A/N: I don't own FFVIII or any of the characters from the game. This and the setting all belong to Square.
A gentle breeze coursed through the city of Balamb as Alexander sat on the dock, letting his feet dangle a few inches from the surface of the almost still water. The wind carried a strong smell of sea water and the brunette teen inhaled deeply and let out a sigh of relief. He had the day off since he had just passed his exams and, as a new SeeD, he would have a bit more free time while waiting for his first mission. Normally he would be on the training grounds, but it was just too beautiful of a day to not enjoy it. Lying down with his arms folded underneath his head, he gave a small chuckle about how great it felt to be a SeeD. Not that he had done anything with it yet, but it was nice to know that he had made it. After 17 years in the garden he had finally become a SeeD.
SeeD: the mercenary force recognized and sought out by many nations and rebel groups around the world. The same group that, years ago, defeated the Sorceress and stopped the catastrophe of time compression from happening. Since the incident, all of the Gardens other then Balamb Garden had closed down, for they felt that they were no longer needed since the Sorceress had been destroyed and their reason for existing was complete. Trabia Garden had expanded into small mining city whose main trading partner was Shumi village. Galbadia Garden had become just a normal, everyday academy. Balamb Garden decided to stay a military force because they knew that while the Sorceress was peaceful, it could possibly change. If one sorceress was able to take over another, then a new, malicious sorceress could appear and the world would be at her mercy without SeeD.
Yawning, Alexander stood up and stretched, deciding that it would be a good idea to go home. Looking into the water, he made a small face of disgust. He really hated how he looked. Alexander was tall compared to the rest of his peers, reaching a height of 6"5'. A lifetime of rigorous training that he went through to attain his new status of SeeD had sculpted his body into a well toned mass of muscle on top of his sturdy set of bones. Though that was where any physical attraction would end for most girls. His face was seemingly smashed in by a large boulder and never bothered to heal. His nose, which was broken so many times, was slightly hooked to the right, but even just slightly made a world of difference. Not to mention, his ears were too large for his head and made him the brunt of everybody's Dumbo jokes. Alexander had long, dark chocolate brown hair that reached the back of his neck while his bangs hid his kind, dark brown eyes. His pale skin contrasted with the darkness of his eyes and hair, and refused to tan no matter how long he stayed in the sun.
It was getting a little late and he still had to walk back to the Garden. It wasn't too bad of a walk but he did want to get there before dinner was served and he got stuck with the crappy food. Certain food items were gone in an instant, such as the hot dogs and the nachos. Others, however, stayed until thrown out such as teriyaki bowls. He never could understand how they made such a good thing bad but they had found a way.
Slowly he turned from his reflection with a small face of disgust and made his way past the rounded buildings in the town. Balamb was still a nice small town surprisingly untouched over the years. It had managed to stay relatively the same size and still remained a prosperous fishing village. Even though most of the people were well off, the signs on the shops and hotel needed to be repainted which was shown by the peeling paint on some of them while others were almost illegible with age. Then again, this didn't matter since everyone knew where everything was. They would have the same amount of business whether they repainted the signs or didn't have any at all!
Giving nods to a few people that he knew in town, Alexander started his walk back to the Garden where, with luck, he would get his hands on a hotdog or two. As if attesting to the fact that Alexander was hungry, his stomach started to rumble loud enough so that it could have been thunder on the horizon or the growl of a vicious beast. Letting his mind wander, Alexander moved through the grassy area that separated the Garden from the city. His mind wandered from small thought to small thought not really settling on anything giving the feeling of thinking about a lot while not really thinking at all. One moment he was thinking about hotdogs then the next moment he was imagining what his first mission would be like. About how cool it would be if it turned from something simple to saving the world like the Commander's did. Just as he was picturing himself a hero he noticed that he had reached the gates of the Garden and started off a little faster to make it to the Mess Hall as soon as possible.
The halls were almost empty as most kids were either getting food or were doing something else, such as having a cram session. The mess hall was crowded as always but luck was with him when he saw that one of the lines was short. Rushing to it, he breathed a sigh of relief as he made it to the spot of fifth in line. The person in front of him was also a SeeD and sat two rows in front of him in class. Her name, he remembered, was Karen Spencer.
Karren was tall compared to the other girls for she reached a height of around 5"11'. However, this did not distract from her beauty at all. Her flawless skin was a beautiful pale ivory color that seemed to shine with a healthy glow. She had a wonderful figure that was all curves and was able to fill out most outfits in the most flattering of ways. Shining, emerald green eyes that sparkled with a hint of an invitation gave her an attractive, mischievous air. Shining auburn hair come down to her shoulders and small, emerald earrings with gold lining sparkled as the light caught them, which showed off her eyes even more. Full red lips seemed in a constant half smile as if there was something funny that only she could see, but would become clear in a moment
Her looks, of course, made her an incredibly attractive young woman to behold, and was only made more so by the fact that she was obviously out of plain Alexander's reach. Whether it was the fact that she wouldn't like him because he was ugly or he didn't have the self confidence to make a move was irrelevant since she had recently hooked up with the head of the class. One of the popular kids that he didn't know personally and never really paid attention to since he preferred to stay out of the way and not attract unwanted attention.
