Chapter Three
My shadows the only one that walks beside meMy shallow hearts the only thing that's beating
Sometimes I wish someone out there will find me
Til then I walk alone
Green Day- Boulevard Of Broken DreamsThe growing feeling inside him was enveloping over his thoughts as he sat inside the small room. He shouldn't be here. He should be somewhere else, fighting a battle. Anywhere but here. She had left a few minutes ago without saying a word to him, leaving him in silent solitude within these four walls surrounding him. He had faintly heard a door close somewhere within the building, whilst the echo of footsteps belonging to more than one person had slowly disappeared.
Letting out a small sigh, he stood from the mattress. Taking a few steps from the bed, he pressed a hand against the wall to steady himself as he weakly felt the dizziness in his head erupt slightly at his sudden movements. He stayed still for a brief moment, regaining his strength, then began making his way out of the small room.
Stepping into a small corridor, which the girl had disappeared through earlier, he studied his surroundings to see a wooden, and slightly plain looking hall. At the end he could just see a stairway, which he guessed could lead to the exit of this building. For a short moment, he stopped quiet listening for any signs of life nearby. The only sounds he could hear were the distant ticks of a tall grandfather clock at the other end of the corridor, and in the background the gentle sounds of rain hitting against the windowpane could be heard.
With haste he made his way down the small staircase, where he was confronted with a set of large double doors. The dulling sky seemed to be reflecting from the misted glass within the doors, as if telling him where he needed to go. Twisting the golden handle, he felt a cool breeze emanating from behind the doors and prickling against his skin. He had realised earlier that he had lost his jacket; he guessed that whoever had cared for him had maybe taken it off.
Taking in his surroundings, it suddenly registered to him as he looked up at the large chandelier hung delicately from the ceiling, that perhaps this wasn't such a plain home. Studying the environment of expensive looking interior, he thought that perhaps the owners of this home were quite wealthy. He wondered why such a family would want to care for an injured stranger such as himself, and even more so, if they would know where his other men were. Taking one last look at his surroundings to see if there was anyone visible, he made his way out of the home, with new hopes of getting into contact with any of the people in this new place in order to find his comrades.
The cool wind and icy rain stung his head as he made his way into the outside, and looked around at the many rows of wooden buildings around him. The rain streamed from the roofs of the numerous houses, falling freely and hitting the soil were it mixed with the muddy ground in a puddle. He guessed that this was some sort of small fishing town, as he saw the murky green sea rippling wildly against the wind in the distance.
Wrapping his arms tightly around himself in order to give himself a little more warmth, he made his way out into the town, hoping the find a local to talk to. Upon his small walk around the town, he caught a glimpse of an elderly woman. Her greying hair was tied back, leaving loose strands to hang in front of her eyes as a rain hood covered the majority of her hair. He saw what seemed like a stall of flowers in front of her house, as he watched for a minute as she began lifting rows of flowers from a wooden crate and taking them inside the entrance of her home.
"Excuse me," he said making his way towards the women. He watched as the startled woman took her concentrated gaze from the flowers to the man stood before her. Her eyes looked quizzical for a moment as she studied the stranger, then as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened, she returned back to her work, avoiding eye contact with the man in front of her.
"Please," Squall spoke again, "If you could just tell me where I am?"
This time the woman didn't even bother to look at him, only seemed to speed up her work at getting her flowers out of the rain. Squall stayed stood motionless in front of her as he watched her put the last few of the flowers inside her home, then slammed the door leaving him alone in the rain.
Feeling the damp droplets of water run down his face, Squall looked at the empty door, which the woman had gone through earlier. Just like the young girl before, she had disappeared somewhere out of his sight. Disappeared, he thought, just like his men. Shivering from the cold, Squall looked around him in hopes of any more people. He couldn't help thinking this place was like some sort of ghost town, as he looked down the abandoned path. Alone.
Ignoring the freezing dampness that was taking over his body, Squall took another walk around the town. The weather no longer bothered him; it only suited his mood at this moment in time. Changing direction, he made his way down a small path that led onto a harbour. He looked out into the distance, only to see an endless green sea. There were no boats in sight on the harbour, which seemed to anger him more. He guessed that maybe if he escaped, then he would be able to come back with more of his men, to look for those who should be here with him now. But there was nothing. No boats. Nothing. He hated being here.
Keeping his gaze onto the sea, he inwardly fought with his mind, trying not to let the situation at hand get to him. It was only a short time ago that he was on the battlefield, wishing that he were somewhere else anywhere from there. He shivered slightly at the vision of the many brutally killed corpses that had lay within that field. So many, the memory now seem distorted making the bodies seem to mix together. Leaving none of the green grass visible.
His thoughts were distracted as he heard footsteps behind him. Squall turned to face a blonde man stood with his arms crossed over his chest, and he seemed to have a snide smile on his features at seeing the shivering and wet man before him.
"You must be the injured soldier that was found last week," the man said looking down at Squall.
Last week? Squall couldn't help feeling shocked at how long he had actually been here. The battle... everything... it all felt like it happened a day ago. But a week? He turned his gaze back up to the man who was looking at him impatiently, and nodded his head.
