Chapter 3: Uninvited Guest Above-Board

"Is everyone onboard?" asked Selphie. Irvine looked behind and counted the rest. Quistis was talking with Zell, Rinoa was admiring the scene outside the Ragnarok, and Squall was standing next to her with an arm around her.

"Yeap, everybody's here. Off we go to Esthar!"

"Right on!" Selphie said with a thrill. She flipped some switches, and the Ragnarok rumbled to life. "Ragnarok, takeoff!"

The Ragnarok began to lift off into the air. Below, they could see two figures waving at them, which were Headmaster Cid and Matron Edea. The longer the Ragnarok flew, the smaller they got until they disappeared beneath the clouds.

"Squall! Are you ready?" Selphie turned to Squall.

"Yeah."

"Okay, here we go!"

The Ragnarok lurched to the side and started moving forward towards their destination, Esthar. In the cockpit, everyone could see the blanket of clouds laid out before them like a cotton sea. Although it was morning, they could see the huge moon beaming down from the sky on their left, and the glowing fireball of a sun on their right. The Ragnarok skimmed smoothly above the clouds, sending ripples of it into some astonished birds that were flying at that high altitude.

"How long before we reach Esthar?" asked Squall.

"Mmm…about one hour," replied Selphie as she pulled the control lever forward. "We're going at maximum speed."

"Cool! I could see Balamb!" said Rinoa, pointing down at a small green island with a small mountain. Ragnarok passed by the island in seconds. "And Timber!"

"Now, now, aren't we getting a little animated here?" quipped Irvine.

"No…not until, WOAH! Hey guys! Take a look at this!"

"What is it, Selphie? Woah…," mumbled Irvine under his breath, leaning forward in front.

"What's the matter, Irvine, Selphie?" Quistis had gotten up and walking towards them. "I don't see…oh, my…"

"What? What? What's going on?" asked Zell. Everyone had gathered at Selphie's place and looking out of the windscreen. Everyone was shocked and awed.

Outside of the windscreen, in front of them, flew a serpent-like dragon with a pair of thin, fragile wings flapping slowly as it slithered in the air. Its reddish-gold body glistened brightly beneath the sun, and its fiery tail swished here and there in motion with its flight. As it reared its golden horned head back at them, it blinked its ruby-red eyes and bared its razor-sharp teeth.

"Mr. Dragon does not like us," Selphie said as she slowly maneuvered the Ragnarok to the side. The dragon turned back to the front and followed suit.

"A new dragon species?" wondered Quistis aloud.

"It can't be. Let me Scan 'em," said Zell. Then he thought it over. "Oh wait…we can't. We can't do magic without GFs."

The dragon now faced them at the side of the windscreen as it slowed a bit. It roared at them.

"Why do these monsters enjoyed roaring at us?!" asked Zell.

"Because they wanted to ATTACK us!" Selphie yelled as the Ragnarok suddenly shook violently as a huge fireball scorched the windscreen. Just as the smoke cleared, she saw the dragon released another huge fireball towards the cockpit.

"AHH! Incoming fireball!" Selphie quickly brought the Ragnarok higher just as the flaming ball shot inches below the cockpit. It disappeared into the clouds, burning a hole where it had bore through, with smoke trailing along its path.

"Selphie! Control!" called Zell as he clung onto the backseat of Selphie.

"Sorry! Is everyone alright?"

"Everyone's fine. You have to get us to Esthar quickly now," Squall said. Selphie nodded gravely. She had to get rid of the dragon somehow; or else, everyone aboard the Ragnarok will be in danger. Her grip on the control lever grew tighter. She did the only thing she could think of.

"Hang on everybody!"

She pulled the control lever, and the Ragnarok suddenly ascended higher than ever into the air. Fortunately, the Ragnarok was built with reinforced steel using the high technology of Esthar; otherwise, the strong air pressure at the altitude they were flying would have crushed the entire cockpit.

However, the dragon did not find it a problem; it ascended even higher than the Ragnarok. It flew higher, and they could no longer see it.

"Where could it have flown?" Selphie asked as she looked for it.

Then they heard the dragon's loud cry above them.

"Above!" said Irvine. The Ragnarok started to rock roughly again. Everyone heard a heavy thud above their heads. Then a wrenching sound as something sharp embedded itself onto the airship. They heard the dragon roared again.

"Don't tell me that dragon clung onto the top of the Ragnarok!?" said Zell. "We can't let fly all the way to Esthar with that thing on us!"

Squall thought of the only thing to do: fight the dragon.

"We have to fight the dragon," said Quistis, as if she had read Squall's mind. This did not surprise Squall. He knew Quistis could always read his mind, although he had always wondered how she could do so. He saw her smile at him. "That's what you were thinking, weren't you, Squall?"

He nodded.

"What!? Go up into the open air and fight that thing? No way!" said Zell. "Besides, we can't do any magic, so…"

"Then we rely on our weapons." He looked at his comrades. He started to come up with a plan to get rid of the dragon. "Selphie, slow down the Ragnarok and descend lower."

"Roger!" The Ragnarok started to descend slowly until it was just above the clouds. The dragon above her screamed again.

"I'll need a group to fight the dragon."

