Okay, here it is. The hard chapter. This one is definitely going to take a while. I hope to have this with lots of detailed action fighting to please all you action speakers out there. Well, let's see what's going on, shall we? ( And my story girl: thank you so much for your continuous reviews. I think you have, above all, motivated me to hurry up and keep posting. Thank you. And lady-rinoa: I have finally decided to take your suggestion and make chapter titles. I hope you like it!)
Disclaimer: I do not own anything except the Ruby Widow, three characters, and at least one place. You all will meet my characters soon enough.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Deeper Than It Appears
The ground kept shaking. They knew it was coming closer. They knew that it would tear through that entire mountain.
Squall was rooted to spot. He now stood in the thing's massive shadow. He could hear it. He could feel it, but wasn't able to see it. A giant glare outside the cave was all that could be distinguished.
"I told you we would be able to know ahead of time when it was coming!" Seifer yelled over the sound. Cracking could be heard of the limestone composition. The place would soon cave in if they didn't get out of there.
The only problem was the big monster that was sent to destroy them. They somehow had to get past the thing or attempt to fight it. But how? How were they going to get past it?
Suddenly, everything stopped. The rumbling, the cracking, everything. The area became eerily silent, sending chills of uncertainty up and down their spines.
Squall wanted to move to look outside. He wanted to see where this thing was. He wanted to know where it stopped - why it stopped.
"What happened?" Quistis asked. She trembled next to Seifer near the entrance. Her eyes remained locked on Squall, searching for answer or something else that may tell her what was going on.
"It's stopped," Squall answered, not turning to look at her but remained fixed looking outside.
"Oh, yeah? You think?" Seifer cocked his head and spoke sarcastically. Squall's head snapped in his direction and glared at him with menacing eyes. The other man bowed his head and held in his tongue. He would have to watch what he said. They weren't done yet. They were nowhere near done.
"What do we do now?" Quistis felt so scared and struggled to control it. She didn't like submitting to fear.
Squall managed to move away from the entrance to Quistis and Seifer. He moved slowly and soundlessly as if he were afraid that the rumbling would start again.
"What do we do now?" Quistis repeated. She had lost all control of her emotions and was on the brink of breaking down. Fear was consuming her and she couldn't fight it off.
Squall stared at Quistis for a few minutes before asking, "Are you all right?" He actually held some concern in his usually emotionless voice.
Quistis shook her head. No, of course she wasn't all right. That's why she was shaking so badly.
Seifer tentatively touched her shoulder. He wasn't used to comforting someone. It wasn't something he normally did. She, in response, grabbed his arm in a near death grip.
"What are we going to do? Seifer, you seem to know this thing better than any of us here. Maybe you can figure something out," Rinoa suggested, joining them. She had been on the opposite side of the cave using what seemed like a steady slab of rock as a support against the tremors.
Seifer scratched his head in thought. What was it that Odine had said about this thing? It had a tricky weakness, one you wouldn't think possible. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of it and they particularly didn't have all the time in the world.
"There was something Odine had said about the Ruby Widow. The thing is, I can't remember what it was. I usually tuned him out 'cause I thought he was just a crazy little freak. I had no idea that I would one day need that crap he tried to tell me." Seifer sighed.
"You don't remember anything?" Squall asked, trying to prod the young man's memory. The one time that Seifer's help was needed, he couldn't give what was asked. What dumb luck.
"Is there any way to destroy it completely? And fast? There has got to be a catch. Why else would she send a monster like this after us? What if it was some sort of way to figure out where we were and sneak up on us while we're busy with the Ruby Widow?" Rinoa questioned quietly. Her voice never rose above a whisper.
"I doubt if that would happen. It's possible, but I doubt it," Seifer answered her. Or was it?
"Why are we just standing here? Are we waiting for this thing to attack us?" Quistis demanded, full of fear that she could not control in any way.
