Poor, Zell. Poor, poor Zell.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but three darned characters. Yahta, yahta yahta….
Chapter Twenty-Three
"I HATE that duck!" Zell yelled throwing a rock into the water.
"Hey! We might have needed that!" Selphie exclaimed.
"Sending us, SeeD, out to gather ROCKS!" Zell yelled again at the top of his lungs, complaining. His voice echoed across the barren water. They were out by the waters of a very large lake south of the Lunatic Pandora Laboratory.
"Zell, he's looking for a certain element that's found only in rocks found along this area. Just remember, the more we help Odine, the more of an advantage we gain. Plus, if we were at the lab, we'd only be bothering him," Selphie retorted, bending down to examine a particular rock.
"Whatever," Zell muttered.
"Now you're starting to sound like Squall!" Selphie squealed.
"Hey, guys!" Irvine called from further down the land. "I think I may have found it!"
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Squall sat up. He rubbed his head and tried to focus his eyes. Where was Quistis? And Rinoa!
"Squall? Is that you?" someone asked. He felt a hand touch his face. "Squall, it's me." He recognized her voice. He would know her voice anywhere.
"Rinoa? Where are you? I…I can't see you." His voice faltered. She put her arms around his neck and moved his head onto her shoulder.
"I know. It'll pass. Give it a few minutes. It's not a very powerful blind spell. Just be patient." Her voice was soothing. "It'll be okay." Rinoa felt a certain moisture sink into her clothes.
"Rin, what's happened?" Squall started to see light. Slowly, but surely, his eyes were focusing.
"I'm not sure, but I think Ultimecia attacked us and somehow got us here. I think we're in the dungeon of her castle. Quistis is still knocked out," Rinoa responded, running her fingers through his hair. She frowned on her own words, but she still had not found a good time or way to tell them.
Squall nodded as he was finally able to look around. The room they were in was dark and cold. In the corner there was a single torch that wasn't much help. There were four stone walls with no windows. There was also a thick wooden door.
"There's no way out. I've looked everywhere for any type of escape, but there isn't any," Rinoa said, following his gaze. Squall suddenly sat up. He heard a slight moaning.
"Oh, ouch! Hello? Squall? Rinoa?" Quistis called from one of the corners. Squall and Rinoa both got up and walked over to her. Squall's back did not like the sudden movement that he made.
"Okay, something's wrong here. I can't see, my head is spinning, and my backside hurts quite badly. Where are we?" Quistis asked once a hand was placed on her shoulder by Rinoa.
"Don't worry, Quistis, it'll pass," Rinoa comforted her.
"Quistis, Rinoa thinks that we may be in Ultimecia's dungeon." Squall looked over at Rinoa. She smiled weakly at him.
"We have major problems. I don't think there are any ways out, and we have to stall or stop Ultimecia! We can't let her achieve Time-Compression!" Rinoa was panicking. Squall wanted to do something for her. He wanted to comfort her somehow. He slid over next to her and put an arm around her shoulders.
"So what are we supposed to do?" Quistis asked, rubbing her eyes. "How do we get out?"
"I…have no idea." Squall rested his chin on Rinoa's head. There was no use defying the truth; they were trapped with no way out. Ultimecia had them completely powerless. Unless they could get out in time or somehow warn the others, Ultimecia would achieve Time-Compression.
"Well, we can't just sit here and wait for the world to end!" Quistis jumped up, slightly losing her balance. Squall reached out an arm for her to steady herself with. "Squall! I never thought you'd give up that easily! You never give up! And don't think I'm going to let you now!"
"Well, what do you expect we do? We are stuck, Quistis! Stuck!" Squall replied testily. "We can't do anything even if we made it out of this Hyne-forsaken dungeon, there is no way in HELL we could make it out alive. Ultimecia probably has this place swarming with her monsters. We wouldn't survive. But if you want to try, go ahead, I'm sure there's a stick or a spoon somewhere. See you in a couple of years," Squall added icily.
