AN: Its a short but quick update. It was kind of written in a hurry, but i am a little proud of this. I think its pretty good if i do say so myself, though i really want to hear from you guys. (btw, if anyone still hasnt reviewed the previous chapter, please do).
Also if anyone is wondering about my other open stories (in other series) worry not, i will get to them soon.
Thanks for being so loyal and supportive guys. Your reviews mean a lot ot me.
His breathing was heavily sporadic. His mind raced with a whirlwind of thoughts. His eyes darted in different directions with nothing to contain its focus. The perspiration was dressed across his face in a blanket of uncertainty.
His hands were engaged in a dance between an ironclad grip upon his gunblade to that of a feathery touch.
This was not the place for one with shattered confidence. This was not the place for the man who was now living in the shadow of his own former greatness that existed just one night ago.
Squall Leonhart was the fearsome Lion of Balamb no more.
His mind was overcome with a disease that overshadowed the speed and ferocity the Black Plague had once spread across the land.
Black Plague, a suiting name for one clad in so much dark leather should he ever decide to switch sides.
No, his disease was one that attacked and consumed the mind before its effects on the body could take place. His disease was one only humans could show and thus spared the remainder of all Hyne's creatures. His ailment was one of love.
He knew it the second she had been banished from his room. For once there had been no doubt as to what emotions he was feeling. There was no second-guessing his thoughts. There was also no holding back his emotions to the world when he fell to his knees sobbing in grief.
Had he been thoroughly seduced by a raven-haired beauty? The answer was undeniably yes. Had he any regrets? Sadly and probably his biggest mistake to date was that he did not.
The young commander merely fell victim to the same potential fate to all those who in a moment of emotional instability secretly open up their heart to someone. They get hurt.
One by one the number of fiends he faced off with steadily grew. The training center had been closed off at the start of the day as the lone leader of the Esthar Garden locked himself inside to rebuild the wall around him.
This training session was much like any other. Squall faced off against numerous monsters in order to better his ability against multiple targets. The difference was this was the first time he had ever done so completely alone. He was already the best 1x1 dueler, which hardly meant he was done growing.
Nothing nor no one stagnates in nature. All life was bound by the law of rapidly growing or constantly decaying. Life would be a constant struggle but Squall Leonhart obviously still had much to learn.
One more gnat would need to be replaced as its body fell limp and succumbed to the power of gravity as it slinked down to the floor. Its brethren backed away for just a few moments sensing the aggressor had regained a dominant stance.
This was time enough to let the disheveled warrior to create some coherent thoughts in his mind.
'She has been using me. Seduced me. How could I have been such an easy target?' Those words contained more than enough truth. He hadn't even known her a month.
'I…I had feelings for her. I think I loved her. I guess that means I did love her.' After all, love is nothing more than a four letter word assigned to one's thoughts. Thinking you loved someone means you did.
It was the roar of an approaching T-Rexaur that shoved a stray thought into his mind. 'Did she love me? I didn't even provide an opportunity to ask. I….Did I make a mistake?'
But that was not the heart of the problem. Ice-bergs never reveal their true monolithic nature until it was far too late.
'She did…I don't know how but I know that much to be true. I know she loved me, even it was for but a moment' Despite this realization, his will remained shattered and refused to cooperate with its own reconstruction. The truth of the matter still remained undiscovered.
Suddenly Squall found himself very much alone. The gnats had left him isolated while he was submerged within his thought process. That could only mean one thing.
A heart shattering bellow was heard in the distance as footsteps signaled its rapid approach. It would soon be time for a far more dangerous enemy to reveal itself to Squall.
Yes the T-Rexaur that made its way to the commander would always prove to be a challenge, but it would always pale in comparisons to his archenemy.
Someone refused to leave Squall alone. Someone would always try and prevail to be more than just a memory.
