Lake Obel – 4.45 p.m. (Timber Time)
Squall and Rinoa were paddling towards Shadow Isle.
"Squall," Rinoa stopped paddling and said, folding her hands in her lap, "Isn't this the time to like... do something romantic?"
Squall stopped and glared at Rinoa.
"Honey, this is a race and after this leg we can have a private time together okay?"
"Aw but can we have it once in the middle of the race, especially since Lake Obel looked so pretty now?"
The two lovers approached began kissing each other. Quistis, struggling with the oar, glanced at the reflection of the couple smooching passionately on the crystal clear water of the lake. Xu noticed Quistis' change of behavior.
"Quistis, I think we'll turn around so that we can synchronize our paddling better," she said firmly.
Rachel and Daniel rode the Chocobos along the beach towards Sanpiper's Bridge. Rachel's Chocobo hesitated as its feet splashed on the water that rose up the beach.
"Kweh!" the chocobo wailed, danced around in panic. Rachel fell off from the saddle and thudded on the sand. Daniel laughed as Rachel stood back up with wet sand sticking on the back of her light blue shirt. She wiped off the sand and approached the Chocobo.
"What's wrong, lil' fella?" she talked to the medium-sized Chocobo stroking its cheek, although the Chocobo had shook her off.
"Kweh kweh!" The chocobo started again and pointed to the water with its beak.
Rachel then walked towards the rising tide and looked at her imperfect reflection on the water. The reflection rippled. A silver-colored fish jumped out of the water trying to bite Rachel's nose off with its razor-sharp teeth. Rachel dodged the attack of the vicious fish and ran back to Daniel.
"Daniel, the Chocobos are scared of the piranas," Rachel recognized the fish from her knowledge of aquatic and marine life. "We'd better walk to the island from this point onwards," she added. The bridge was just a few yards ahead of them.
Daniel dismounted from the Chocobo. The Chocobos themselves could return to the stables themselves, if they wanted to. The both of them climbed up the stairs, barely immersed in the tide, to get on the bridge. Sanpiper's Bridge was two feet above water, supported by stalwart stone pillars. It was amazing that the people of Lake Obel developed a trick to avoid the piranhas, but it would not work during mating season right now. The both of them ran along the bridge, crossing the lake, trying not to touch the railing in case the piranas might jump from the water and bite off the flesh of their fingers.
Squall and Rinoa got off the boat after docking onshore of Shadow Isle. They headed to the clue box located at the end of the bridge a few yards away from where they docked. Rinoa got to the clue box first, opened it and took out an envelope.
"Let's see where we're going next." Rinoa ripped the envelope open and a route-info popped out. "Take a train to Dollet and find the Nautilus Fountain."
"Dollet, huh," Squall said to himself.
"Let's go!" Rinoa tugged Squall by the hand, running along the bridge to get back to the mainland. They eventually ran in with the Trepies.
"Don't touch the railings cuz there are piranas in the water!" Rachel warned.
"Okay," Rinoa replied, running past Rachel and Daniel.
Rachel and Daniel then arrived at the end of Sanpiper's bridge and took the envelope from the box.
"DOLLET!" Rachel and Daniel both exclaimed in joy. At the same time, Quistis and Xu, tired from paddling, approached the clue box sluggishly and opened it to find a pile of red envelopes inside.
"Oh, we're going to Dollet next," Quistis said, viewing the miniature cityscape of Timber from afar.
Instead of rambling like she used to during the train journey to Timber yesterday, Selphie brooded on the back seat, her knees pressing her thighs and her head resting on her palms. Seifer noticed the strange silence in Selphie.
"Selphie, are you all right?" Seifer asked from the driver seat. Selphie turned to Seifer's reflection on the back view mirror.
"I didn't know Seifer would ask such a question," she said frankly. It hit Seifer.
"I didn't mean to say that you bitch, 'cause I'll never change, like that son of a bitch Squall!" Seifer pressed the accelerator harder and the car sped up, paving away the leaves lying on the road.
After thirty minutes, Seifer parked the car next to the beach, the same spot where teams parked their sedans upon arriving at Lakeside Meadows. After reading the clue, both of them started riding the Chocobos.
Fifteen minutes later, three more cars arrived at the pier; Zell and Irvine, Edea and Kadowaki, and Fujin and Raijin. Zell and Irvine and Fujin and Raijin paddled the longboats while Edea and Kadowaki rode the Chocobos.
"FOOL!" Fujin hissed at Raijin. "Don't you know how to row?"
Raijin then turned his body around and faced Fujin's back. Finally, they made their boat to move away from Zell and Irvine, whose boat was stationary on the water a few yards from the pier. Zell and Irvine followed Fujin and Raijin's rowing technique and started to move directly towards the island.
"Yay, we're going to Dollet!" Fujin could hear Selphie's loud and cheery voice as she approached Sanpiper's bridge.
"HURRY UP!" Fujin ordered. Raijin obeyed and quickened his strokes.
Water started to seep in the boat below Raijin's seat.
"Oh I think I peed," Raijin whined.
"FOOL! WATER ENTERING BOAT! ROW FAST BEFORE SINKING!" Fujin screeched.
The both of them quickened their strokes, but it worsened their plight as the boat rotated due to unsynchronized paddling. Just before they could reach the shore, the boat sank.
"RAGE!" Fujin screeched as she looked at Seifer walking on the bridge back to the mainland with Selphie behind him, not noticing Fujin and Raijin had had their heads above water. As Raijin started swimming to shore, he felt a tickling sensation on his finger. He held up his hand and eyed at the baby pirana biting his thumb playfully.
"PIRANAS!" Fujin and Raijin swam as fast as possible to the nearby shore of Shadow Isle. Fujin then crawled away from the water up to the beach while Raijin lay on the sand on his back. The both of them stood up, wiped of the sand from their wet clothes, panting, out of breath.
"CLOSE!" Fujin wiped off the moisture on her face and wrung the bottom of her drenched pink sleeveless blouse.
"Ow I think I got my butt bitten," Raijin said as he rubbed off the itchiness on his buttocks. They shuffled to the box with seawater dripping on to the sand.
"NAUTILUS FOUNTAIN. TRAIN FROM TIMBER TO DOLLET," Fujin said. Zell and Irvine were seen docking by the shore. Fujin clenched her fist and gritted her teeth. "SEIFER!"