"Squall, when you think about things on the negative side, they tend to turn BAD! Please stop!" Quistis yelled.
"Well, excuse me for speaking the TRUTH!" Squall yelled right back, though louder. Much louder.
"Sometimes the truth shouldn't always be heard! Sometimes the truth isn't always what you think it is! For once, Squall, think outside the box!" Quistis scolded. (Men are always thinking on the negative side of things.)
"What if I don't want to? I'd like to stick to the truth, if you don't mind. The truth may hurt, but at least in means something, Instructor," Squall snapped.
"Will both of you stop it, please? You're getting us nowhere!" Rinoa moaned, moving away from Squall's embrace and putting her head in her hands. "Yelling at each other won't solve this! We need to work together!" Rinoa sat down on the cold, stony floor again and pulled her knees up to her chest and buried her face in them. She hated to see her friends and the man she loved fight. But this wasn't easy for them. When under pressure, tempers are tested.
"Rinoa, we're sorry. This must be harder for you," Quistis' face turned deep red. Squall kneeled beside the girl apologetically. He laid a hand on the base of the back of her neck. He was aiming for her shoulder, but the lack of light caused him to miss.
"It's okay, just please stop fighting! We'll never get out of here if you don't!" she cried out. Squall stroked her hair and nodded and Quistis kneeled at her other side and patted her shoulder.
Minutes passed before any of them said anything. They had moved about a bit. Quistis now sat with her back against the wall in deep thought, and Squall sat opposite in the shadows with Rinoa in his arms. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was deepening, but every now and then she would shiver against the cold of the room.
"Is she asleep?" Quistis asked of the leader after some time.
"I believe so." Squall watched the rise and fall of her chest to confirm. "Yeah…"
"Squall, what on Earth do we do? Quistis was worried.
Squall didn't answer at first but gently lay Rinoa down on the ground. He stood and stretched before anwering her. "Honestly, Quistis. I don't know."
"How do we get out? Is there even a way?" She felt useless.
"I don't think so. Like I said, we are stuck. It would take a miracle to get us out of here and we seem to be short on those." Squall was getting tired of this conversation.
"Squall, you have said that enough times to where I now comprehend. I know we are stuck! But I'm trying to think optimistically," Quistis snapped.
"Well, good luck, because I doubt if it will get you anywhere," Squall snapped back, "and you don't sound very optimistic right now."
"Squall Leonhart!" Quistis warned.
"Now what are you fighting about?" Rinoa screamed, sitting up. "You just can't stop, can you? This is what Ultimecia wants, I bet you! For us to turn on each other! 'Oh, let them fight and wipe each other out. Huh! Makes my job easier!'" she mocked.
"She's the one egging it on!" Squall yelled, pointing an accused finger at Quistis.
"I am not! You started it!" and Quistis pointed at Squall accusingly.
"Will you both just stop acting like bickering little kids!" Rinoa walked over to the two, still yelling.
"We're not acting like children!" Squall yelled back at her.
"Don't you yell at me, Squall Leonhart!" Rinoa put her hands on her hips.
"Guys!" Quistis took a step forward. They didn't see what she had.
"WHAT!" Squall and Rinoa yelled in unison.
"Stop yelling! You're loud enough to wake the dead!" Quistis snapped.
"Hyne! All of y'all shut up and come on!" A voiced yelled from behind.
A/N: Hmmm… I wonder. Stay tuned, guys! Later Days!
E/N: MWAHAHA! I know who that is! -zips lip- Okay, enough taunting. :) Heh, I like Rinoa in this one Katelyn. "Don't you yell at me, Squall Leonhart!" She sounds so maternal. -gigglesnort-
A/N: Megan, I did it that way cause that's how my parents were acting the day I wrote it. It's weird, I know and Rinoa's is a bit out of character. Sorry about that y'all.