrella, but remained alert, lest he get a bite. The rusted machinery behind him made his position on the docks of town look oddly out of place.
He stretched his arms wide, and yawned.
"Boy, it's a slow day" his raspy voice came out loudly. He drew his line back in, and cast out. "Come one. Give me a big one" he chanted.
The only thing in the water today was the tall stone pillars that stuck up out of the water, just a couple dozen yards away from the old fisherman's spot. The pillars were laced with rope, machinery, and dotted at the bottom with an endless supply of coral. The area was serene, and peaceful… or at least it wound have been, if not for the loud noise approaching the fishing town.
A large globular shaped object rushed towards the old man. It's blue and white hull shone brightly in the midday sun as it approached.
The waves began crashing up against the disks violently as the blue ship rushed forward, becoming larger and larger. Finally, the loud crashing against the water caught the old fisherman's attention.
He gazed up quickly and his eyes widened in horror. The old man stood frozen for a moment as Balamb Garden came crashing into the pillars of the Fisherman's Horizon. He came-to as he felt a tug on his fishing line, which was still gripped firmly in his hand. He looked down at his fishing line, and then again at Garden. He it his bottom lip nervously as he attempted to pull the in the only bite he'd gotten all day.
"Com'on… just a little more…"
It was a strong fish.
"ARHHGG!!!" the old man yelled. He dropped his fishing line and ran as fast as he could, away from Garden.
With a finalizing 'Boom!', the Mobile Garden crashed it's way into The small town, of Fisherman's Horizon, and came to a halt.
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Squall and Rinoa lay sprawled on the floor, stunned and confused.
"What was THAT?!" Rinoa exclaimed, picking herself up.
Before Squall could reply, the headmaster's voice came in over the PA system.
"Squall! This is the headmatser speaking! please come to my office! Repeat. Please come to my office right away!"
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As Squall and Rinoa came abroad the Bridge, Cid was still giving commands into the Public Address microphone.
"Everybody please remain calm. Also, please do not leave Garden under any circumstances until you are permitted. We will try to get things back in order A.S.A.P. Thank you for your cooperation."
Cid heard Squall's approach on the bridge elevator.
"Ah Squall, thank you for coming" Cid said. "Here are your orders" he commanded abruptly.
"We've landed on Fisherman's Horizon. Please go ashore with Zell and Rinoa. Find the local mayor and apologize for this accident. Tell them that we come in peace"
Squall nodded obediently. Cid was about to send them off, but remembered one thing.
" Take a look around the city while you're there, too."
Squall saluted and stood upright.
" …yes, sir."
But Squall actually thought with disdain at this.
"…Why do I have to go?" he thought.
Cid noticed his frown, and lowered his glasses.
"Do you have something you want to tell me?" he asked.
Squall gulped.
"No…"
Cid sighed heavily.
"SeeD is not just a special force for combat. I want you to see the world… To broaden your horizons" he lectured. "I have high expectations of you, Squall" Cid smiled at him
"Now go. Squall, our fate lies in your hands."
Squall's eyes widened in surprise at this last comment.
"What does he mean by that?!"
Cid chuckled at his expression
"Heh heh heh. Scared you there huh? I was just trying to say be careful. Don't offend anybody in Fisherman's Horizon."
Squall rolled his eyes. Offend someone? How could he?
"I mean… really, what more could we do? If they're gonna lynch us, then it isn't gonna be because I offend someone… the damage has been done…"
Squall gave a final acknowledging nod to Cid and descended that platform. At the bottom of the headmaster's office, Zell and Rinoa stood there waiting. They'd been listening.
"What's up? Are we going to Fisherman's?" Zell asked excitedly.
Rinoa chuckled. It seemed to her that the entire Garden was already in Fisherman's Horizon now.
"We're here!" she exclaimed.
Squall ignored their comments and recited the orders.
We've landed in Fisherman's Horizon. We'll make an official apology, then observe the town.
Zell nodded
"Yo, go to the 2nd floor deck to get to fisherman's. The front gate's closed" he reminded Squall.
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As Squall came out of the Garden his eyes were instantly pierced by bright sunlight. He blocked the sun with his hand and gazed out over the town before him.
"So this is Fisherman's Horizon…"
Squall noticed a crane and some metal rigging made found it's way on to the platform. It seemed to well placed to have merely landed there when Garden crashed…
Suddenly, a man wearing a black shirt ran up the metal walkway and took a cautious glance at the three teenagers. He turned around and yelled to his co-workers.
"Here they come" he cried. He turned back to Squall and spoke abruptly.
"We've come to warn you before you go ashore. Do not engage in any type of armed conflict in the city. We do not tolerate belligerence here."
Another man in black approached the group. He spoke gruffly.
"Do you understand?" he asked.
Squall was quiet for a moment. He hadn't expected to be 'greeted' right away.
"Yes" he finally said. "We are representatives of the Garden and we come in peace."
" …." The worker in the black shirt looked at them skeptically for a moment, but finally eased his tone.
"Welcome to Fisherman's Horizon, then. We just call it FH"
The other man spoke up.
