Part 30:

'I see someone's footsteps here…' Rinoa said pointing at the ground, making everyone turn around to go and look.

'Zell…' Squall murmured.

'He can't be far…let's just keep following…quick…' Quistis said following another path that revealed more footsteps.

The comrades walked for quite a while until they heard a rattling in the bushes. Everyone froze.

'Irvine made signal that the sound had come from his side and so went in to the darkened tangle of bushes and out of sight.

They couldn't hear anything after that, so worried and looking at each other with anticipation written on their faces, they waited. And then, as they had almost got used to the silence, a loud squeak far behind them could be heard. Squall, without hesitating ran towards the sound, having the others follow him. He then disappeared into the bushes and ran as fast as he could until a person had run into him. He immediately grabbed the person and soon realised it was a young girl.

'Let go of me!' she groaned, throwing her hands at Squall's neck viciously.

'What are you doing here?' Squall put her down, bent over and held her by her shoulders.

'Who are you to ask me that! Get out of my way! I need to find my brother!' she yelled.

'What's the matter!' Squall asked noticing her desperation.

'It's none of your business!' she groaned trying to free herself.

'Maybe I can help. Tell me. Did they see you?' Squall asked gently.

'No! None of that…a person's been poisoned! I need to find my brother or the boy will die!' she cried.

'Who is he!' Squall asked instinctively.

'…I…I don't know…! Just let me go! Please! He can't die!' the girl cried now with sorrow in her voice.

'Where can we find this boy!' Squall realised she could only be talking about Zell and started to worry.

'What's it to you!' she groaned cheekily.

'He's one of us, a SeeD, isn't he?' Squall asked frowning in panic.

'SeeD? He said no such thing… He just mentioned he was a professional mercenary and I though he was lying…but he ended up saving me from the Serpents…and now he's been hit by a Serpent's arrow! I don't have an antidote! My brother is the only one who knows what to do! That's why I have to find him!' she explained with tears in her eyes already.

'Where is he!' Squall shook her without thinking.

'Why should I tell you! How do I know you don't want to hurt him?' she asked frowning as a little tear fell across her face.

'You're going to have to trust me. He's my friend. I can't let anything bad happen to him. I'm responsible for him.' Squall explained staring directly into her eyes.

'…b-by the caves…go northwest from here…he should be close by, he couldn't go to far…now please let me go!' she hiccoughed and shook herself loose.

'Go find your brother…quick!' Squall murmured letting her go. And she disappeared.

Squall ran with all his might in the direction she indicated and confirmed her instruction as he reached a stonier area. He then scoured around and discovered the hidden caves, but knew he wouldn't be in there, for as she said he was close by…but where!

Squall had no choice but to follow his intuition and search the area.

Suddenly from close by he heard someone moan. He was close by. Squall ran as quick as he could and soon he had encountered the sorriest image of Zell he had ever seen.

He was bent over back faced to Squall, clutching his stomach and had his arm wrapped around a tree to support himself, then out of nothing Zell jerked and started to vomit and chocke afterwards, when the rest of the gang had appeared in the same place with Squall.

Squall ran up to Zell and gripped him under his arm to support him.

Zell looked up at Squall and his face was so pale it had turned blue, the tattoo on his young face still as visible as ever and small little weak smile grew across Zell's face as he stared into Squall's worried liquid eyes.

He had no idea why this happened, Zell looked rather weakened and half conscious of what was happening. He lifted up his gloved hand with metal knuckles and pointed out his finger as if he were going to reckon something, but the moment he opened his mouth to speak, he seemed to loose all his strength and passed out at Squall feet…

'Zell!' Selphie squeaked.

'What's wrong with him?' Quistis ran up to Squall and kneeled next to Zell, taking his head in her arms and clearing his wet hair out of his face.

'I think he's been poisoned…' Squall said.

'He's completely wet…' Quistis noticed.

'We've got to get him out of here and warmed up…before he gets even more ill.' Squall said bending down to look at Zell, who now more than ever looked like a little boy who slept through his fever.

Squall then took Zell's limp arm and hung it over his neck.

Laguna then marched up and took the other arm.

'There are caves nearby…' Squall said.

'This way guys!' Laguna said to the others.

'Is he going to be ok?' Rinoa whispered at Quistis.

Quistis looked at her with a daze in her eyes and remained silent.

'Geezz!' Selphie squeaked as she looked at Irvine and then turned her face away quickly.

'What!' Irvine asked her as he clutched one hand over his eye.

'Your eye…its…blue…' she said now looking worried.

'Oh…this…' Irvine responded in a dry tone and turned away.

Selphie looked at him and recognised the hurt in his tone of voice and eyes. But now wasn't the time to feel sorry for what she had done. Zell wasn't ok. Personal issues had to wait.

Zell's feet were dragged on the floor as he was carried by Squall and Laguna to the caves.