"Well, we don't exactly have a plan to use against the Ruby Widow." Squall folded his arms over his chest. His voice was back to its emotionless state again.
"Are you saying we're sitting ducks?" the blonde woman demanded. Her fear began to subside a bit. She took a few steps forward with hands on her hips.
"Hyne! Don't start that again!" Seifer exclaimed pulling Quistis away from Squall and partly behind him for the time being.
"Yes, please don't," Rinoa agreed but made no movement.
"We have to think of something to do and fast." Squall ran a hand through his hair, completely ignoring what Quistis had tried to start with him.
"Any ideas?" Seifer asked him, then looking at Rinoa and Quistis.
"Maybe there's some way we can catch it off guard." Rinoa turned away and paced a bit in thought. "There's got to be a way we can trick it and get rid of it."
"Like how?" Seifer asked. He diverted all his attention on her now.
Squall did not like the way Seifer was looking at Rinoa. He could feel the anger begin to rise in his face, but he didn't bother to hide it. If only Seifer could hear his thoughts.
"Like maybe you and Squall can keep it busy while Quistis and I sneak up on it and cause damage to it that way." Rinoa looked so excited and didn't see the death glare that Squall had bestowed upon Seifer.
"What do we do? How do we sneak up on it?" Quistis had now jumped into this. She, too, had not noticed Squall.
Rinoa sported a quick, little devious smile. She walked toward the back of the cave and motioned for Seifer, Quistis, and Squall to follow.
"My thought was that this cave is probably deeper than what it looks, and I imagine that it has more than one entrance. I was thinking that you and I could follow the path deeper into the cave and into the mountain. The probability that we'll come out in another area close by is pretty great. We can sneak up to the Ruby Widow and cause some serious damage to it." Rinoa motioned to Quistis to be accomplice.
"But how are we going to survive if we're supposed to fight against that thing? This spider is dangerous," Seifer questioned, almost protesting.
"All you have to do is wait for us to get a head start and then do what you can to keep it busy," Rinoa replied.
"And how are you sure that this will work? If it's indestructible, then how do you plan to beat it?" Squall asked. He was thinking logically even if it was in a negative sense.
"Is there any sort of guarantee that anything will work in this world?" Rinoa demanded of him in return. He said nothing and held his tongue.
"It might just work. Is there any way you can pummel it with some strong magic while we fight it?" Seifer turned to Rinoa.
"My magic isn't that strong but I can try." Rinoa's cheeks flushed a bit. Suddenly, her mind drifted back to what happened on the Ragnarok when she used her powers to connect with the victim of the possessing. Since that happened, she wasn't quite sure if her power was strong or what, but she sure wasn't going to tell the others about it. Not yet, anyway. She wasn't going to say anything until her suspicions were confirmed.
"This is crazy!" Quistis exclaimed, shaking her head. "This is absolutely crazy!"
"Well, do you have a plan?" Rinoa asked. "We have to do something! Even if it's not the best plan in the world, it's still better than nothing."
"Yes, but what if it doesn't work? It's kind of bare-boned, don't you think?" The blonde woman was a bit doubtful.
"Hey, Squall and I can work out what we're going to do while you tow head there. We'll have something ready by the time you two get there. Don't worry about us," Seifer assured the two of them. "You get your job done, and we'll take care of ours."
Squall nodded in agreement. His eyes darted back to the mouth of the cave. He felt uneasy. Outside, things were quiet and it bothered him. He didn't know why that monster wasn't doing anything. Maybe it already knew they were inside but didn't want to do anything just yet. But why would it do that?
"So, are we going to go now or what?" Quistis asked. She looked nervously at the back of the cave. No, she didn't quite fancy going underground. It didn't appeal to her at all.
"We might as well." Rinoa turned to Squall and Seifer. "Are you all right with that guys?" The two of them nodded their approval. Squall didn't look at them. He wasn't too fond of being left alone with Seifer. Who knows what sortof mask will slip away to bring back the old Seifer?
