Part 22: I don't know…
It was already dark and the moon's bright light reflected onto the snowy grounds where the little snow flakes would land gently. As the four comrades made their way down the steps, they sighted four darkened figures lit slightly by the light provided from the moon: Irvine who seemed to have his arm around Selphie, talking softly in her ear, probably trying to cheer her up. Laguna leaned against the gigantic ship as he looked at a huge map, turning it around over and over again with a puzzled expression on his face. Seifer, isolated, a few feet away from the others casting Firaga on the trees in front of him. And finally a thin, small figure walking up to him and shaking his arm as she made a gesture with her hand and blew out the burning trees.
'There's no need for that, is there Seifer?…' Rinoa muttered disapprovingly with a cold look upon her face after putting the fire out.
Seifer just snorted and followed her with his eyes as she made her way up to Squall.
'Just to show your miserable powers off…how shameful…' he sneered.
Rinoa just ignored him and made her way quickly to the ship's entrance.
'Quistis is everything ok?' Rinoa asked, holding onto Squall's arm gently as she noticed Quistis stressed aura.
'Huh?...Oh…yes, I'm fine, thanks…' Quistis smiled weakly, looking at them both with bleakness, walking away from them and heading quickly in Laguna's direction.
'I give up…' Laguna sighed impatiently, frowned and finally after twisting the map around one last time, he folded it impatiently and stuffed it in his waistcoat's inner pocket.
'Hey, Laguna…Not thinking on giving up on it are you?' Zell approached both of them.
'Leave it up to me…' Zell stretched his hand out proudly and grabbed the map from Laguna's hand as soon as he had taken it out of his pocket.
'Ok…Let me see...So…we're here. And we need to go… there…so we must go south-east…wait. No, no, no… (He turned the map around). We're here…wait a second. If we want to go here…how come…I don't get it…!(he turned the map around once again). Huh! I get it! We're here, so we have to go all the way through here to get… that's a lake…no, no. (After staring for long at the map) Is there any chance Ganahir's is on a lake or maybe next to one?' Zell peeped at Quistis and Laguna with suspicion on his face as they just rolled their eyes.
'Oh, yeah…'course there is…the population consists mainly on aquatic creatures, you know…fish, crabs, frogs…of course not, Zell…' Laguna said sarcastically as he started to gaggle at his own joke.
'You never know…they could be disguised…as you…' Zell answered back to Laguna's joke, passing the map back to him, slapping it on his chest with an accomplished smile.
'…' Laguna sucked in his cheeks and imitated fish lips as he kept a serious mocking face.
Zell just snorted and started having a laughter fit.
'Hey, hey! Boys! C'mon…there's no time for joking around. Use your brains for once; please…this isn't a joke, Ok?' Quistis clicked her tongue with impatience.
Laguna and Zell started to calm down and tried to pull serious faces with some difficulty, every now and then Laguna would pull a "fish face".
'Now there's something I have to inform you about…And I don't want any fighting against it. It's our only chance of being successful on this mission…'
'How, Quisty? We don't have a clue on how the hell to get there on foot and this forest is huge and looks all the same to me…we're probably lost and it's freezing out here! 'Zell said now seriously with a worried tone in his voice.
'I mean…just look at the map…I can try and look, but we don't even know where the hell we are…' Zell grabbed the map back from Laguna and examined it.
'What's up?' Irvine approached Quistis, Laguna and Zell with Selphie under his arm, who seemed a little more lightened up and Squall and Rinoa who walked behind them.
The gang had all circled around Quistis and Laguna (except for Seifer who had disappeared into the forest for a few minutes and then appeared with a dead fox over his shoulder)...
'How sick in your mind can you get?' Selphie muttered as she watched Seifer's shadow swing the creature off his shoulder onto the snowy ground with a loud thump.
'What is he doing?' muttered Zell this time with an aghast expression on his face.
At this Rinoa looked to see what Seifer was doing.
'No!' Rinoa murmured, hiding her face in Squall's shoulder as she saw Seifer's shadow rip the dead creature apart with his sword.
To Rinoa's terrified look, Quistis instinctively looked at what Seifer was doing.