"You should go visit the mayor. His house is in the middle of the city. He's the head of FH."
Squall nodded in appreciation.
"We'll do just that."
The man in the black shirt accepted them fully now, nodding.
"Good. Looks like we understand each other."
Now that the air was cleared, and no one appeared upset, Squall breathed easily.
"Man, this is a hell of a mess" one of the men said, putting his hand to his forehead.
"I'm terribly sorry" Squall apologized. "It was inevitable… We lost control of the Garden."
The man looked to Squall, and then back at Garden. He covered his eyes as he gazed up.
"Nah, don't worry about it. What's important is that nobody got hurt. We love fixing stuff anyway."
He smiled at the three.
"Kick back and enjoy your stay."
Squall nodded appreciatively, just a little surprised at how friendly they were being. He motioned for Rinoa and Zell to follow him.
They started up the metal rigging, and further into FH.
As they made their way into town along the walkway, another workmen approached them.
"Hey… That's Balamb Garden, right?"
Squall cocked his eye at the man.
"That's right. How did you know?" he asked.
"From those patterns on the wall. We painted it a long time ago." He sighed, thinking about the past.
"Those were the good old days" he said. He turned to Squall and smiled. "Tell the mayor I said hi."
The man that had first approached them called down from the top of the metal walkway.
"Yo! Let's go!"
The man tipped his hat to Squall and started in the opposite direction.
Squall continued along the metal planks, observing what appeared to be the docks of FH. Soon they reached a high spot and Squall was able to view almost the entire town.
Fisherman's Horizon was a rather small, and insignificant fishing village. Most would have considered it unremarkable in every way, except for it's curious position in the middle of the ocean. The town was built on a small rock-mass, subject to frequent flooding. But the denizens of FH relied heavily on their mechanical and technical skills, so adding to the town and preventing floods soon became routine practice. Ultimately, the village became fully functional, and perhaps even more productive than most towns on dry land.
What added to the charm of FH especially was the spectacular solar panel which gave energy to the entire town. Constructed in a fairly short time, and encompassing the entire circle of the town center, the solar panel was huge, and quite imposing. Yet the people of FH led simple lives, even with their impressive technical skills, and virtually unlimited power resource.
Squall stood in awe at the site of this village. Though, save for the solar panel, it was mostly nothing special to look at, he thought carefully about the town's location and how carefully it must've been constructed. He was impressed.
An old man stood in front of the three, gazing at the town as well. He turned around, noticing the newcomers.
"I heard Balamb Garden lost control. That's why you have to keep up with your maintenance. I would have never let a thing like that happen" he lectured. Without allowing for response, he turned back to gaze once more at his village.
Squall shrugged, unaffected, and made his way down a set of metal stairs. Still on the outskirts of town, they made their way around a large cylindrical structure, along a metal walkway hovering above the shallow water splashing against it. At the end was the man they had first encountered, stationing an elevator leading down into town.
"Going down?" the man asked.
Squall looked down, and then at the elevator. It was little more that a flat surface moving at an angle down to town… An inclinator.
"Yeah"
" Ok" he replied, reading the lift.
"…So…" he began "you guys going to Esthar?"
"Esthar?" Squall replied.
"You know… that hi-tech city. It's just beyond the train tracks"
Squall shook his head. Hi-tech city? Esthar? What made Esthar so different…?
"…Come to think of it… What do we know about Esthar…?" Squall thought. "Ah, well… Whatever."
The man noticed Squall's confused expression.
"I guess you're not going there." He shrugged. "A Lot of people who stop here go there."
Squall nodded, feigning interest.
"The trains are down, so the best way to get there is to walk from here." The man laughed. "What a joke, huh? Anyway…"
Squall yawned loudly. The man went silent and cleared his throat.
"So… uh… You guys had an accident and came here, huh? I guess I shouldn't keep you" he said nervously.
He finished preparing the elevator, and with the tap of a button said, "Ok, get on."
Squall, Zell and Rinoa mounted the lift, and prepared to enter FH.
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The three dismounted the inclinator. As they walked along, another of the workmen approached Squall. He had a question.
"Are you a SeeD by any chance?"
"…Yes" Squall replied plainly.
The workman nodded, but frowned. He spoke again, somewhat agitated.
"I heard that you guys are, like, mercenaries, and basically fight anybody for money. Are you happy with that kind of life?"
He squinted at Squall as he spoke, almost asking the question rhetorically.
Squall folded his arms.
"What's his problem? Is he trying to pick a fight?"
The man shook his head and gestured as a sign that he didn't want to talk about it.
"Never mind" he said. "The way you live your life is none of my business. Just don't cause us any problems"
Squall became startled at his sudden change of mind, and even more so because his tone seemed familiar. Squall looked down at the ground nervously as he realized who this man reminded him of.
"…He sounds just like me. I guess it doesn't sound very nice" he thought to himself.
The man turned around to look out on the water.
"I hope I didn't offend you" he said, averting his gaze.
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End Chap 28.
Okay pplz. Chapter 30 is gonna be good… all this crappiness is building up to it, so bare one more chapter w/ me, alright?
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