The blonde man turned his eyes away from Squall, and out into the endless depths of the sea, before looking back at him with a suspicious look in his eye. "I hope you weren't trying to escape from here or anything," the man spoke again. He stood silent for a moment, and eyed the brunette.
"It isn't my duty to be here," Squall answered gravely.
"That's true, and anyway you probably wouldn't survive another little adventure on the boat like before," the man stated simply. "You'd be dead."
Dead. The word echoed through his mind as soon as the sentence left the mans lips. Squall turned his gaze away from the stranger, and looked out towards the immense ocean once more. "My men..." Squall started after a moment of silence, "Are they here too?"
This time there was no snide comment from the man. There was a moment of silence that passed over the two, before he spoke again. "Maybe you should get inside," he suggested turning in the direction to the main part of the town, "I was told to go get you, so that wasn't an option."
Squall turned his gaze away from the sea, and watched as the man started walking back to the town. Violently shivering from the weather, Squall felt he should do as the man said. Following the same route as the blonde man, the journey back was silent until they reached towards the house he had exited out of only moments earlier, when the man stopped abruptly.
"You never said your name," the blonde stated, pressing a hand against one of the double doors.
"Squall Leonhart," he replied.
The man gave a small nod, before entering inside the house and Squall followed briefly after. Once inside Squall observed as the blonde man made his way boldly around the house. "Are you the one who let me stay here?" Squall asked, he wasn't sure why. He just felt he needed to know how he had ended up here.
The blonde man let out a small laugh as he turned to Squall. "I wouldn't trust a stranger in my home, dying or not. I don't want the risk, the citizens of Balamb would be freaked if anything bad happened," he said thinking out loud his gaze seeming to distance, as if lost in thought.
"Balamb..." Squall said, suddenly realising where he was. Although he had never visited this place, he had heard of it. It was a small fishing town, a place that had no bonds with other countries. It was strange how the people in this small town were safe within a world full a hatred. Deep down inside of him, he felt glad that a place such as this still existed.
"Probably different from where you came from," the man said, turning to a window nearby and peering out at the pouring rain. His once arrogant look seemed to calm slightly in the moment of silence that followed. For a brief moment there was stillness within the silence of the room, until the blonde mans footsteps echoed loudly against the wooden floor as he walked away from the glass.
"You should get back to your room," he ordered, turning towards Squall, that arrogant look forming in his eyes once more. "I take it since you tried to escape from here, you know where it is."
Squall nodded his head silently. Although a huge part of him wanted to order the man to tell him what happened and why he was even here, a stinging pain had began to build up in the back of his mind. Making his way back up the steps, he entered the small room, which he had awoken in earlier on in the day. With exhaustion he sat on the mattress of the bed, and stared blankly out of the window, watching the raindrops make their way to the ground like dying stars.
A small knock was heard against the wooden door, echoing throughout the room. Lost in a state of the closest thing he could get to sleep at that moment in time, Squall opened his eyes slowly, a strange feeling enveloping over his body as he did. Somewhere deep down inside of him expected to see something different, he felt disappointed when he only saw that same small room surrounding him. Almost as if when he closed his eyes, when there was nothing of this town to be seen, he could almost fool himself that he was somewhere else. Perhaps wake up in the vessel he had escaped in. Wake up and aid his men back to the imperfect safety of his mind when he was being ordered into fighting a brutal battle.
It didn't matter what he wanted anymore, he was still in Balamb. Unable to find his men, or anyone that could give him a simple order. Keeping his gaze at the ceiling, he ran a hand through the damp locks of his hair, ignoring the sound of the door opening. Closing his eyes, he let out a small sigh as footsteps clicked against the wooden floor, echoing louder as the person appeared the walk closer to him. He hoped that perhaps whoever the intruder was, would leave him be as he was in no mood to be ordered around by someone he didn't know.
In the back of his mind, he was already planning his escape. He thought that perhaps he should leave after nightfall; maybe then he could take another walk around the town in search for his men, if they were even here. If not, he would find any form of transport and return back to his hometown. He froze out of his thoughts suddenly, when he felt a hand touch his head.
She quickly withdrew her hand away, as if her flesh had come in contact with a scolding temperature when she saw his eyes open promptly. His cool blue eyes locked onto her, with a stern gaze making her suddenly feel afraid of this man. A part of her wanted to flee from the room as quickly as possible as she saw his glare, yet another part of her feared looking away. Putting her hand by her side, the young woman tried to push her fears aside. She was simply trying to check his dressing, she told herself, trying to make herself feel better.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly, turning on her heels to walk out of the room. The girl stopped in her tracks when she felt a hand sternly grab her wrist. Letting out a small scream at the feel of his hard grasp, she turned back to the man. His body half sat up on the bed, as he eyed her suspiciously.
Watching the girl's terrified expression, Squall suddenly felt guilty for lashing out at her. He hadn't expected it to be her in his room. The thought came to him that perhaps she would be willing to tell him more information than the man from earlier, he guessed that he had probably ruined his chances of finding out anything more from the fear visible in his eyes. Loosening his grip around her wrist, he stood from the bed slowly. "I'm not going to hurt you," he reassured.