He was trying to work up the courage to actually say, "Hi" to her when he was shoved out of the way by an older SeeD wearing the standard uniform, meaning that he had been on duty recently and didn't have time to change. His blonde hair was combed back with the bangs gelled up in a way that some of the younger students had thought of as cool. The tattoo on the right side of his face looked like it had been recently worked on. The ink had most likely been redone to keep it a dark black color.
The uniform the man was wearing was similar to the one that Alexander was given when he took his test, though it was a much older version. The SeeD uniforms were changed consistently to show seniority. The man's uniform was black with gold trimming around the shoulders and neat black buttons going down the shirt. There was a gold trimming going along the shirt cuffs and the buttons in a slightly sinuous line from the top button to the bottom of the shirt. The solid black dress pants were akin to the ones that Alexander had received with his own uniform. Unlike most dress pants however the SeeD-issued dress pants were made with a more durable and flexible material for easier movement. And, like all SeeDs the uniform was finished off with a nice pair of black dress shoes polished to a neat shine that would be suitable for a ball inside the palace of Esthar.
The man was Zell Dincht, one of the legendary SeeDs that stopped Sorceress Ultimicia five years ago. One of the most respected members in the Garden had just shoved Alexander out of the way like he was a new cadet! Not the best behavior for Zell to have considering more then half the Garden looked up to him, but that was just how Zell was when it came to hotdogs.
As luck would have it Alexander was shoved right in to the Disciplinary Committee. Namely Seifer Almasy, who had previously attained the status of SeeD four years ago after receiving a pardon from the headmaster and the Commander for past actions.
After many heated debates it was decided that Seifer acted under the influence of Sorceress Ultimicia whom he had thought to be Matron, a trusted person from his early childhood as well as Headmaster Cid's wife. The argument had been that if Sorceress Edea and Rinoa were to be excused for what happened because of Ultimicia, then the pardon should go to the others who were following orders or who were manipulated in other ways.
Along with Seifer were his constant sidekicks Raijin and Fujin. Like Balamb, little had changed when it came to those three. And, as might have been expected, Seifer was not too happy about being slammed into by a kid and less happy about who had shoved him. Seifer shoved Alexander to the side and, once again, before he fell he was grabbed. This time it was by Raijin, whose strong grip dug in to his shoulders. Seifer approached Zell with a livid look on his face.
"Well if it isn't the Chicken Wuss. I see that you still are causing trouble. As a SeeD, you should know better and I am going to have to detain you."
At this point Raijin had to pipe up and add, "You need to chill out man, ya know?" Fujin glared at him and gives him a swift kick in to the shin, causing Raijin to jump up and down in pain while barely keeping a hold of Alexander.
"SILENCE," she commanded in her one-word fashion.
That was all that some of the more undisciplined students needed to break out in to a food fight and from there an actual brawl. Chaos in the Mess Hall all because someone didn't have the wits to get to dinner earlier to get a hotdog. Because Alexander had to slam in to the Disciplinary Committee.
A few students including, Zell and Alexander, were dragged to detention while Seifer and his gang gathered their wits. Among these other students were Karren and her boyfriend who had been third in line. Also there was one of the most unique SeeDs, Benny. At least, that was what the kids had decided to call him.
Benny was the one and only Moomba SeeD. He had come from Shumi Village before his transformation and had been astounded not only by Sir Laguna, but the Commander and his friends. He snuck out of his village to see the outside world and ended up in Balamb Garden with the hopes of protecting all of the wonderful things that he saw. Headmaster Cid didn't have the heart to send him away and accepted him in to the Garden. Because of Benny's long life he had no problems with all of the mental parts of becoming a SeeD, and after his transformation into a Moomba, his physical talents seemed to grow exponentially. He was much stronger and faster compared to how he used to be, and he was able to out-perform some of the normal SeeDs with his physical prowess.
His appearance, however, was certainly no good for stealth or blending in, because Moombas were not a common sight outside of Shumi Village. In fact, many people did not even know about their existence or that they were a form of Shumi, since they had the appearance of beasts. Benny's Red fur and lion like appearance was nice for making sure others were cautious. He was able to walk upright on his developed hind legs or sprint on all fours like a beast. His spiky red hair had always been a topic of interest because not only because of the unnatural but because it stuck up in a version of a mane all on its own. His white underbelly and paws tipped with black claws were always something that some of the younger cadets would gawk at. However, none of this was important to Alexander at the moment.
All Alexander could think about was how messed up this was. Now he would not only miss the chance to talk to Karren since he was one of the reasons she was being dragged away, but he wouldn't get a chance to eat either. Not how he would have liked to end his day, though it made sense that something bad had to happen or else it just wouldn't be his life.
A/N: I would like to thank my Editor known around here as Kitaiko and since I am not used to writeing a fanfiction or anything like that. Though I do RP a lot. I would love any feedback or comments that you have.