Part 11:
The noise made some of the soldiers that searched near by jump, running towards where they heard the sound come from...finding Seifer holding Quistis in his arms as he sat on a rock, wiping the blood of the scratches off her face gently, gazing at her moon lit beauty with a stunned, yet peaceful look on his scarred face...
'Who are you...?' gasped a voice of one of two soldiers that appeared out of nowhere, taking a fighting position in front of him...
'You're not one of us...we don't use those weapons...show your face...' groaned the other one as Seifer looked at them in surprise, still holding onto Quistis caringly...
'You're right...I'm not...we are here to stop whoever is planning on claming Tear Blossom...' Seifer explained calmly as he ripped his mask off his face and looked at them fearlessly...
'Seifer? ... How's it going, dude!' said one of them enthusiastically as he approached Seifer in surprise...
'You know this guy!' asked the other one in shock...
'You mean this bloke? Of course...the three of us...me, Cryo and Seifer...getting into trouble all the time...huh!' chuckled the guy as he came nearer to Seifer, getting a closer look at his friend...
'That's right, Wiren...those were the days...seems like only yesterday when we blew up Mrs. Joon's kitchen'...' Seifer remembered the days he spent in Ganahir when he travelled the world and made friends with Wiren and Cryo...
'Yeah...I'm afraid Mrs. Joon has ...has passed away...yeah...' the smile faded off Wiren's face...
'What!...h-how...?... she was young...she couldn't have...' Seifer's mouth dropped open...
'Far too young...those murderers... they'll pay someday...for all they have done...to our families...right now we have choice but to collaborate...they threaten to hurt our loved ones if we resist...' Wiren explained...
'...who are they!' groaned Seifer furiously...
'...they're servants of Samuiiha...known as The Serpents of Samuiiha...from what we heard...ugly beasts...look more like trolls to me...oh...and that was quite something out there, Seifer...the whole stop, drop and roll thing of the head...that was great...that trolls head scrolled away nicely...' grinned the other soldier who accompanied Wiren...
Suddenly, out of nowhere a horn sounded from far away in the distance...
'We better go...we supposed to re-establish our initial positions...this time closer to the centre...Bye Seifer ...Hope to see ya soon...' Wiren and his colleague saluted weirdly, bowing down and as he lift his head up again, placed his semi-closed hand on their forehead, with their thumb, indicator and medium fingers out...
'Yeah...bye...we'll meet again...' mumbled Seifer looking back at Quistis who laid peacefully in his arms, her beautiful face all scratched up violently...
Seifer continued gazing at her, she was there in his arms, her darkened peaceful face lit by the moon light...so vulnerable, so peaceful, she had no words to say to him, no lectures to give him, no insults for him...She was completely silent and yet she still affected him, he couldn't quite explain it...it was a weird electrifying feeling that he felt trough the veins in his arms straight into his chest...it was strange...
The only thing he could think of was what would have happened to her if he hadn't came in time...
He pulled her torn mask off...her red carmine lips, where so delicate...so desirable...so kissable...there was a tiny little scratch on her top lip with a tiny speckle of blood on it, which made Seifer without hesitating rub it off with his thumb and look at the tiny speckle of blood shinning on the tip of his finger for a few seconds...absentmindedly touching his lips slowly with the same finger as he stared at her with the most weird and unexpected expression on his face...(scary!)
Quistis's eye twitched. She was coming to her senses. Seifer just continued staring at her, reaching for his flashlight to light up the place...
Quistis opened her eyes quickly and shut them at the same speed, for she saw everything blurry and felt a bit dizzy...She rubbed her eyes with her hands and then just sat there on his lap, with her hands on her eyes for a few moments, trying to get rid of the dizziness...
When she slid her hands of her eyes and opened them slowly, two big bulging eyes stared in hers...she caught a fright...
There were these big blue darkened eyes staring in hers...this made her jump...and scream...
Quistis jumped out of his arms and squeaked, still dizzy as she took a few steps backwards she fell hard on her knees and stared petrified at Seifer, thinking he was that beast that had attacked her...
When she finally noticed the blue eyes belonged to Seifer's forever mocking face, she sighted furiously and relieved, moaned out of frustration as she banged her fists on the ground furiously...keeping her head down...