"Okay, so you are going to navigate your way underground to who knows where and hope to come out somewhere else? What if something happens to us before you have a chance to get there?" Seifer asked. He almost let slip a small blood thirsty smile that used to define him.
"You guys will be totally fine. I'm sure." Rinoa smiled.
"Well, let's go ahead and get this over with." Quistis frowned and began to walk farther in the back of the cave.
Rinoa nodded and took a few steps in the direction that Quistis had moved but stopped. She slowly turned around and locked eyes with Squall. She saw the fear and worries in his eyes. He said nothing but stared in her eyes back. She felt locked in time like that, just staring into his endless blue windows. There was something behind his eyes. He silently told her to be safe as she finally broke away and began to follow Quistis.
The two women looked at each other before descending into the depths of the mountain.
They walked in silence. Rinoa led the way, unbothered by the sudden drop in temperature. Quistis, on the other hand, was not as strong against this. It was very damp and cold, and she shivered as she followed Rinoa. They were running out of light and things were about to get a lot darker.
"Rinoa?" Quistis reached out and grabbed the younger girl's shoulder, stopping her. "We're going to run out of light. How are we going to see?"
Rinoa's face was barely visible as she stepped away from Quistis. "Quistis let me ask you something. Why do you think the Ruby Widow stopped if it's supposed to know where we are?"
"I don't know." Quistis shrugged. She fought off a cold chill.
"Well, I don't think that it's looking for us per ce. I think that it's just a chance encounter that it found us. That is, if it even knows we're here." Rinoa stepped back out of the shadows. Quistis stared at her with a confused gaze. She wasn't quite following what Rinoa was getting at.
"What do you mean?" She shuddered again.
"Well, I have this feeling that this thing wasn't sent to destroy us. I think that it was sent here to find something. And if my theory is correct, there is something down here in this mountain." Rinoa looked, or tried to look, down the cave. It was dark and eerie. One could hear the constant drip-drip of the water falling from the structures in the ceiling. It echoed loudly, bouncing off the walls and flying throughout the entire cave.
"You think there is something down here? What do you mean by that? And what do you think is down here? And why didn't you tell the guys?" Quistis asked. She felt so confused, struggling with trying to comprehend Rinoa's way of thinking.
The black-haired girl laughed a bit. She realized that Quistis was confused. She, herself, was confused. She didn't exactly know what was driving her to think in this rational way, but she knew that her feeling there was right. There was something down here. She was sure of that. But what it was, she didn't know.
"Well, I don't know what is fueling this drive in me, but I know there is something down here, and I think that it's something that our enemy wants really badly. I don't know what's down here. Honestly. I decided not to tell the guys because I don't think either of them would believe what I told them. Squall thinks on a too high of a logical level and would try to tell me that what I'm saying is not possible in a certain sense. And Seifer, well…" She trailed off as she looked away.
"Are you implying that maybe Seifer is leading us on?" Quistis asked. She felt a sting of doubt.
"Well, I don't know. I don't really know just what to think. He's helped us so far, but I don't know how long that will last. He could just flip out at any time. I don't want to lead him to whatever it is that's down here that will cause him to desert us and tell you-know-who." Rinoa struggled to not say their enemy's name. She knew the truth. She knew what was going on. The only problem that she seemed to be struggling with was whether or not they would believe her. Her comrades might think that she was crazy.
"But what about the guys? Are they really going to fight the Ruby Widow? If so, are we going to show up and help them out like we said or what?" Rinoa was now pulling the blonde farther down. She could no longer see anything and had to rely on Rinoa to guide her through the darkness. Chills ran up and down her spine and she didn't like it. She had to wonder if this was how the blind felt, having to rely on someone to lead the way.
"If my feeling is right, the guys won't have to fight because when they get outside, the Ruby Widow won't be there." Rinoa didn't understand how she could see the way down this dark cave.