"Count me out," said Zell. "I'd rather fight where I'm near the ground. Besides, I can't summon anything nor do any magic. The dragon will made me his snack in one bite."

"Then stay here!" Selphie chirped from the pilot's seat. "Don't worry, I can take care of him!"

"Selphie…" Zell hung his head down. "Oh fine…whatever…" Zell joined Selphie at the pilot's seat.

"No objections from the rest?" asked Squall.

"Since it's a battle in the air, we can only bring a few people up," said Quistis.

This means I can bring only two people along again, though Squall. He looked from Rinoa's hopeful face to Quistis' determined one to Irvine's casual self. He thought for a few moments before coming to a decision.

"I'll need Irvine to shoot at the dragon as distraction, while me and Quistis will do the rest." Squall turned to Rinoa. "I'm sorry I can't bring you."

"Why?!" Rinoa cried.

"It's too dangerous!" Squall said.

"But…"

"Please, Rinoa…listen to me." Squall held her shoulders firmly. Her pleading brown eyes bored into his. "You have to stay here." He saw her shook her head. He sighed and tried again.

"Rinoa, I'll be right back as soon as I can…I promise." Seeing this, Rinoa finally consented to his wish and slowly nodded. He gave her one last hug before turning to Quistis and Irvine who were waiting at the door. "Let's go."

* * *

The red hatch slid opened. Squall's brown bangs peeked up from beneath as he slowly climbed out of the hatch. The screeching wind brushed into him roughly as he crouched as low as he could to the slowing airship. He helped to bring Quistis up, and Irvine climbed out next, tugging his cowboy hat close on his head to keep it from flying away.

In front of them, the golden dragon had dug its claws into the airship's exterior, leaving holes the size of huge boulders. Its fire-lit tail swished back and forth, its lavender wings neatly folded as it swung its golden horned head at them. It blinked it ruby-red eyes and screamed at them.

Squall calmly brandished out his Lionheart. The weapon glowed in an intense white-blue, and he braced himself for the attack. Quistis whipped out her Save the Queen, and whipped sharply onto the metal surface, indicating she was ready. Irvine took the center formation as he casually eyed the dragon that now reared its head up, bearing down upon them with contempt.

"You ready?" Quistis asked. Irvine nodded and took a step forward.

"Let's get started!" Irvine called. With that, he swiftly whipped out his Exeter and started unloading rounds after rounds of ammunition towards the dragon, gunshots ringing loudly in the air. The whizzing bullets struck its head, but bounced back and dropped uselessly onto the airship before rolling away into the clouds beneath in waste. The dragon watched Irvine lazily, its red forked tongue slithering slyly in and out, mocking Irvine. This provoked the cowboy.

"You wanna play? I'll show you who you're toying with!" He emptied his Exeter and loaded glowing news ones in an instant. Then he stared firing away at the dragon, which started to cry in rage and agony as every bullet struck home. The dragon instinctively covered itself with its lavender wings, but the rounds of shells continued to rain through its thick, leathery wings, as though it were nothing. An ear-splitting shriek rang in the air as it swung its head here and there, dark red blood oozing down its left eye.

"Bingo," muttered Irvine softly as he blew the white smoke emitting from his Exeter. Nobody ever taunts Irvine Kinneas without escaping his Shot of Pulse Ammos.

"Irvine…" Quistis shook her head and went forward for the next assault.

She started lashing out fiercely, hitting every part of the dragon's thick hide wherever she could. Enraged, the dragon suddenly stretched out its bullet-riddle wings at Quistis, only a few seconds late as she expertly jumped aside to evade its attack. But she did not see the incoming whip-like fire-tail homing in from behind her.

"Quistis! Look out!" Irvine's voice rang out. Quistis turned back in surprise just as Squall grabbed her from behind and pulled the two of them down. The both of them fell down onto the hot, metal surface of the airship's roof, the dragon's tail missing them by a few inches.

"You alright?" Squall's voice came as Quistis looked up into his concerned, gray-blue eyes. She slowly nodded and Squall stood back up. He laid a hand on her shoulder and said, "It's best you stayed with Irvine. Let me finish this."

"But Squall-LOOK OUT!" Before he knew it, the dragon had expanded its wings once more and sent Squall flying into the air and slamming onto the roof's surface with a few heavy thuds away from her. His Gunblade spun in the air a few times before landing with a loud CHINK embedded in the metal exterior next to him.

"Squall!" she cried, standing back up just as the Ragnarok shook violently once more. The momentum sent Quistis onto the edge and she watched with horror as she started to slide off the airship.

She was going to fall.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Ooh…the evil cliffhanger. *grins* I don't go around writing cliffhangers, but this pops up, so…wait till next chapter and see what happens ^_^ And if you played Final Fantasy X, you'll notice that the dragon in this fic is sort of like Evrae of Bevelle, only stronger. I just love writing about battles ^_^ It's fun.

A big thanks to my fellow reviewers:

Mogmatt

Mystik Surreality

And Lis, to go to Gamefaqs , search under Gamefaqs.com and it'll immediately appear. I wonder why the link doesn't appear correctly in the reviews, but oh well, maybe some HTML error or something. Good luck in completing the mission!

Next chapter: Chapter 4 – Fight Above and Beneath