'Seifer is going to show us the way…' she murmured as she watched him cruelly tare the animal apart with disgust.
'What!' Zell gasped with a stupefied smile.
'Sorry, I think I misunderstood…' Irvine scratched his head and closed his eyes for a few moments then looked at Quistis with a disbelieving frown.
'No, you haven't. It's going to be this way: Seifer is our guide into Ganahir….Now don't look at me like that… It's the only way! He knows Ganahir like the palm of his hand…he can lead us discreetly into the place! ' Quistis raised her voice impatiently as she waved her hands.
'Do you think we can trust him on that?' Squall looked Quistis briefly in the eye, then looked down shyly.
'I think we can.' She murmured looking down as well.
'What! Trust that git! Not even dead!' Zell groaned as he crossed his arms impatiently.
'Zell, I'm not going to waste time explaining that it's our only chance of not being seen…we must take advantage of it…' Quistis looked at him, expecting him to quit with his non-cooperative behaviour.
'Yeah sure, go ahead….Trust the jerk… But if he "betrays" you, I'm not gonna stand still…I'll murder him…he's the one who took Adel's side in the first place, just remember that, ok?…he was willing to kill her!…(he pointed at Rinoa briefly as he stared in Quistis's eyes seriously)' Zell groaned between his teeth and walked away into the dark.
'He's right…' Irvine murmured looking at Quistis seriously.
'I know…but it's our only chance. And we have to take it…' Quistis murmured looking at Irvine and then at the others almost begging for approval.
'I'm with the plan…' Laguna said simply.
The whole gang looked up simultaneously at Laguna as they heard his voice for the first time in such a long silence.
'I'm willing to take a chance…we can't afford to be seen now, can we? Let's do it. If worst comes to worst, we'll just have to survive it, like we have done until now…' Laguna said looking confident.
To this Squall rolled his eyes impatiently, having Rinoa catch him and pocking him with her elbow with disapproval.
Squall looked at her and mimed 'what!' with a surprised look on his face. She just shook her head as if he was a lost case. Squall smiled at her sweetly and Rinoa who just couldn't resist that cute little grin, smiled back lovingly.
'I-I'm in too...I'll make sure he doesn't try anything…' Squall muttered calmly looking shyly at Quistis, then giving a glimpse at Laguna instinctively and looking down again. Squall didn't know why he hadn't waited for someone else to agree first, now he feared that Laguna would probably think he did it because he wanted to show sympathy towards him. But he really didn't want to…at least he thought so…
Quistis nodded happily and looked at Irvine hopefully.
'No. I just don't agree with this…I don't think he can be trusted…I wouldn't…' Irvine's eyes widened as he spoke.
Quistis tilted her head and looked away impatiently.
'C'mon Irvy…we all know we haven't got much of a choice…Seifer's the only one who knows this place…and think if we actually get there with out being seen, it will only be good!' Selphie murmured at him, pulling his sleeve.
'Fine, fine…let's do it…' Irvine groaned impatiently crossing his arms.
'I'm with it too…' Rinoa said eagerly as she looked at Quistis seriously.
'Great. Thanks guys…Could someone go and get Zell? We should really get going, we've wasted enough time. We must reach Ganahir before morning…' Quistis said shortly as she took off in Seifer's direction quickly.
'Will it take that long?' Selphie's eyes widened.
'I dunno…but eighteen K's is quite a lot to walk…we'll be lucky if we make it there before the sun rises…' Irvine muttered.
'Did you see the way Seifer just killed that poor animal?' Selphie stared at Quistis making her way to Seifer.
'Killed? You mean mutilated. He's a nut…take my word for it…and I don't want you near him…do you hear?' Irvine groaned looking in the same direction as her with disgust.
'I don't think I'll be near him so soon…' Selphie mumbled.
'If he touches you, I'll just…blow his brains through his…' Irvine grunted through his teeth furiously as Selphie clapped her hand to his mouth, avoiding him from saying anything vulgar.
'…Through his nose!' Irvine yelled as he pulled Selphie's arm away and then smiled mischievously.
'I'll go get Zell…' Squall said as he marched off into the darkness, tightening his belt.