'That thing tried to kill you...' Seifer said seriously as he continued sitting on the rock, whipping his mouth with his hand and looking at the blood on his hand casually...
Quistis remained silent, feeling weak, still kneeling on the ground as she chocked on her breathing...
Seifer got up and walked up to her...
Quistis tried to get up with the little strength she had left, struggling in the process...Seifer decided to help her, holding her under her arms as he pulled her up with almost no effort...
'I thought...I thought I told you to get lost...' she winced weakly as he held her under her arms, their faces one inch apart from each other...
'I did...but you were in my way...it's your fault I found you...you came to my side...' Seifer smirked softly at her, still staring into her eyes as he spoke as a little irritating smile grew from one end of his mouth and besides looking very attractive while grinning like that, Quistis wouldn't forget his words...they would echo in her head every time she saw his mocking face...
'Just leave me...don't touch me...' she groaned as she pulled his hand off her arm brutally...
Seifer just stared at her with a little irritating smile on his face as she took a few steps away from him feebly...
'I'm out of here...' mumbled Seifer a few moments later unfolding his arms and walking away cooly...
'Thank goodness...' sighted Quistis as she heard the grass moving as he walked away...
A few seconds later she heard the grass moving and footsteps again...
Quistis turned around quickly and stared into the darkened bushes...hoping it wouldn't be another beast...
The thing was approaching her, she heard it coming towards her...the steps were closing in on her and she was in complete darkness...
'Thinking twice...I'll stick around...just in case...you know...it would be quite a loss if you died...being an instructor and all...and probably wouldn't be very practical to carry around your corpse with us, either...so I think I'll stick around...' Seifer smirked once again, switching on his flashlight, giving Quistis a fright when he started talking, pointing the light into Quistis's face on purpose...
Quistis kept still and quiet, until about two seconds later there, she marched up to him and there sounded a huge SLAP...
Quistis slapped Seifer's face furiously; making his face stay in the same position her hand had forced it to for a few moments, in shock...She gave Seifer a peace of her mind...
'Wow...Now...that was unexpected...I think you're learning some things with me...maybe if you go on you'll improve your skil...' Seifer started, trying not at all to make her feel as if she had won the battle...
'Shut up! That's an order...I don't need you hanging on my back to tell how bad I am as an instructor, Ok? I've had enough...I got the picture, Ok?...just give me a break...shut up or...just get lost, ok!' Quistis lost her temper with his stupid comments...
Seifer never hesitated on that moment and grabbed Quistis by her thin wrists brutally, dropping the flash light on the ground, making it point up straight to his face, lighting his face upwards, making him seem quite gloomy as he stared in her eyes frighteningly. His face stood a few millimetres away from hers challengingly...
Quistis opened her mouth in shock and tried to say something, but no words would come out...
'Listen little instructor Trepe...I don't take orders from anyone...I do what I want...do you hear me! I do what I want!...no one gives me orders...not you, not anyone...I won't shut up!...because I don't feel like it...and I won't get lost either...I'm staying with you...now if you have a problem with it I'm sure we'll come to an understanding won't we?...I'm sure you'll do what I want...I'm in control here, not you Treppy...got it?...' Seifer clenched his teeth as he spoke threateningly. Quistis could feel his breath on her face as he spoke threateningly to her...
'...Never...' Quistis winced as she wrinkled her nose in fury, clenching her teeth as well, staring in his eyes, showing no fear spitting in his face after a dirty look, leaving a blob of spit on the corner of his mouth...(YUK! OO)
Seifer blinked as she spat on his face, still holding her wrists tightly, tightening them a bit more now...as he approached his face a bit more to hers coolly, still grinning dangerously...their noses now touched, Quistis was struggling to let her self go from his "claws"...they remained silent for a few seconds, only Quistis fast heavy nervous breathing could be heard...
'What does that mean...?' he whispered to her calmly...
'I h-hate you...' Quistis teeth now clenched even more furiously now as she stared into his eyes which were so close to hers, intimidating her so badly it mad her furious...
'...guess what...?...' Seifer smirked whispering in her ear, nibbling on it softly afterwards, making Quistis jerk out of anxiety...