'It seems someone has been here already…' Laguna commented as he saw that the cave was lit by a small fire as he helped Squall to drop Zell gently onto the ground.

Just then, the girl came walking into the cave. Everyone turned around and gave way to her.

The girl immediately kneeled on the ground next to Zell and started to empty her bag at his side. She took a little delicate plant out of it and started to tare it to pieces into a small bowl. She then as tears started to flood her face, took a piece of carbonised wood from the small fire, undid it into ash in her fingers and sprinkled it into the recipient and finally dropped a few drops of water into the mixture from Zell's water deposit and started to grind it with a wooden instrument. Then she put the bowl down gently at Zell's side and began to undress Zell's top part while Squall helped to lift him up as she worked.

She then touched the wound on his stomach with her bare fingers and covered it with the ointment she had made. Taking the end of her tunic and tore the end off around her waist and began to bandage Zell's abdomen…

Now the girl took out of the leather bag a small little brass pot and a jar with some herb in it.

Zell looked very pale still and rather thin now that he was undressed. You could even count his ribs. This long painful journey had changed a lot of things. But the comrades were firm as ever and would fight until they could no more. Though in Zell's case, his body's state did reveal his mind's. But the moment his eyes laid upon this mysterious girl's he felt something in him change. A strength that hadn't been present in him for very long. He did not know why he felt this way, but to him this girl was in the oddest of ways, was important to him, even though their encounter hadn't been what you could call too friendly, he knew there was a strong connection between them the first time his eyes met with hers.

She was making some infusion with herbs that had a peculiar addicting smell. The smell would go through your nose and reach your brain so powerfully it would make you feel as if you were invincible and so full of life it would take more than one death to eliminate you. It was like a mind-booster or something of the kind.

And when the girl had prepared the infusion, Squall helped to hold Zell up, to force some of it into his system.

'Who is she?' Rinoa asked Laguna lowering her voice.

'Squall said she witnessed the Serpents attack Zell…apparently, she knows what she's doing…' Laguna explained.

'Do you think she'll cure Zell?' Selphie asked Laguna this time, as her chin twitched slightly for fighting her tears back.

'Let's hope so…' Laguna put his arm around Selphie and rubbed her arm fatherly.

'What exactly does this poison do?' Irvine asked the girl.

There was a great silence after this question and no doubt if Zell had been awake he'd have said in a mocking tone…'it poisons you!' after a loud contagious snort.

'…anyone who is unfortunate enough to be shot by this, hardly ever survives. And the ones who do…are never quite the same again…' The girl murmured in a hollow tone.

'You mean…he can…he can…die?' Quistis asked, hardly believing it.

The girl nodded as her eyes lowered to the ground.

'No…Zell wouldn't leave us…he's a strong guy. I'm sure he's strong enough. I mean look at him! Whoever knows this kid, knows that he's not a looser. Just get ready…before you know it…he'll be punching your nose for seeing him this way!' Irvine tried to raise their spirits. But Irvine knew himself that lately Zell wasn't at his best and his great loss didn't help either.

'But what do you mean, "who survives the poison, never is quite the same again"?' Squall asked.

The girl looked at Squall gravely.

'This poison is an evil creation. Only a man with wicked intentions could ever make such a thing…the moment it enters your system…and becomes part of your blood, it weakens not only the body, but the mind as well. Its effects as a poison are much more potent and quicker than any other ever known and have the power to destroy a man's mind. It can drain all thoughts from his head, the dearest memories, hopes, ambitions, dreams, love…It can destroy a man in a matter of hours. A man's body can be tough enough to recover, but the mind is something fragile and pure. The body is only the shell, for the mind is what brings life to it. And if it is destroyed, a man can only live a life of misery and darkness. Physically present, but spiritually gone. It can turn men with the purest of hearts into a ruthless beast. That's why people think its better to die than to survive when injected by this evil substance. Many of Sarakman's followers suffered the effects of the poison. Some were family men, who had dignifying jobs and lived a life of truth and honesty before they were changed into beasts of evil…Unfortunately, there's no turning back…Those men who lost their way by the hands of this poison, can never return to their old selves…' the girl explained, whipping a small tear from her eye and sobbing softly.

'Is the possibility of him returning to himself inexistent?' Quistis asked the girl in a shallow voice.

The girl poured some more of the infusion into Zell's mouth and then put the bowl down.

'I don't know…' she murmured staring at Zell with concern.

'What ever comes of this, we will deal with it…We can only expect the worse and hope for the best…' Squall murmured looking at his comrades.

'I know he has a strong mind…' Rinoa murmured getting up and coming closer to Zell and kneeling next to him.

After a little while, Squall took Rinoa's hand discreetly and wrapped his arm around her.

Quistis silently stood up, but Selphie grabbed her hand gently and stared at her worriedly.

'I'm going to catch a breath outside…' Quistis murmured at her.

Selphie nodded sniffing slightly.