'I guess we should go meet up with Quistis and Seifer, huh?' murmured Rinoa as she watched Squall worriedly. His clothes were already becoming baggy on him. He was getting thinner as the days passed, but that didn't seem to take him down. He was as strong as before, probably even stronger. He seemed not to need food for long, because he just went on and on. Very courageous he was, that she knew for sure. That just made her love him even more and the fact that he now went on being the same proud Squall, she had known before, meant he was finally coming back to himself. Even his way of walking up straight, like a fine soldier or confident warrior had returned. She didn't like seeing him when he was in the forest at Win Hill, bleak and tired of living. Walking like a tired soldier who had lost all his pride and reasons to fight. She had missed him. But now things were normal again. That was all that really mattered.
'Yeah, I guess…' Selphie said tonelessly, looking at Irvine with worry as he frowned furiously.
And so they walked up to Quistis and Seifer who seemed to be having a silent conversation as Seifer went on cutting the fur off the dead creature.
'Dunno why you so amazed at a dead animal…' Seifer groaned.
'You mean a slaughtered one?' Selphie said sarcastically.
'You're mercenaries and you talk like cowards…' Seifer groaned as he cut the last piece of skin off the fur and threw it on the pile of flesh that laid on the cold icy ground painted red with blood.
'Mercenaries don't just slaughter animals for entertainment…' Selphie groaned back at him.
'It's a stupid thing to confuse survival with entertainment… In case you SeeD's haven't noticed yet, it snows and the temperature tends to become even more negative through the night…right now I kill to survive…' Seifer said as he flipped the animal's fur over his shoulders.
'C'mon, Seph…You don't wanna talk to this dude…' Irvine pulled Selphie by her arm and walked away with her.
'Funny how a cold person like you would ever need warmth…' Rinoa murmured looking at his shadowed face.
'Well, then I'm sorry to disappoint you, but not everything is what it seems. Isn't it Instructor?' Seifer turned around to face Rinoa.
'I agree, though I wouldn't apply it to you…' Quistis said shortly staring at his back.
'And why would that be? Haven't you seen enough of my warm side?' Seifer turned around with a mocking grin on his face.
'Don't cross the line, Seifer…' Quistis warned him.
Seifer gave an amused shallow laugh.
'Ah-hem…' Rinoa cleared her throat on purpose to try and grab their attention.
'Err…I suppose we should get going once Zell and Squall have already appeared, shouldn't we?' Rinoa said shyly.
'Yes, we should…' Quistis muttered nervously as she left Seifer's side.
After staring at Seifer and Quistis for a silent moment, she awkwardly moved away and walked up to Squall who accompanied Zell towards Irvine and Selphie (who stood next to a tree).
'Huh…the line…as far as I'm concerned there is no line between us. And if there is… I cross it all the time and you don't ever stop me, do you?' Seifer murmured in her ear as he passed by her, after casting firaga on the flesh that laid on the ground, setting it on fire and making it disappear, remaining only ashes in a puddle of water…
Quistis shivered with anger and hatred as she felt his breath touch her ear gently. Clenching her fists as he just walked away carelessly…
'You'll pay for that…' she murmured to herself as she stood there for a few moments staring at the Ragnarok blankly with an angry frown on her face.
Then she turned around slowly and head towards the group and set her eyes on Rinoa who smiling talked sweet words to Squall.
'Rinoa? Could I have a word with you, please?' Quistis said softly as she finally had reached them.
Rinoa looked at Quistis surprised with her unexpected request, then back at Squall as if to say 'I'll be back' and followed Quistis.
'Yes?' Rinoa said as they already had moved a few meters away from Squall who stared at the two girls draw far from him.
'Can you use your powers?' Quistis looked at her as they both stopped facing the Ragnarok.
'Kind of, yes…but why?' Rinoa asked inquisitively.
'Well, in that case, do you think you could you make the Ragnarok invisible?' Quistis asked gently.
Rinoa smiled surprised. She wasn't at all expecting Quistis to ask her to do use her powers and on top of it, trust her…Rinoa was pleased to know Quistis showed trust in her and wanted her to help. Something she hadn't felt for some time, except for the times when squall talked to her openly. But now it wasn't only him. Quistis was showing sympathy for her and she appreciated it. She felt useful, helpful now.