"But that doesn't make any sense! The Ruby Widow made all that noise. How will they not be able to hear or feel it move? Rinoa, I wish you would start making sense here!" Quistis exclaimed in near irritation. This was frustrating.
"Quistis, if that monster is as 'perfect' as Seifer is saying it is, then I imagine that it has a stealth mode that it can use. Remember, Quistis, we're dealing with a half machine-half monster creation. I'm sure it has more abilities than even its creator knows."
"I wish I knew what you were talking about." Quistis sighed.
The two of them suddenly stopped. There was light up ahead in this tight passage.
"Is that what you were talking about?" Quistis asked in a hushed whisper.
"I'm not sure. Probably, though." Rinoa's voice finally showed the first bit of fear and uncertainty. She took a few steps forward but was stopped by Quistis. The young woman had grabbed her by the arm and held her from moving.
"Wait. Stop." Quistis pulled Rinoa around to face her. "We don't know what's down there. How safe can this be? Think about it, Rinoa. What if we're putting ourselves in danger? What if we are putting ourselves in a hole that we're not going to be able to get out of?" Quistis demanded. She stared at Rinoa with almost a glare in her eyes. Her lips were pressed together in a thin, white line. Underneath her harsh exterior she was scared and doubtful. She wanted the guys with them, but she knew, in a way, that Rinoa would never allow it until she felt for sure that the decision was the right one.
"Is there anything that is safe? Can you tell me anything in this world that has a guarantee label saying that it is completely safe? Is there such a thing?" Rinoa asked, becoming angry. She wanted to find whatever it was that her gut feeling was telling her to find.
Quistis let her arms drop to her sides and looked away. "No," she muttered softly. "No, there isn't anything that holds that guarantee." The Instructor stared intently at the dark wall of the cave now, determined not to let her face express the defeat she was faced with.
"Quistis, I will honestly tell you that I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know if this is even me thinking here! I fell like there is this constant wave of energy fueling me. All this raw material is swimming around in me, forming information and directions that I have felt before. It doesn't feel like a bad thing, but I know I shouldn't ignore it just because I don't know where it's coming from." Rinoa gently tapped Quistis on the shoulder. "I don't want to think on the logical side of things anymore. I don't care if this is just some silly gut feeling. I'm going down there. You can turn around if you want. I'm not stopping, not while I'm ahead." Rinoa held a determination in her voice. She would not let go of this until she knew what was happening, until she knew all the answers.
"You know I can't let you go by yourself." Quistis turned back to face the other girl. She had disappointment there, written on her features.
"No one's stopping you. You can leave me alone to do this. It doesn't matter to me. I'm fine by myself. It won't hurt my feelings any." Rinoa insisted.
Quistis did not say or do anything. She really didn't have a choice in the matter. Squall would never let her leave Rinoa alone. If she showed up without Rinoa, Squall would not only get mad, he'd tear down the entire mountain to find her.
Rinoa saw the distant look that Quistis was now sporting. She knew exactly what the young woman was thinking about. In a way, it angered her. A little thought popped up into her head. They were all treating her like a child! Squall, Quistis, and even Seifer! They were treating her like some adolescent that needed to be constantly watched. She was beginning to feel extremely irritated and a frown began to cover face and her cheeks were gaining temperature.
"Quistis, you can go back if you want. I don't care if Squall has a problem with me being alone! I am not a child and I would appreciate it if you all did not treat me as one!" She turned and marched in farther without looking back.
Quistis stood quite dumbstruck. What had just happened, she was not sure of. What she was sure of was the fact that she was now alone. She most definitely did not want to be alone.
"Rinoa! Wait!" She called out into the silence and ran to catch up with the girl who had disappeared from view.
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Squall and Seifer sat in complete silence. Squall was at one end of the cave and Seifer was at the other. They listened and waited.
"Why isn't it doing anything?" Seifer asked. He sat on the ground with his head down and almost directed his question to the floor.