Quistis looked at Selphie for a while and felt tears threaten to come to surface, but she looked away and walked out of the cave.

It was snowing, the trees glowed and the snow flakes would float down and touch her face softly intertwining through her golden strings of hair.

Quistis crossed her arms around her waist, reacting towards the cold. She contemplated the forest. It was so lonely here, almost scary, but at the same time here she found the peace she couldn't remember having found anywhere else. Balamb Garden, wasn't exactly the place you could find peace at, it was movement all day, students everywhere, piles of work to correct at her desk everyday. Duties that were exclusively hers. It was amazing how things had changed so much in such a short space of time. Things she hardly could assimilate herself and she had changed so much, but at the same time, she still felt like Instructor Trepe, just that now this Instructor had issues that a month or two ago, she would have felt ashamed to think of. It was much different now. She felt things she couldn't explain and she doubted anyone could ever understand her. All of her feelings contradicted her values and her beliefs. In such a state of mind, she was petrified of taking the wrong step and failing. It was something stronger than her. But she couldn't allow herself to go down, not now.

Quistis walked a bit further away from the cave the moment she spotted a yellow flower that lay at the foot of an oak tree.

She kneeled down, feeling the snow freeze her pants and make her knees burn, she didn't care. She stretched her hand and took the flower between her thin marble like fingers and observed attentively its petals.

She heard then a deep breath coming from the bushes near by and looked up immediately, feeling her heart race.

She could hear someone breathing slowly. It was heavy, deep, slow breaths, as if of a tough, big creature.

Her hyperactive imagination started to worry her, bringing unpleasant images into her head.

She slowly, trying not to make the smallest of sounds, tried to get on her feet again to get away from there. She felt that whatever was making those heavy, threatening sounds did not have good intentions. She had to get away, but now not making a sound was the hardest of all.

But before she could even put one foot straight on firm earth, the bushes rattled.

She raised her head and frightened, she felt her body freeze. It was too late to move away, it had sensed her presence and she had two choices: lift up and run or stay and suffer whatever consequences awaited her.

Before she could even blink, a black shadow had appeared from between the bushes. Now she was really petrified paralysed and she had fallen backwards, the flower had been ripped out of the ground and now was held tightly between her fingers as she stared, eyes wide open at the thing approaching.

It was coming forward and it revealed to be some kind of dark strong built quadruped creature that at every step forward made not the faintest noise. It was as time had stopped on that moment. It was just her and that creature. Everything else around her had stopped. The wind didn't seem to blow her hair gently out of her face and it had stopped there in the fading shadow staring at her so humanly, it made ice creep up her spine.

Its eyes were the creepiest of all, the colour of amber, contagious mad eyes that made her want to scream. These eyes had something strange about them; they had something in them, uncommon in any other creatures. They revealed something only a human could transmit; it was a man's look, not an animal's. She stared back into its eyes.

The animal finally showed itself into the light and she realised what it was.

It was a panther, its head lowered, examining its prey. Its eyes fixed on hers. One paw slowly paused in front of the other, challengingly or cautiously, she couldn't quite understand its behaviour. Its black fur covered in slow flakes, looked silky to the touch.

Suddenly she felt as if she had looked in these eyes before and yet she had encountered many creatures on the field, she had never encountered such an animal, especially with such posture and intellectual behaviour.

Quistis's heart now thumped heavily at every step the great creature took. Time went by slowly, so that even her eye lids took long to blink.

She sat there in the snow, empty minded, awaiting a first reaction from herself or from the panther. She was stuck, she was frozen. Her hands had gone white with the cold.

When finally the panther was about two feet away from her, she felt her arm twitch and was conscious of her strength. She could get up and run for itif she wanted to, though part of her wanted to stay right where she was and understand those, a primary instinct.

She bounced her hands on the cold ground and was able to get on her feet and jump up, but as she took a step backwards to balance herself, the creature made a swift move and now jumped up as well and with its heavy paws falling on Quistis chest, she took a step backward, shutting her eyes tight and making a silent squeak.

She felt something warm and strong grip around the back of her neck and now, crazy as it was she felt as though her lips were pressed against someone else's. She was being kissed and now she felt an arm going around her waist and creep up her back, pushing her towards the person that was there.

She could tell that this wasn't any beast as she felt long strong fingers caress her scalp and twirl her hair. It was a man. For a few moments, petrified, she stood passive. But then as she felt these lips hold hers between them and pull and grab furiously, greedy for love. She snapped out of the numbness and jerked, opening her eyes and seeing just a bush of hair covering a pair of shut eyes. She then gripped his arm and pushed him away from her and the kiss was broken.

Quistis's mouth dropped open in shock, catching breath as she stood staring at the man in front of her.

This man's faces looked rather confused, probably just a confused as her, maybe even more. His eyes widened, underlined beneath revealing his sleepless nights and his back curved, looking rather vulnerable…

To be continued…