The eight remaining teams were now put under a mandatory rest period for twelve hours at the camping grounds at the summit of Gazing Mountain.
Gazing Mountain, Timber – 7.01 a.m. (Timber Time)
All teams were happy to have free breakfast laid on the table. They mingled, some complained about the lack of food and sleep, complained that it was so darn cold last night that they wanted to wrap the whole tent to their body.
"After wall-climbing my back starts to ache really badly," Daniel commented sleepily to Jack. Rachel offered some cream to Quistis but she refused.
"Come on. You need some calcium and extra energy," Rachel reasoned.
"Sorry, on a diet," Quistis cut her short and gulped down a glass of milk. "Besides, I hate cream. Bacon and eggs will do."
She then turned from a disappointed Rachel to Squall and stared at him thoughtfully. Squall gave a piece of bacon to Rinoa and she happily chewed it down. The both of them laughed together like a perfectly loving couple.
"Jealous?" Xu tapped on Quistis' shoulder. Quistis turned to see Xu smiling.
"I wished I had a boyfriend too."
Seifer, Fujin and Raijin isolated themselves by sitting at the furthest end of the picnic table.
"Hey guys," Selphie walked towards Seifer who was eating his scrambled eggs. "Why don't you guys join and mingle with us?"
"I would love to, ya know!" Raijin rose up from his seat. Fujin silently kicked his ankle, forcing him to sit back down quietly.
"Leave us alone!" Seifer mumbled with food in his mouth. "We're in the middle of the discussion."
As Selphie left the posses to rejoin Zell and Irvine, Raijin stared at Fujin in this eye.
"Why can't I mix around?" he asked naively.
"FOOL!" She banged the table with her fist. "You'll reveal that we've played a cheat on Nida and Shelley."
"Yeah, and I'll confess the whole thing to Squall and the others until the part where you almost took away Nida's life!" Raijin replied justly.
"Oh, so Fujin cut Nida's safety cable, huh?" Seifer said.
"POSITIVE," Fujin replied. "And thank you for leaving your penknife for our usage."
Seifer's eyes widened and raised his head, staring directly at Fujin's eye patch.
"I don't bring a penknife; they're sissy tools. And I didn't leave a knife in the cave. I was planning to hijack the gondolas but I was stuck in this camping ground since I got here, so I couldn't get out."
Fujin stood from her seat abruptly while Raijin gaped.
"Ya mean you didn't leave us that knife?" Raijin asked.
"Hell no," Seifer said in irritation and resumed eating his breakfast.
"I thought you recognized it as Seifer's, honey," Raijin turned to Fujin with a blank expression.
"ASSUMED," Fujin told Seifer. "YOU PROMISED TO HELP US."
"Sorry!" Seifer said, raising his hands holding the fork and knife in one hand.
"So, who left the knife?" Raijin thought.
"Probably one of the operators or a climber who went into the cave," Seifer suggested. "Who knows anyone could've left it there."
"But it was on top of the last envelope. It looked like a setup, to me," Fujin admitted.
"I'm going to talk to the others," Raijin stood up. Fujin did not force him to stay this time. "Let's take it as a whacko coincidence, ya know" Raijin added, walking to Selphie's group. He yawned loudly since he had only four hours of sleep.
Jack and King surfaced from their red Mylar tent and walked to the checkpoint a few yards away. It was 7.34 a.m. and it was pretty much relieving that they had more than a five hour lead from Squall and Rinoa, the team that arrived second.
The man in mountain gear, who welcomed them alongside Headmaster Cid last night, handed them the red envelope at the pit stop.
"Good luck," he said.
Jack tore the envelope open and whispered to King.
"Choose a marked car at Bluerock Cliffs and drive yourselves to the Vinzer Pier at Lake Obel. You have 300 gil for this leg of the race."
After counting the money, Jack and King headed for the gondola that would transport them back to Bluerock Cliffs below.
The view from the gondola traversing down the mountain was magnificent; the rocks showed off their bluish complexion under the orangey-golden sunrise behind the mountains. King was elated to see even more animals and monsters this time.
After the ten-minute ride, they found eight sedans lined up along the parking lot next to the bus terminal. They chose the gray one. In the town's backdrop, Bluerock Cliff was clearly resembled a jagged town wall. The cliff was pigmented in light blue and cyan. Opposite Bluerock Cliff was the town's other popular landmark; a crowded ski slope of the Timber Mountains that was seen first after getting of the bus yesterday.
"Lake Obel, here we come!" Jack cheered and entered the back seat. King turned up the engine and the engine hummed. The car moved and left Bluerock Cliffs.
They drove through the scenic mountain passes and then pulled into the flat country roads, adorned with the scenery of Timber's evergreen meadows and farmlands. Jack and King removed their sweaters and windbreakers as Timber got warmer and warmer.
At noon, tourists poured into Gazing Mountain, viewing Timber and the surround savannahs from the summit.
At 12.53 p.m., Squall and Rinoa, Quistis and Xu, and Daniel and Rachel departed at the same time, since they decided to check in at the pit-stop together last time.
"Lake Obel!" Rinoa cheered. She held Squall's muscular arm as the both of them jostled along the road toward the gondola station. Quistis envied them. She wanted Squall for herself too.
"Are we going to ride the same gondola?" Rachel asked, following Quistis and Xu.
"Yeah," Quistis replied, following Squall and Rinoa as intently as the Trepies following their idol.
The three teams arrived at the station; it was packed. They had to get through the droves of incoming tourists to get to the departing gondolas.
"Phew, can't wait to get to the lake," Rachel said.
Each team sat on each of the two-seaters on three sides of the gondola's interior. Rinoa turned around and pressed her nose against the window behind her, gazing upon the rugged mountain scenery. A sudden vibration of the gondola surprised the passengers. The gondola paused for a few seconds before resuming its journey.
"What was that?" Xu wondered, her hand laid on her chest.