'I can try, yes…of course!' Rinoa smiled enthusiastically not believing that Quistis was asking to do something so important. At least for her it was.
'Could you please then?' Quistis smiled weakly back at her.
'I'll do my best…' Rinoa said now seriously, still smiling surprised.
Quistis then smiled one last time and Rinoa and took a few steps backwards, then returned to the group, leaving Rinoa there, facing the ship, alone.
'What's up, Quisty? Why's she just standing there?' Is she ok?' Zell looked at Rinoa as Quistis leaned against the tree.
Rinoa then raised her arms, leaned her head backwards, made a elegant gesture with her arms as a bright flash of light grew between her arms , she pulled them back slightly and finally jerked them as if to through the light in the ship's direction as she took a step backwards with the impulse. The flash of powerful light flew as fast as a lightning bolt and hit the ship as it started to slowly form a sort of cover of light around it. After wrapping the whole ship in a blinding cover of light, Rinoa narrowed her arms and finally dropped them as the light started to fade away, along with the ship as well. The ship had vanished.
'Geez… what was that!' Zell said aghast.
'It's gone!' Selphie squeaked sadly.
'It's invisible...' Quistis said simply.
'Thank goodness…' Selphie sighed relieved.
'What a lovely trick…' Seifer said sarcastically.
Squall gave Seifer a vicious look. But Seifer didn't notice. He just crossed his arms and grinned as usual.
'It's called sorcery …' Selphie groaned defensively.
'It just ends up being the same bogus in the end…no point in defining it.' Seifer groaned at her mockingly.
Rinoa then turned around slowly after staring at the emptiness in front of her and made her way towards the group as they all burst out in a loud applause and whistling.
Rinoa giggled at their loving reaction and tenderly hung her arm over Squall's neck as he put his arm around her waist discreetly with affection.
'Could you now please guide us, Seifer…' Quistis looked down shyly, as she felt all the hatred and anger knot up in her throat as her fists tightened and sweat dropped from the back of her neck.
Seifer looked back at her seriously and nodded.
'Here, take this…' Quistis reached out her pants pocket a campus and hand it over to Seifer.
Seifer held the little campus in the palm of his hand and stared at her. After noticing the helpful look in her eyes, he spared her from any nastiness and just closed his hand and kept the little campus in his pocket, continuing to stare in her eyes and taking a step forward…
Seifer then walked ahead as the others followed him silently.
Quistis and Rinoa looked at each other in wonder. He could tell the way without any orientation.
They walked into the depths of a forest, where the trees were all white from the snow and little snow flakes would fall gently on their heads.
'It's getting colder…' Selphie said shivering.
'Come here…' Irvine took off one of his coat sleeves and threw it over Selphie's shoulders as he pulled her closer to him.
'Better?' he asked her as he caressed her heart-shaped face.
'Much better…' Selphie smiled as she put her arm around Irvine's waist lovingly.
'You guys don't know how weird you look!' chuckled Zell from behind them…
'Get a life Zell!' Irvine moaned tonelessly, not looking back.
'Yeah…I will…' Zell went on gaggling.
The comrades went on walking for what seemed hours on end. The snowy forest as beautiful as it was, started to seem endless, which made the comrades start to wonder whether Seifer was taking them to the right place. Only this thought made them feel highly frustrated and helpless, but they had no other choice but to trust him.
'Quistis, could you please ask him how much far do we have walk?' Selphie moaned.
Quistis walked up to Seifer who walked a few feet ahead and accompanied him.
'Are we still far, Seifer?' Quistis asked timidly.
'That depends on how one sees it…' Seifer said shortly.
'…well then how do you see it?' Quistis asked him.
'…it's my second-home…' He said shortly.
'What do you mean?' Quistis looked at him inquisitively.
'When you're so close to home, you can't be far…' he said.
'I get your point…' Quistis smiled slightly.
'So…do you have many friends here…?' Quistis asked showing empathy.
'I know some people…' he mumbled.
