Rinoa went as far as she could by a bus and then she walked to the mansion. It was a beautiful summer day again and she enjoyed the gentle wind blowing against her face. The city was barely visible anymore behind her. Soon she saw a big iron fence which had been left unlocked. She walked through the gate and saw the mansion.

Its colors consisted of red and white and there was a big statue in the yard. Surrounded by trees, it felt like it was completely separated from the rest of the world.

"Rinoa!" Quistis shouted and walked across the yard.

"Hi. I decided to spend the night at my dad's. I hope you weren't worried."

"Not at all. Oh, Squall isn't here. He left to Timber early this morning with Raijin and Zell."

"To Timber? What for?"

"We suspect that the bandits have their base in there, so they went to inquire."

"He should've taken me along!"

Rinoa seemed like she was mad.

"Four people would've been too much. Besides, you can help us more here. We need you to give us possible locations where the bandits could be."

"Alright, maybe you're right," Rinoa said and decided not to ruin her good mood.


While the sun was shining in Deling City, there was a storm in Timber. It was quite dark and sometimes a lightning, which the sound of thunder followed, lighted up the city. Squall's clothes were dribbling wet and random puddles of water in the sidewalk soaked his shoes. His companions had the same problem, but they also had an annoying habit to complain.

"This sucks!" Zell expressed his opinion.

"Yeah," Raijin said. "This truly sucks. The rain sucks, my wet clothes sucks, this whole city sucks!"

"And it sucks that we don't have any clue what to do. And what sucks even more is that we haven't got any kind of shelter from this rain!"

"Okay, you two!" Squall said, sounding angry. "The only thing that sucks is your complaining. We'll take a room at the hotel and wait till this rain stops."

"Finally, a good idea."

The trio walked to the hotel and paid 400 gil for a room for three.

"You guys can wait here," Squall said. "I'm going to take a look around."

"You are crazy if you're going back to that storm," Raijin said, but Squall ignored him.

He went back outside and decided to go to the pub hoping that he might hear something interesting. On the way he looked down at the railway station and noticed that something unusual was going on. A man was running at the platform, shouting for help. Squall knew that he might need to prepare for a battle, but he still decided to keep his Gunblade hidden.

"What is going on?" he asked from the hysteric guy when he ran down there.

"T-the bandits are here. They are robbing that train over there!"

Now Squall pulled out the Gunblade and rushed to the train. The people were trying to escape in panic while the bandits were robbing them of everything valuable.

"How did the Galbadians find out where we would strike!" one of them asked.

"I don't think there are more of them," another one replied. "Must be a coincidence that he's here. Let's get him!"

Squall saw that an Ice spell was coming, so he jumped off to the platform before it hit him. Now he had more room to act, but he saw that there were at least ten of them. They all followed him outside. He was relieved that the bandits thought he was Galbadian.

Squall managed to slash one of them, but he had to turn around immediately to block another one's daggers. Then he had to take a sidestep to dodge a kick coming from his side. He casted a fire spell on one enemy, but soon he found himself surrounded. He tried desperately to break out of the circle that they had formed around him and cursed that Zell and Raijin had stayed in the hotel. Would this be the end?

If something like fate exists, it seemed to be on Squall's side, because one of the enemies fell down, followed by the sound of a rifle. Then another enemy fell down followed by another one, before they all considered it better to escape. Instead of following them, Squall wanted to know who his saviour was.

"That was a close call."

It was Irvine! He walked down to the platform, wearing his long leather coat and cowboy hat.

"Thanks. You saved me," Squall said.

After Ultimecia had been defeated, Irvine had requested for a transfer to Balamb Garden. He was sure that his hope would be fulfilled, but no official decision had been made. He was keen to meet Selphie again, because they had had to separate. He was truly missing her.

"No problem. Is Selphie here?"

"No. First it was only me and Quistis, but then Headmaster Cid sent Seifer, Raijin, Fujin and Zell here. And Zell bought Rinoa with him."

"Seif..."

"Yes. They are in SEED now."

"What a surprise. I suggest we go somewhere to talk now. There's a lot of stuff I want to ask."

"Okay."

Squall decided to stay in Timber for another day. He still hadn't found the bandits' base, but now he was more certain that it would be in Timber.