Final Fantasy 8: Junction

By: SDI Hypervelocity

Chapter 1- Ifrit

The heat was starting to affect him, he was needless to say, hot, already becoming sweaty and tired. Squall's first SeeD field exam wasn't as easy as he anticipated. A small rock bridge leading to a small peninsula surrounded by a sea of molten rock in the back of the fire cave. This was his first real challenge, in battle against the Fire guardian force Ifrit, and Quistis by his side helping him.

He was tired and beaten with a few scars and bruises and Ifrit showed small signs of giving up. "2 minutes Squall!" Quistis yelled to him, tightening her hold around the whip she used as a weapon.

Squall gave her a small acknowledgment before shifting his focus back on his enemy "Ok."

Ifrit wasted no time, soaring through the air at Squall and slashing at him with his claws, ripping his shirt and drawing blood on Squall's chest. Squall stumbled backwards and winced from the pain, regaining himself in time to catch Ifrit's second strike again, this time Squall blocked it with his sword, and pushed him back with the dull side of the blade.

Then he lifted one hand and countered with a spell "Ice, a thick sickle of Ice came raining down on Ifrit's head. It was enough to knock him out of the air, sending him falling to the ground with a through chill his whole body that inadvertently forced him to let out a violent spasm. "Impudent fools." Ifrit growled lightly, only the slightest clinch of his fist sent a blaze of flames over Squall's body, burning him with a fire spell. Even when the fire had gone, his skin still burned, a burn that would take hours to subside on its own.

But he didn't have to wait that long, relief from the pain soon came when Quistis cast a cure spell. A blue light shined over Squall's body, neutralizing the ache and mending the burns. Then another bolder of Ice appeared above Ifrit created by cold winds, crashing down on to his body with an forced growl, Quistis had also used an ice spell. The fire Guardian force could barely stand the cold anymore, this battle had been going on for quite a while (Longer then he would have liked to admit), he had plenty of fight left in him, but no will to fight any longer.

"For me to lose to a human..." Ifrit snorted, looking down at the Squall and Quistis from where he floated a few feet above. He couldn't help feeling weak, for a fight to persist like this against humans... "Very well..." He sighed defeatedly, "I will join you."

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With the fight over, Squall had only a minute left to evacuate the cave, if he wanted to have an actual score on his SeeD Field exam he had to do so. He ran fearlessly past anything willing to block his path, sometimes almost running head first in to the monsters that dwelled in the Fire Cave.

The light at the entrance seemed to come quickly, after about a minute Squall saw the Balamb Guards at the entrance that he met before. Which was his que to stop running... I...made it...'

! - ! - !

! - ! - !

"There isn't much time, but let me make go over this real quick." Quistis stopped Squall just before they left the fire cave, almost forgetting that this was something she needed to tell him about being his instructor and all. "Good, you got yourself a GF. If you junction that GF, you'll be able to use the Elem-J ability. Here's an explanation on Elements." Quistis gave him a short explanation on junctioning with GF before they started back. "There's a lot of Fire elemental monsters here, so junction Blizzard to your Elem-Atk. You'll have an easier time with Fire elemental enemies..."

It wasn't a long trip back to the Garden; it could be seen clearly from the Fire Cave. Meaning it was only a short walk until the two entered through the main gate that lay next to the parking lot drive way. Quistis stopped him when they got there, knowing that she had to tell him something else, something important...she just couldn't remember what. "Well done Squall." She complemented, lifting her hand to her chin and tilting her head upward as she did when she thought. "Let's see... I thought there was something else I needed to go over with you before you take the SeeD exam... Oh yes! Taking care of your GF. This is something you have to watch out for."

Quistis explained some basics about taking care of a GF, it didn't't take long for her to finish. "Now change into your uniform and assemble at the 1F Lobby." Quistis called back her final instruction as she started walking off toward the lobby. Squall in turn headed back to his dorm and in to his room.

! - ! - !

He stripped himself of the short brown jacket he wore, hanging it up carefully beside his bead. His mind started to wander back to Ifrit as he stared out of the window, Shiva and Quezacotl were junctioned to Quistis and she had some experience with GF. But this was his first time, he didn't't know what to expect, and for the most part he didn't't know what it really was exactly.

Squall sat down on his bed and pulled off his pants, still in deep thought. Then he reached over to get his uniform hanging from the wall next to his gunblade case. There was no use sitting here thinking about it, he had to do it one way or another, but exactly how was he suppose to do it. That was a problem... He started to think on it specifically as he finished putting on the uniform.

He din't have to look too far for the answer, some where in his mind… He could feel Ifrit, there. From there it was easy, it was similar to trying to remember something. And the actual Junction was like when you actual remember it, surprisingly simple, he figured Ifrit was doing most of the work for him.