'Did you actually live here?' she asked now even more interested.
'I travelled…I didn't live anywhere.' He answered briefly.
'But you do have a special connection with Ganahir, don't you?' Quistis went on inquisitively.
'Why are you so interested in knowing my past, Trepe?' He spat out irritably.
'It's not you I'm interested in, it's your connection with this tribe I want to know about…' Quistis grumbled.
'Nice way to cover up your curiosity…but I'm not fooled that easily. Face it, Trepe, you desperately want to know as much as you can about me…it's stronger than you, isn't it?' he muttered looking at her with a grin on his face.
Quistis's blood started to boil with fury again. He was starting with his stupid talk-talk of her not being able to resist him. How pathetic, she thought.
'Well maybe I do…Shouldn't I want to know you better?' she tried to contain herself.
'I'm surprised you finally decided to admit your weakness…' he bragged.
'Yes my weakness…my pathetic weakness of thinking that one day I'll ever have a serious conversation with you…get a grip, Seifer…' Quistis lost her patience and abandoned his side.
Seifer just grinned proudly.
'Pathetic looser…' she hissed under her breath…
And Quistis never dared to approach Seifer again for the next hours. The arrival to the town of Ganahir seemed to be days away…It was ice-cold and the comrades, although the exercise they were doing by walking, they went on shivering with cold.
Squall had given Rinoa his jacket and had put his arm around her shoulder, protecting her from the icy air of the forest.
Rinoa tried her best to move her legs, but she felt so weak and could hardly breathe due to her accumulated tiredness. She started seeing things double and not feeling too good in her stomach. The cold didn't help either, but she wanted to go on, she wanted to be strong and make it just like the others.
'hm…' Rinoa's brain blanked out and her legs tricked her into falling, but before her body could even touch the ground, Squall had grabbed her by her waist and held her tightly in his arms. Rinoa had fainted in Squall's arms.
'Rin?' Squall whispered as he held her limp body in his arms.
'…' he picked her up and caressed her pretty pale heart-shaped face with his finger as the other comrades stopped to look.
'Is she gonna be ok?' Selphie said worriedly.
'I dunno…she's looks exhausted… and very weak.' Squall said a little puzzled.
'Err…maybe we should take a break. Light a fire or something…before anyone else collapses.' Irvine muttered worriedly.
'You're right, I think the cold isn't helping at all…we should light a fire…' Quistis said agreeing with Irvine.
'Zell, could you please go find some wood?' Quistis asked.
'Yes, ma'am!' Zell marched off in to the bushes and started collecting branches and twigs.
'Come, Squall…let's take her there to those rocks. We can set the fire there. Come…' She muttered as she pulled Squall gently by his arm, who carried Rinoa.
Squall sat down on one of the rocks and held Rinoa in his lap as he brushed her raven-black hair out of her face. Quistis cast Firaga on the snowy ground making the ice melt away and evaporate.
'Is this enough!' Zell muffled as he carried a huge bunch of twigs and branches.
'Yeah, more than enough…put some here, quick…' Quistis muttered.
'Firaga!' she made a lively fire, bursting into flames and consuming the wood.
Squall got up and brought Rinoa closer to the fire as he sat nearer to the flames.
'You'll be fine…' Squall murmured under his breath as he cuddled his nose into her neck and kissed her tenderly as he saw Quistis go with Zell deeper into the woods.
'We've got just what she needs…' said Irvine who appeared from some near bushes with Selphie.
'It's a highly nutritious plant, full of fructose and… some other stuff I can't spell very well.' Selphie said eagerly as she grabbed the plant from out of his hand and sat down next to Squall and the fire.
'Seifer's the one who collected it, but don't worry…Quistis said its safe…she's collecting some more for the trip…' she smiled reassuringly.
'It's best not to give her that…' Squall said looking at Rinoa with a worried frown.
'Its fine…Quistis said it's good. It will only help…here…' Selphie handed the little plant over to Squall who looked decisively at her. He accepted the plant slowly, looking at it suspiciously and biting off some of it and chewing it slowly.
'Are you dead yet?' Selphie asked him with a grin.
'Potassium…' he murmured at her.