The girl pulled her arm from the remaining grasp on her arm and tried to meet his stern look. "I don't know exactly who you are, but I hope you have the decency not to cause any trouble in Balamb. We don't have any association with the war you're fighting."
Squall nodded his head slightly, trying to show that he meant no harm. "I understand," he said quietly, "and I owe everyone here a lot for caring for me." He observed that she was the girl who had been with him earlier, taking care of him while he was unconscious. The girl's gaze softened slightly at his last statement, as she pushed a loose strand of midnight hair behind her shoulder.
"The people in Balamb don't trust outsiders," the girl stated as her gaze fell to the ground. "When they saw that you were a solider, they were dubious of whether to care for you or not, just in case it brought trouble here."
Squall stood in silence at hearing the girl speak. Although he was a little shocked at the thought that they may have just discarded him because he was a soldier, he understood their situation. He for one didn't like the idea of a small town such as this, getting involved in problems that had nothing to do with them.
The girl smiled slightly at seeing his silent posture. "Don't worry," she said looking up at the man who stood before her, "I wouldn't have let them just leave you to die."
The girl turned from the man's sombre expression to the open doorway. Closing the door off from the rest of the house, she looked back at the brunette. "He was going to go off to fight in the war like yourself once," the girl said, only to be responded by a confused look. Letting out a small sigh at how typical the situation was, she walked back towards the young man. "The guy who went out to find you in the rain, he's Seifer."
Staying silent for a moment, Squall leaned against a wall by the window, where in the distance he noticed the rain had stopped. "I thought you said that people in Balamb don't associate with war."
"Everyone except Seifer," the raven-haired girl spoke, watching as the man kept his gaze locked on the landscape beyond the window. "Something came up that made him forget the idea of fighting in the war."
Not pressing on the conversation any further, the two remained in silence for a moment. "I was told your name is Squall," the girl responded suddenly feeling uncomfortable within the stillness of the man. "Leo told me that you were a great fighter."
His distant thoughts suddenly snapped back to reality, as Squall heard the mention of the man's name. Leo. He realised that this was the name of the young injured solider they had fled with. "He's here?" The words had escaped past his lips, before he had even realised. He just felt desperate to know what happened to everyone else. At the moment in time, he felt like he had been imprisoned in a place, kept in solitude so he wouldn't be able to have any contact with them.
Squall watched as the girls eyes projected sadness within them, she didn't have to say the words, he already knew the answer. "I tried to save him," she spoke whilst hearing her voice breaking. "I tried my best, but he was too badly injured."
He felt a strange feeling within him. The girl in front of him had not even known Leo for long, yet he could see so much sadness within her eyes when talking about his death. "He was already seriously injured before we fled," Squall found himself saying. "He had little chance of surviving, with or without your help."
The girl looked up into Squall's eyes and forced a small smile. "I guess you're used to coping with death," she said quietly.
Used to coping with death? Not at all, Squall thought to himself as he turned his gaze back onto the dull rain clouds in the distance. "What about my other men?" he asked.
Squall watched as the girl's expression looked slightly puzzled. "There were no other men on the boat when you were found," she replied. The young woman watched as his eyes trailed towards the ground silently. "Perhaps you should get some more rest," she spoke up once again. "After being out in the rain for so long, I wouldn't want you catching a pneumonia or anything"
Giving up his feelings to find out more, Squall simply nodded his head turning back to the bed. The girl watched him with sympathy for a moment, before turning towards the door. "My name's Rinoa," she called over her shoulder as she opened the door. "And please, don't disappear like you did before. You need to recover fully before you get back to fighting again."
Closing the door behind her, Rinoa made her way down the corridor. She stopped in her tracks as she saw a blonde man stood watching her silently. He waited with his arms crossed over his chest impatiently, as she made her way towards him. "I told him," she said softly.
"How did he take it?" Seifer asked, looking down at the raven-haired girl beside him.
Rinoa shrugged slightly. "I think he must still be confused, after waking from consciousness. He didn't really seem fazed by the death of his friend."
Seifer raised an eyebrow, "Maybe they weren't friends," he said coolly. "Just make sure he recovers from his injuries and leaves. We don't need him getting involved in Balamb's problems."
Rinoa nodded her head in silent understanding. She took one last glance behind her shoulder towards the door of the room in which the injured soldier lay behind, before making her way down the stairs. Not wanting to continue the conversation any further. "I won't let him get involved," she said as Seifer followed behind her.
Authors note: At last, this chapter is complete! It's been kind of difficult to plan, but I finally got there! Oh yeah... forgot to mention... this story is kind of set in the past, and Balamb has been altered slightly by moi. I hope everything made sense. Thank you for your reviews! You're all such nice people!
Okay... sorry if there are grammar and spelling mistakes in this chapter. I'm literally minutes away from leaving my house to go to school so I don't really have time. Once again, sorry and thank you for your patience.