'...I hate you too...' Seifer finally said still whispering, now looking back into her eyes dangerously...
Seifer then with a provocative grin on his face, opened his mouth a little bit and approached his face to Quistis's, grabbing her bottom lip with his lips tightly, still staring into her eyes deeply as he caressed her lip with his softly, then went on kissing her...
Quistis just froze in his arms, she was completely limp, she just lost all the strength in her arms and stood there in shock as Seifer kissed her so intensely...her head blanked out...she couldn't think of anything, Seifer just went on kissing her paralysed lips as he looked into her eyes intensely, trying to see her reaction...
Finally Quistis realised what was happening to her, felt her body again and pulled away brutally, breathing nervously as she stared at him in panic and disgust, her eyes wondering around his face quickly in panic and fury...
'Now, now...don't panic, instructor Trepe...an instructor is to remain indifferent to any flirting students...isn't that part of the agreement...? Huh?' Seifer tried to provoke Quistis once more...
'Stop it!...Seifer, stop it!...let me go!...Stop it!' Quistis yelled frustrated at this whole situation, not knowing how to react as tears blossomed out of her beautiful painful eyes...
Quistis continued to struggle to break free from Seifer's hands, finally doing it when Seifer gave her a last intimidating look, letting go of her, making her stumble and fall to the ground painfully...
Seifer just picked his flashlight up coolly, whipped his mouth brutally, still grinning wickedly at her and walked away, leaving her in complete darkness... saying a few last nasty words before he disappeared...
'...Oh...and about your career as an instructor, Trepe...I would resign...no sober headmaster would ever admit having such a weak Instructor in their school...specially such vulnerable one to flirting...it's embarrassing...' smirked Seifer coldly, now back faced to her, leaving her in complete darkness as he walked away carelessly...
Quistis heart was broken...this was the worst it could get...after this, Quistis felt like running away from that place and start a whole new life somewhere else, far away...life had no meaning to her...she wasn't doing anything there...all she had there was pain and emptiness...this wasn't the life she wanted...it wasn't what she had in mind...she already had problems with Squall, now with Seifer...it was too much for her wounded heart, she couldn't take it any longer...she had to do something...but what?
Quistis dropped to the floor in exasperation, dug her hands into the ground angrily and cried loudly in pain and frustration...
'So...did you hear anything of interest...?' Laguna asked as he approached Squall who stared at the distance, his mind clouded in thought...
'Huh?...oh...No...not yet...' Squall answered as he turned around in surprise and frowned as his eyes lowered down...
'Errr...look, man...if I said anything that didn't please you down there...I'm sorry...but I couldn't take it...so many years without...' Laguna tried to make Squall understand...
'I don't know what you are talking about...' Squall mumbled as he walked passed Laguna in a rush...
'Squall...! Don't go...!...we have to talk...' Laguna was sorry for starting the conversation again, but he couldn't help it, he wanted desperately to tell the truth, but it was so hard...he couldn't stand the burden...
Laguna banged his foot on the ground in fury (he was mad at himself) and suddenly felt it go all stiff again, his leg cramped up...
'Argh! My leg!' he winced as he reached out for his leg in pain...
'Oh my gosh...my poor leg...I'll probably have to chop it off someday...' Laguna was going through a hard time with his leg...
Laguna walked a bit, trying to loosen up his leg.
Laguna was heart broken, he wanted so much to be accepted by Squall...but he wasn't responding the way he hoped Squall would...he had no idea how to get through to Squall anymore...it was too hard...and too painful...he thought he'd give it a rest, maybe Squall was having enough trouble already, maybe his mind was already too stressed out to handle the truth, Laguna thought...If he knew Squall wouldn't take it lightly, he might as well wait for the opportune moment to speak to Squall...maybe when everything was over... Although being a bit sad and depressed, Laguna tried his best to smile all the time...he knew that if he transmitted good vibes to the others they would be much more successful...he wasn't going to fall apart now...he couldn't.
'Hey everyone...lets get together... I think we've had enough time on this...lets meet up at the checkpoint...got it everyone?' Laguna asked still in pain...