'Good isn't it?' she smiled.
'I think it'll help.' Squall murmured as he held Rinoa's head gently, pulled her mouth open carefully, squeezed the little plant with his fingers and le the little drops of juice fall in her mouth.
Seifer then appeared with his fox skin over his shoulders and with a handful of the same type of plant, he chewed…
Then Laguna appeared from of nowhere and sat on a log near the fire.
'Laguna! We were looking for you all over!...Where were you?' Quistis appeared out of the darkened forest with Zell.
'Oh, I was just hanging around…' he got up surprised and then smiled.
'Laguna, dude…. your fly's open.' Zell pat Laguna on his shoulder friendly.
'Oh…I guess I did a little more than hanging around then…sorry guys I had to go…' he quickly zipped it.
'Ok, ok, ok! Spare me the details…' Quistis groaned as she sat down next to Irvine and Selphie.
They had all settled around the fire and already had eaten each a little of the plant, giving them extra strength to go on with the trip.
Seifer sat on one of the rocks as he rested his elbows on his knees and Zell sat on log next to Quistis and Squall who held Rinoa carefully in his lap. Irvine sat on another rock with Selphie on his lap, who rested her head on his shoulder and played with his long hair. Laguna sat on treeless route as he stretched his hands towards the fire and gazed at the lively flames, lost in thought.
Everyone was silent, just enjoying the warm light from the fire shine upon their skin as the night extended longer than usual and the owls cried from the bushes and bats roamed around homeless in the sky.
'We should go, it's getting late…soon the sun will rise.' muttered Squall as he lifted his head up and glared at the fire.
Laguna raised his head to look at him and glared silently for a moment.
Squall held Rinoa under her arms, put her gently, sitting next to him on the log, took both of her arms and from the back held them over his shoulders as he got up, got hold of her legs and carried her on his back.
The other comrades just lifted up silently as they stared at him.
'This way…' Seifer groaned as he lifted up and walked away from them without even looking at them.
Selphie looked at Irvine with an odd face.
'Very well' Quistis murmured too herself as she exhaled slowly.
Everyone followed Seifer who suddenly had started to walk at a faster pace, making it hard for them to keep up with him.
'Why are you speeding up?' Quistis asked Seifer.
'I have my reasons…' Seifer grunted.
'Could I know what they are?' Quistis said with a slight tone of frustration in her voice.
'I believe that you should know the answer to that, since you're an Instructor…' he groaned sarcastically.
'I know we are to be there before sunrise, but I wasn't aware that you cared.' Quistis answered back.
'And I don't. '
'But then –'
'I'm surprised by your ignorance, Trepe…'
'What is your problem, Seifer!' Quistis lost her patience.
'I don't have time for this…' he groaned back
'What is happening! Tell me, Seifer!' Quistis yelled at him as she grabbed his arm and forced him to stop.
Seifer stopped, turned his head around slowly and looked at her seriously.
Quistis stared back at him.
'Why are we stopping!' asked Selphie as she walked up to where Quistis and Seifer were, but they both just remained silent, staring steadily into each other's faces. It was like they competed to see who could stare for longer, and Seifer knew she wouldn't be able to for very long, so he used it as a way of showing her, that if she couldn't stare into his eyes, he would not tell her.
Quistis as predicted by him, dropped her eyes from his cold eyes and as cold shiver went up her spine, she looked down…
'Fine, don't tell me…but I'm trusting you, just remember that. Don't let me down…' she murmured so softly so only he could hear.
Seifer's momentary grin faded away and stared at her with a mixture of surprise and doubt on his face. What she said, affected him somehow. Those words weren't just any words…
He swerved his look silently from her and continued his way.
And for what seemed the next hour, Seifer hurriedly guided them through the darkened snowy forest, as all they could hear were their footsteps thump in the snow and each other exhale tiredly from all the walking, while Squall carried the petit girl on his back.
Suddenly out of nowhere, sounded a horn. This made the comrades stop abruptly and look around in wonder, preparing themselves to face whatever was coming along…
Seifer turned around quickly, grabbed Quistis by her wrist and pushed her into the nearest bushes.