"I don't know. I don't even see it." Squall answered tersely. While Seifer sat at the back, he was stationed at the front staring outside. There had been no movement out there, nothing out of place. It was completely normal. The cave was partly hidden by great bushes and a few small trees. The side of the mountainous area was completely covered with a dense forest. Which was odd because there was very little rain that ever fell in this region. Also, this area was dominant with evil beasts. Monsters that did not come out by day.
"Do you think they've had enough time? Should we get started?" Seifer stood up and stretched.
Squall shook his head. "No, not yet. Wait a few minutes more." He made no other movements but sat completely still. The anticipation was making the blood run faster in his veins. He began to hear drumming in his ears and could feel his heart race in time with the constant drumming. This was truly the sign he needed in order to tell himself that a great battle was coming.
"What are we waiting on? Why a few minutes more?" Seifer asked, making his way up to Squall slowly. He knelt down beside the Commander.
"I'm waiting to see if it will make any movement. I want to know where it is." Squall answered.
"You think that it's purposely hiding and waiting for us to emerge so that we're caught off guard?" Seifer peered outside. His fingers began to inch their way closer and closer to the hilt of his gunblade.
"That was the thought," Squall answered. He felt his palms inside his black gloves begin to sweat. He was getting antsy, ready to take this thing on. But he couldn't be rational. He couldn't let either of them rush too fast into the battle. No, careful planning would have to be made. They needed strategy.
"What are you thinking about?" Seifer wondered. He had been looking at Squall to see a signal of some kind but saw nothing except the wheels turning in his head.
"Strategy. Patience. Planning," was his answer. He finally averted his attention away from the outside to Seifer. "We can't rush into this. We don't want to give this thing the upper hand."
"And how do we avoid that? It has an immunity to everything! How can we prevent it from not having the upper hand?" Seifer demanded. He stood and moved towards the back again but stopped.
"Everything has at least one weakness. We just have to find its weakness and exploit it. In the time it takes us to find that weakness, the other two will probably be back. They can jump in and help us." Squall stood and leaned against the limestone wall.
Seifer frowned. "Speaking of, do you think that what Rinoa said was a little… unlikely?" He wasn't quite sure how to put his words into place. It wasn't that he didn't believe Rinoa; it was just her meaning of it.
"Yes, I thought that too," Squall sighed with light aggravation. "I don't know what's going through her head. She's been acting weird lately. Ever since on the Ragnarok, she's been this way. I don't know why."
Seifer only shrugged and turned his back on Squall and tried to see as well as he could down into the darkness. There wasn't really much to see in his opinion. All that was visible was black.
Squall had been watching Seifer to see what he was doing. He still didn't quite trust him. His bad reputation for causing havoc made him want to watch the other man constantly. He didn't know how long this "good streak" would last.
But something outside suddenly caught his attention. There had been movement of something very larger that had caused the rustling of leaves and bushes out there.
"Seifer!" he hissed causing the other man to jump. "Now it is time." He drew his gunblade soundlessly and moved over to the exit but held back as close as he could to the wall in order to obtain a corner view outside. Seifer followed his example and moved over to the opposite side. He held his gunblade out in front of him also. It was slipping in his sweaty, nervous hands.
Squall indicated that Seifer was to follow him. Putting his finger to his lips, he also made the warning that no sound should be made. Looking outside once more to try to catch a glimpse of the Ruby Widow. When none was seen, he knelt down. He mouthed the word "stealth" to his companion and began to move slowly around the corner to the outside world. Seifer followed him as best as he could.
Squall was out of sight by the time Seifer made it to a safe spot behind a huge tree. There was a clearing beyond those trees. A circle of trees made the area to appear to be like that of an arena.
Seifer was beginning to feel extremely uneasy. He couldn't find Squall anywhere. He looked sound as much as he could without exposing himself and cursed himself for not paying more attention to the direction in which the other man had gone. He stood completely still in silence and waited.