'Got it...' answered Selphie right away...
'Sure...' answered Quistis a few moments later...
'In a sec!' Zell said eagerly.
Laguna felt a bit hurt with Squall's attitude, not answering his call, like the others, but tried to understand...
'I'll be there.' Squall answered firmly a minute later, making Laguna's heart loosen up a bit.
'Good...thanks guys...' Laguna answered back gladly.
The comrades made their way silently towards the departure point...
Quistis had no choice but to go back, she had to face Seifer again...but it had to be...she wasn't going to let Seifer have his way...he probably expected her to disappear and never appear again like he hopped she would...But that wasn't going to happen, Quistis assured herself. Seifer wouldn't laugh at her again...he wasn't going to be right, she was going to prove him wrong...
Quitis thought seriously on what she was going to do next and decided to finish this mission, she wan't going to let Headmaster Cid down...she had to give her best on this mission, she had to prove him wrong...
Irvine and Selphie strangely spent the whole time silent; they just held each others hand and giggled every time they would catch each other looking at one another at the same time...
They were so relieved they didn't have to hide anymore from each other...it was a great weight taken off their shoulders...
Zell held Rinoa's hand the whole way, trying to show her she was safe, reassuring himself deep down that nothing would happen to her, imaging Squall's face if something did all the time...
Laguna as sad as he was, tried to force a smile on his face, practising on his own so when the time came nobody could tell what was on his mind...
Squall on the other hand, frowned all the way, wondering what the other comrades had found out...while thoughts about his bond with Laguna would insist on intercepting his line of thought, fighting it away all the time at all cost...
Laguna was the first one to arrive there, a few seconds later Seifer and Quistis who remained dead silent, then Rinoa and Zell, then Squall and finally Irvine and Selphie who came walking calmly out of the bushes, with the most normal expression on their faces, as if nothing had happened, very calm, very normal...
'Hi everyone...well, I've heard some dudes talk and it sounds like they are being forced to be here...something weird is going on...' Laguna said shyly as he awaited someone to start speaking as well...
'...they here against their will...' added Squall absentmindly...
'Oh, yeah...Rinoa and I heard some things!...Errr...that Tear Blossom thing is a very powerful plant...sounds like those guys out there have to find it or they'll be "doomed"...!' Zell informed enthusiastically as he looked and all his comrades.
'Laguna, it's not these people we're after...it's someone else...they're innocent...it's not them...' Quistis gasped desperately as a look of fear and preoccupation invaded her pretty face...
'Calm down...Quistis, is everything alright? Are you ok? What happened?...' Laguna asked worriedly.
'...yeah...one of Samuiiha's trolls tried to sack her...he... he...I don't think I've ever sliced anyone's head off before...' he smirked waving his Gunblade coolly...
Quistis remained silent for a while, realising it had been Seifer who saved her...this made her mad, real mad...it was humiliating...being saved by her enemy...it was the worst there could be...she preferred to die then to thank him...
'...Quistis!...what did they do to you?' Selphie asked worriedly as both her and Rinoa ran quickly up to her and held her cold trembling hands as they starred at her...
'I'm fine girlse...I don't want to talk about it...' she mumbled...
'Quistis...is there anything else you need to tell us!' Squall approached Quistis to look in her eyes...
'Yes...' she said under her breath...'we have to get out of here...we shouldn't be here...they are killing people out there...we have to move...' she said feebly as she breath in slowly and nervously...
'...where must we go?...' Squall questioned her a bit puzzled...
'...I don't know...to these soldiers home perhaps...that's their base...Samuiiha's soldiers...' she mumbled...
'...Samuiiha...who the hell is that!...I'll whoop him out so badly, he won't know what hit him...!' asked Zell furiously as he punched the air in his usual violent manner...
'...they are in Ganahir...' groaned Seifer as he leaned against a tree coolly...
'...Ganahir, the forest...near the Shummi Village...that's where we must go...' Quistis gasped.
'Right...thanks Quistis that was of great help...you too Seifer...let's head back to the cabin...we can plan everything there...I think we've got some maps...' murmured Laguna as he started walking off into the bushes...
'C'mon...' groaned Squall as he followed Laguna...
To be continued...