A/N: I've just realized how short my chapters are... heheh… sorry about that P anyways... School's reopening next week -.-'so… while I still have time… here goes another chapter oh – and another thing.. in the previous chapter – I realized there's a typo mistake… the Lord was supposed to be asking for his presence… not 'her' – might cause some confusion there.. sorry…

Chapter 5

BALAMB TRAIN STATION – 0925 HRS

"Open the door! Open the door!" squealed Selphie as they boarded the train. Quistis smiled at the girl's customary excitement every time they board a train while stepping past her to unlock the door to the SEEDs' cabin.

Zell jumped onto the train and took a deep breath before smiling widely in contentment. "Finally! A train trip for a mission! Do you know how long I've waited to be assigned for a mission? Almost a month!" Zell turned to Quistis with a disbelieving look on his face.

Quistis chuckled. "That's because I don't think that missions like helping taking care of injured people and guarding rundown towns and cities would interest you." She then followed Selphie through the door before turning back to Zell. "I think you'd better come over to the cabin for the briefing, Zell."

Zell followed her through the door as the train started to depart.

"So, you guys think Seifer's behind all this?" Selphie turned around to Quistis from the window as Quistis nodded in response.

"That's what Squall thinks anyways." Quistis replied nonchalantly. "And he's got a good reason to believe so. From the description given, and considering Seifer's past, we're left no choice but to make that assumption. Although…"

"You don't really think he's the one responsible, do you?" Zell looked up at her from his seat on the sofa.

"Zell… I don't know… I just… don't think that Seifer would be so stupid as to fall under another manipulation."

"But what if he's not manipulated? What if he did it under his own choice?" Zell countered.

"Zell, just because he likes to call you Chicken-wuss doesn't mean that he's a bad guy, you know? Why would Seifer want to go around killing people like that out of the blue?" Quistis reasoned.

"I'd also want to believe that Seifer's innocent too…" came Selphie's disappointed voice. "After all, he is one of us…"

"Fine, I'd do whatever you want me to do, leader." Zell retorted. "But don't blame me for beating the hell out of him if he starts calling me Chicken-wuss again!"

Quistis let out a laugh of relief.

"Now, our mission, as of now, is to locate Seifer and bring him back to Garden as a suspect of the incidents. We will be arriving at Timber shortly, and from there, we will take a train to the Fisherman Horizon, which is where Seifer is last seen. There, we might be able to locate him right away as I would expect him to be living with Fuujin and Raijin. If, however, he could not be located, we will have to start our search by questioning Fuujin and Raijin, and our journey will start from then. Any questions?"

"Yes. How exactly are we going to Fisherman Horizon?" Selphie asked curiously. "I thought all trains from Timber are limited to only emergency use only?"

"We've got a special notice directly from the headmaster. There shouldn't be any trouble." Quistis answered. "Any more questions?"

"Yes…" yawned Zell. "Are we done with the briefing? I need a rest."

"Zell! It's only 0930 hrs!" giggled Selphie.

"Hey! You know how early I woke up this morning?" Zell countered. Quistis gave him a challenging look. "0730 hrs!"

"You call that early? I woke up at 0630 hrs!" Quistis scoffed.

"Me too!" Selphie stuck out a tongue at him.

"Good night ladies…"

The girls rolled their eyes.

BALAMB GARDEN – BALAMB – 1130 HRS

"Commander Leonhart." Saluted a SEED squad from the Dollet team.

"At ease!" ordered Squall. "What news?"

"Everything at Dollet is still as calm as ever sir. Until this morning." Answered the squad.

"What happened this morning? I haven't got any reports on any more attacks since Timber's!" came Squall's surprised reply.

"Not an attack, sir." The squad member explained, as he handed over to Squall a dagger with blood stain.

"What is this!"

"We believe it is a warning, sir. The villagers woke up to find this dagger pinned to the ground by the statue in the town center." Reported the SEED.

"That can't be! We've never received any sort of warning sign before." Squall argued. The SEED remained silent, quietly hoping that this is just a false warning created by some fun loving teenagers in town. He sure as hell wouldn't want to be caught in the middle of a bloody situation while stationed at Dollet. As the SEED watched his Commander, he could see frustration building in his face, and winced as soon as Squall shouted at him.

"AND WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG TO REPORT BACK!"

"My apologies, sir, but the fastest train I could catch is at 1000 hrs, and all the water vehicles are sent away to for medical help in other areas." The SEED replied.

Squall silently thought to himself what this could mean. How he wished Quistis was here. She'd know exactly what to do, and would most definitely be able to advice him on this type of situation. This could have been a false warning; however, they couldn't take anything for granted, especially in their current position where they still haven't got any advancement on the case.

"I want you do return to Dollet. Second Commander Trepe would join you there as soon as she can. Once she's arrived, she would be able to tell you what to do. As for now, I want you to take with you 10 more SEEDs, as that are as much as we could supply you with in terms of reinforcement as most of our officers are located at some other places. You will follow the 'defense code' strictly until Second Commander Trepe arrive." After Squall gave his order, the SEED saluted once more before leaving his office. Squall reached out for his intercom.

"Xu, contact Quistis' team in Fisherman Horizon immediately. Hand her line over to me once you've got her." he spoke in the intercom.

A/N: review… review.. review "