A strange sound was heard then. It was the sound of the grinding of metal combined with the swish of a very large object moving through the air. A hot breeze hit him square in the face and he was engulfed in the horrid stench of decay. The itch in his lungs from the foul air burned his eyes and throat. His body begged for the release from this morbid torture, and it took everything he had in his conscious state to keep from gagging.
He turned his head to look over into the clear area. He, however, did not see trees and bushes but the yellow, bloodstained colors of huge sharp fangs. His eyes traveled up slowly over a leathery, scaly face and when he found the black, void eyes, he was almost sucked in with fear. He found himself immobilized, stuck in the muddy ground. His hands began to tremble and he felt his gunblade begin to slip. He was shaking now. Every bit of him was shaking.
The fangs turned away from him and he fell back as a long, spiky tail almost smacked him.
The great thing turned its fierce attention away from him and found interest in another target. Seifer was now on the ground. The thing's massive tail only missing him by inches. He could hear the strike of metal. Yes, he knew that sound well.
This was the Ruby Widow all right. That was easy to tell by its size. But the thing wasn't ruby colored. It was black and shiny. It held a scaly, leathery skin but one could easily tell that it had a machine side to it as well. All down its massive back, there were metal spikes sticking out. The way its tail moved gave it the appearance that it was linked. Only by looking in it s eyes, would one have been able to tell that it also had living qualities.
Seifer knew that Squall was distracting the thing away from him. He could hear him yelling something at him.
"Seifer! Don't just lay there!" Squall yelled between hit and reactions. He tried to strike at the thing but it blocked every attempt with one of its front claws. It had one set of front claws and four legs. It looked like a mutation. The horns that stuck out of its head looked similar to the Ruby Dragon's but seemed different somehow. It was like they held a hidden ability.
"Come on!" Squall yelled at him again, trying to dodge a series of attacks the monster was striking at him with.
The blond man jumped up and grabbed his gunblade. He rushed as fast as he could to the thing's back and delivered as many blows as he could to distract the thing away from Squall now. He gave blow after blow after blow to the Ruby Widow, but the thing was deflecting every attack. It was almost as if it had an invisible shield that protected it.
It now turned again, glaring its menacing eyes at Seifer. It obviously did not appreciate being attacked from behind. Seifer's gunblade slipped from his hand as he found that, once again, he could not move. He watched with fear-stricken eyes as the monster lifted its front right claw and gave him such a hard blow that he was thrown backward and slammed into a tree several feet away. He tried to raise himself up but found that he could not. The force of the blow had left him feeling as if every bone in his body was broken.
The Ruby Widow was now making its way over to him. To finish the job, no doubt. He moaned as a splitting pain engulfed him. He almost felt like urging the thing to kill him. A low growl came from the beast as it moved closer and closer to him.
Now Squall was watching from behind the monster. He almost turned a blind eye to Ruby Widow as it got nearer to Seifer. He didn't just what it was that drove him, but he found himself racing toward Seifer.
The Ruby Widow was moving slow almost as if it were daring Seifer to try and run away, but he didn't move. He was ready to accept the finishing blow he was about to earn.
Squall stopped dead in his tracks. There was something fishy about what it was doing. It was slinking it s way over to Seifer but it was moving a bit stiffly. Something weird was happening.
The he saw it. It stuck out like a sore thumb. He was actually surprised to see it, really, swinging like that. It was a cord, an electrical cord that was hanging from its far back right leg. Somehow, one of them must have caused it come loose. And because that cord was loose, the monster was losing abilities in its leg. Maybe he could get up there to it and cut the cord off completely. That could buy enough time for him to get to Seifer.
It didn't matter how slow or fast he went, or whether or not he made a sound. The Ruby Widow had focused all its attention on Seifer, giving off the impression that it wanted to do away with Seifer and didn't care about Squall at all. That gave Squall the break he needed. Raising his gunblade, he ran underneath the huge thing and severed the cord off. It fell to the ground, and he rolled away from the Widow and watched.