'Squall?' He heard the GF's voice inside of his head, it made him jump a little...this was knew

"Ifrit?" Squall called out, looking around the room questioningly.

Ifrit grunted, he could tell by the way Squall was acting,'First time?'

Squall nodded "Yeah…"

'Well don't make your self look foolish by talking.'

It took Squall a mmoment to understand what he was talking about, he figured it out that he didn't have to use his voice, but just speak in his mind since that was what Ifrit was doing.

His mind dwelling on the mechanics of this dwelling, Squall checked over his school uniform before heading out of his shared room in to the long hallway leading to the circular Lobby. Shortly after he past the Training Center he heard Quistis call him. "Squall! Over here!" Following the sound of her voice, he walked over to his instructor who was leading against the railing with a clip board in her hand. Now she was dressed in a gray uniform... "I'll be announcing the squad assignments for the exam now. Let's see... You'll be with..." She lifted her index finger to adjust her glasses before flipping a page in the clipboard. "Zell Dincht. Quite a lively fellow."

Squall was already starting to get annoyed just thinking about it, noticed by Ifrit. "Lively? He's just loud. Can I switch members?" Squall asked, his mood reflected in his voice.

"I'm afraid that's not possible." Quistis told him objecting, glancing over Squall's shoulder at the sight of something familiar, it was Zell a small distance away. He wasn't really paying attention "Over here, Zell!"

Squall glanced over his shoulder, he could see Zell practicing, throwing feign punches and kicks with long since acquired skill. He performs a cartwheel and followed with two agile back flips, landing with his back to them. Finally he turned around with a quick smile as he walked over to where Squall was.

"Whoa! I'm with you?" Zell seemed surprised when Quistis had told him the arrangements, but dismissing it as simple odds he rubed his left hand on his pants leg, and then extends it greetingly to shake... Seeing Squall refused to shake his hand, he retracted it and moved quickly on to another subject. "You don't get along with Seifer, do you? Heard he whooped you pretty bad this morning"

"We weren't fighting. We were training." Squall told him firmly, making it clear.

A silent Ifrit suddenly spoke up 'You lost?'

(I didn't't lose, we were training, that's all.) Squall told him.

'…' Ifrit was silent again, it was unclear to Squall what he was thinking of.

"I bet you he doesn't think so." Zell said with a clearly disbelieving tone "Look, Seifer's just being a pain in the ass. All you have to do is ignore him."

"That's none of your business." Squall said coldly.

Seeing where this conversation was going, Quistis interrupted "None of your business? Ahem...Excuse me, but...That Seifer you're talking about...He's your squad leader."

Zell flinched "SAY WHAT?"

"It can't be changed." Quistis said simply. "Seifer! Are you here?"

Just as Quistis had thought Seifer was near by, arriving moments later along with Fujin and Raijin.

(Fujin and Raijin tagging along as usual...) Squall thought (Guess that makes up the whole

Disciplinary committee.)

"You're the squad leader. Good luck to you." Quistis informed him.

"...Instructor. I hate it when people wish me luck. Save those words for a bad student that needs them, eh?" Seifer replied smartly.

"OK then. Good luck, Seifer." Quistis shot back with the same smart tone.

A small laugh could be heard from Zells direction, farther annoying Seifer. He lleaned back a little and said "Add Instructor Trepe to the list." to Raijin. Zell and Quistis both rolled there eyes.

(The list...? What is it?) Squall seemed to be the only one that actually thought about it.

'He's just using it to intimidate you, Zell and annoy the instructor, there is no list.' Ifrit reassured him, he could tell that from a simple look. He also picked up who was who from the previous conversation, apparently he had been paying attention.

"Well then. You're all assigned to Squad B, I'll be the instructor in charge." Quistis announced "Teamwork is of the utmost importance. Let's get through this exam, everyone."

Seifer intervened again"Listen up! Teamwork means staying out of my way It's a Squad B rule, don't you forget it!" He said arrogantly, Zell obviously became annoyed and angry with Seifer for his presumptuousness, unable to understand how he could be the leader of their group, or any for that matter.

The head master soon entered to see everyone off. "Everyone here? It's been a while, everyone. How's everyone doing?..." Seeing no one was particularly in the mood, Cid skipped past pleasantries. "This exam will involve 12 members from Squads A through D, you will be proceeding to a real battlefield. Obviously, the battles are for real. Life and death, victory and defeat, honor and disgrace... Each of these go hand in hand, there's only one way or the other. How 'bout it? Are you still up for this?... You will be accompanied by 9 See D members, should you fail, these members shall get the job done. They always do... Well, that's one less worry on your mind. The pride of Balamb Garden! The elite mercenary force, SeeD! Learn from them, obey their commands and accomplish the mission. Prove yourself worthy of becoming a member of SeeD. Best of luck."