'Hide, you fools!' he groaned as he threw himself into the bushes he had thrown Quistis in.
'Quick guys!' Laguna said anxiously as he took hold of Selphie's and Irvine's arm and leaded them into the bushes.
Squall was the last one to hide; he took some steps backwards and silently with Rinoa on his back disappeared into some bushes as the moonlight abandoned his face and he was left in complete darkness.
The only thing they heard next were the approaching of synchronized deafening footsteps. As if a gigantic number of men marched through the path they had been following.
'What's happening!' Quistis whispered almost freaking out in the dark as she heard Seifer's accelerated breathing approach her and to what seemed like, sit down next to where she had fallen.
'It's them…' he gasped.
'Them who?' Quistis cried out frustrated.
Seifer grabbed her head and clapped his hand on her mouth abruptly.
'Keep quiet!' he groaned irritated.
Quistis grabbed his hand brusquely and sunk her nails into his skin forcing him to remove his hand.
'Who are they!' she whispered furiously.
'The serpents…' he murmured slowly with a deep irritated voice.
'Sarakman's men?' she asked in shock.
'Yeah…they patrol the forest every five hours...' He muttered.
'We must be close then…' she whispered.
'Not necessarily…' he muttered.
Quistis kept silent as the marching just went on.
Suddenly the marching stopped.
'Why have they stopped!' Quistis whispered worriedly.
'…' He got up and approached the path, trying to see what was happening.
Then Seifer came back in a rush, grabbed Quistis under her arms as he flipped her quickly over his shoulder and ran like lightening deeper into the bushes. This happened so quickly, Quistis didn't even have time to blink. Finally he slowed down, put her down and leaded her by her arm in darkness towards a tree trunk.
'Sit down…' he groaned. Quistis did as he said without meaning to.
Quistis at this point, didn't know what to say. Se knew that if she asked him anything, he'd freak out and that wouldn't be a very good idea, especially in the dark.
'I give up.' Se muttered with a stupefied tone to her voice.
'Now isn't the time.' He said.
'Well, you sound different for who doesn't care about anything. ' Quistis snorted.
'So do you…' he grunted.
'You misunderstood…I meant I give up on-'
'Doesn't make any difference, Trepe…'
'I said I give up on asking you anything about what just happened, Seifer…because I know you won't tell me, or at least you'll try and mess with my mind before you do…' Quistis spat out irritably.
'I'll only mess with your mind if you allow me to…' he answered back.
'There you go again…' Quistis mumbled.
'…they had Honpyocto's sniffing around …giant squids that burn your brains with a toxic gas…' Seifer said unexpectedly.
'Did they smell us?' Quistis asked worriedly.
'I'm not sure…' he muttered as his footsteps approached her and he sat down next to her.
'Damn!' she mumbled.
'You're shivering.' He said with a shallow voice.
'No, I'm not.' she said staring in the direction his voice came from with a surprised frown.
'Yes you are…' he murmured with an entertained grin.
'No I'm not. Besides, how would you know? It's completely dark out here.' She said.
But for what Quistis could hear, he didn't answer back; he just lifted up and walked away.
'Where are you going?' she asked worriedly as she looked around in vain in the darkness.
There were a few moments of silence, when suddenly Quistis felt something touch her back.
'I'm not going anywhere…' he murmured in her ear, making her get the shills up and down her spine as she jumped slightly with fright. He was covering her back with his fox skin, tightening it slightly around her shoulders. The skin was still warm from his body; it was a comforting sensation to feel warm again. But Quistis felt puzzled. Why was he covering her up? What was his intention?
Quistis didn't know what to say. She just felt her heart start to race.
She could now feel Seifer's head rest on her shoulder, making her get even more anxious than she already was. Then she could feel his warm breath touch the skin on her neck as she kept dead still. His hand then grabbed her shoulder as he slowly kissed her on her neck.
Quistis wanted to die. The shivers up and down her spine were ten times worse now and she started getting the goose bumps as she felt his soft warm lips caress her skin gently.
She was ashamed to acknowledge that she was absolutely enjoying it. She had never been touched like that before and now she just couldn't admit that what she wanted was for him to go on. She felt disgusted with herself, but what she was feeling at that very moment was stronger than what she could ever control.