The Ruby Widow stopped. Its ugly head reared backward and tried to find a culprit. Squall sank low to the ground in hopes of not being seen. The Widow then tried to use that leg. It wouldn't move despite his best efforts. The back leg just hung there, not working. A low growl sounded from the monster expressing its deep aggravation.
As it busied itself with its leg, Squall ran over to Seifer. He tried and tried to get him to move, but the man was unconscious. Cursing under his breath and looking around, he tried to find the cave. It took a lot of effort, but he managed to lift up Seifer and made his way over to the cave entrance.
The Ruby Widow, forgetting about its limp leg, looked up to see that its target was gone. It spotted Squall and let out a deafening roar. It began moving toward Squall at an alarming pace, its tail smashing everything as it chased after him.
Squall missed being chomped down on by only several inches. He tried to support Seifer and run at the same time. When he reached the cave, the monster was very close, too close, and he shoved Seifer in before throwing himself inside. The throw woke Seifer back up and he moaned in pain.
Squall was on his hands and knees trying to catch his breath. The adrenaline was pulsing in his veins at a quickening rate, and he could feel his heart racing to beat the band. He looked up as Seifer rolled over. There was a bloody gash in his left forearm that was squirting blood all over him. He moaned and groaned, trying to force himself to sit up. Squall sort of crawled over to him. He looked at the wound and figured he couldn't heal something that big. His magic ability was pretty weak as it was. Pushing himself up, he stumbled. He then helped Seifer to his feet and attempted to help the man keep his balance.
Now the Ruby Widow wasn't too happy with the fact that it had lost its prey. And out of the that anger, it was ramming into the cave, showing its aggressiveness side. Every time it made contact with the rock, stuff inside would begin to fall. The cave was going to fall through. This wasn't like before. Now large rocks were falling and landing too close to both of them. The only thing to do, to avoid being smashed, was to go the way the girls had gone.
"What do we do? We can't just stay here!" Seifer exclaimed. He felt dizzy and sick on his stomach.
"We have to go down." Squall answered. He grabbed Seifer by his good arm and began to pull him to the back. Both of them stumbled as the pounding by the Ruby Widow became more intense. As they made it down, they heard the crashing of rocks and felt the entrance cave in.
"That was close, too close." Seifer muttered under his breath. He wheezed and coughed from the dust.
Squall nodded. The cave in had cut off any bit of light they had. Now, they stood in complete darkness and the only way to go was down.
"Come on." Squall said. He reached in the dark and found Seifer's arm again. He mildly jerked him forward and began to lead him a few paces before he let go. They walked down in silence, using the damp walls to guide their way. They stayed relatively close to each other so neither of them would get lost or separated.
"Just how far are we going to have to go?" Seifer asked, shivering. He was wearing his big trench coat, but he was still cold.
"I don't know, but we certainly can't go back the way we came." Squall answered, hitting the side of his shoulder pretty hard on something. He groaned angrily.
"I realize that. But how far do you think the girls went before they came upon something?" Seifer asked.
Squall didn't get a chance to answer. A sudden, loud, ear-piercing scream sounded throughout the cave that came from deep within.
Something was wrong. Very, very wrong.
A/N: OMG! That was the longest chapter I have ever typed up! I hope that will semi-satisfy you action people out there. I worked really hard, keep that in mind. Well, I think it's safe to say I have completely changed my original storyline. Oh, well, I'll get it back somehow. By the way, I think I used "completely" a little too much. Could somebody count the number of times I used it and let me know? I didn't mean to do that on purpose. I guess you could say it was the "word of the chapter." Ha ha ha… Laugh or I'll bite your butt.
Lol. Later Days guys! R&R and stay tuned. There is more to come. Much more to come.