'W-what are you doing…?' she gasped weak and nervously.
Seifer removed his lips from her skin and now just rubbed his nose along her neck, enjoying her scented skin.
'…I don't know…' he murmured exhaling slowly.
'W-Why are you doing this…?' she asked him again with a trembling voice.
'…Must I stop?' he whispered now moving up her neck to her ear, kissing her again.
'Seifer…' Quistis's voice trembled a little more as she felt troubled and puzzled, not knowing how to react.
'Shh…' he whispered in her ear soothingly as he now rubbed his face against hers and grabbed her hand and massaged it.
Quistis closed her eyes slowly as she started to tremble uncontrollably. She had completely lost control and slowly was giving in…She found herself not being able to resist him anymore. It was unavoidable. Before she knew it, her face had involuntarily turned around slowly towards Seifer's as her mouth opened slightly, seeking his warm lips in the darkness…
She finally had found her way to his warm breath, but as their lips scrapped by gently, he pulled away, not allowing her to kiss him on that instant. She insisted once more, but he just gave her a small peck on her top lip to give her a taste, but only for a split of a second. Her desire took more and more over her as she just remained, mouth slightly opened, eyes softly shut , neck stretched, awaiting his lips to find hers and kiss her in that mesmerizing way of his. He enjoyed playing that game of desire with her, but couldn't resist any longer her carmine cherry warm lips begging to be touched. He then gave in to that immense accumulated desire and opening his mouth slowly approached his one millimetres from hers as all they shared was the air that passed out of each others mouths…then as he felt he couldn't wait any longer, he
gently pinched her bottom lip with his lips as she accepted his kiss warmly by pecking him shyly, ending up the most passionate kiss anyone could have ever experienced…
Slowly, she went loosening up as he greedily kissed her she passed from gentle pecks to tenderly caressing his lips with delicious pinches... Seifer loved the way she kissed him and couldn't help wanting to hold her tighter and tighter next to him as things started to heat up...
Although the marvellous kiss, the two of them found them selves in an odd position, which restricted their movements. After a few moments of difficulty in embracing themselves completely in that kiss, Seifer who was crouching next to the fallen tree trunk, Quistis sat on, desperately lifted up, still attached to her and sat down on the trunk next to her, one leg on each side as he went on kissing her, pulling her closer and closer to him each time. Before they knew it, Seifer had his arm around Quistis and possessively held her face in his hand as she leaned herself on him, completely surrendered to him as they both kissed each other passionately.
Quistis had completely given in to his caressing and didn't want that moment to ever end. She didn't quite know what was happening, but she couldn't think straight anyway, she just felt her instinct take complete control over her, not even thinking about the consequences. She was quite sure everything wasn't real…He wasn't the same; she wasn't kissing Seifer Almasy…
The moment their lips touched, Quistis's had just stopped thinking, abandoning every thought and worry, as if all that she had was body and heart...
Her heart raced like never before and her skin screamed for him to touch her, a burning sensation of want grew higher and higher in her veins…
As for Seifer, he wasn't quite sure of what he was doing either, but liked the feeling so much he didn't really care. He was completely irrational…He normally would have only kissed her if she didn't want him to, but right now he just felt as if he couldn't refuse her a kiss, it was completely out of his hands…
His attraction to her was way to strong for his pride right now. This whole situation was completely unpredictable and mind-boggling for both of them. But at this point, their feelings were much stronger than their pride…
To be continued…
And that was part 22. Hope you enjoyed it. I had great fun writing this last bit, hope you felt the same way. Thanks MafGoldenHeart for all your support and Squalllll and Angelo di Disirio. I hope you guys go on reading my stuff, for it makes me so happy to know people appreciate it. (sniff…) Anyway, I'm sorry for taking more than two weeks to update, but my life is a bit troubled right now and doesn't really allow me to do what I most love. Please review. Thanks for reading, thank you so much! O,
PS: I made this chapter nice and long…hope it pleases you. What would you girls do if you saw someone that looked exactly like Squall living near by you? Did anything similar happen to you already?