The vision of a landscape set ablaze ran unchecked in his minds eye. He could see the back of a long tan tenchcoat marked with a red cross on both sleeves. One hand was firmly gripped upon a gunblade that rested against its shoulders while his short blond hair swayed with the imaginary wind that further fueled the inferno. Finally, slowly but surely, the head turned slightly to look over his shoulder as cocky green eyes were cast down upon shriveling blue ones.
The hellhole that raged on his mind quickly cast itself down into the soul of the young soldier and forced out a scream of not so quiet desperation.
"NO! I defeated you!" Squall lunged his body forward and began a much anticipated fight with the T-Rexaur before him. The beast released its limitless anger with each slash that decorated its otherwise perfect body. "You will not best me!"
However the young mercenary was without the guidance he never realized he valued. He was without the resolve that got him past countless battle. The ability to rely on himself alone was diminished while none where around to offer him aid.
The creature knocked the hero aside with a quick swish of his tail. Squall's anger served a purpose. So long as he lived he would not set down his gunblade. Not until all his enemies were defeated in every manner possible. Not until he had realized what he set out to do. Not until he died would it fall from his hands.
A mindless fury would temporarily take the place of the resolve he had come to trust. Squall quickly picked himself up to his feet and began a charge to deliver one final thrust to end this symbolic battle.
However his mind and his heart were still engaged within its own conflict. While his heart pressured him to follow up on his emotions and continue on despite the struggles he has and know will encounter, his mind was nothing more than a factory of doubt that would produce countless images to prevent him from obtaining his goal. His memories and imagination would become his worst enemy.
His final duel with Seifer replayed itself in his head. He stood above the blond coward's shivering body as his demeanor changed from one moment to the next. The smug arrogance that hung about the child was lifted and replaced with the fear of death that was ingrained within his emerald eyes. It was as if he was no longer bewitched.
Squall had a chance. The moment had finally come. Years of torment from his childhood at the orphanage throughout his years in Garden would now be avenged. Seifer would finally receive his comeuppance.
Except the man trembling before him was not the Seifer he had been dueling all along. This was the person who made his life miserable with their betrayal. This was the person who constantly teased and tested his skills thus forcing him to become better than he had ever been. This was the man who clapped for him and the others when they became SeeDs while he himself had failed once more.
The man who lay before him with his hand held out in mercy was a sorceress' knight no longer. That did not mean Seifer earned the right to live.
A quick image of the scene that started this whole ordeal flashed like a bolt of lightening through his mind. The ball held in Balamb Garden so many years ago. He stayed by the wall merely sipping a drink, while another danced with a girl with hair as black as the midnight sky.
That was why Squall spared his life. He believed Seifer was a man who had someone that cared about him. As Squall's gunblade was raised up to strike against his foe, he couldn't help but wonder what pain he would bring to a girl whose face he could not remember at the time.
Seifer may have been missed by someone should he die. Would Squall? Little would change should he happen to die. There were others who could accomplish the task he was assigned to do. He had no mother, no father to speak of. Even his Sis had abandoned him. Squall Leonhart would become another line in the book of lost souls. Just another SeeD who died playing a pawn for others.
In the end Seifer had bested him after all.
Squall leapt into the air to deliver his final blow to the T-Rexaur but his mind would not relent in its brutal attack against all he had thought he knew.
Images of Rinoa dancing with Seifer further revealed themselves to him. His imagination was running as images of Rinoa hugging Seifer, touching Seifer, kissing Seifer were all vividly displayed for his eyes to see and thus replace the image of the T-Rexaur before him.
That was what angered him. Rinoa. His Rinoa. She had picked Seifer. He was to be the one supposed to help her. He was the one who had the only thing Squall Leonhart ever wanted. Someone to care for him.
With his heart losing the battle, his body soon followed soon. The attack Squall had planned to finish the monster in front of him with was quickly forgotten though his leap into the air did indeed serve a purpose.
From the side with speed uncanny for an animal that large, two huge jaws snapped around the torso of the commander's body causing it to squirm with pain as massive teeth penetrated his form in several places. His eyes began to fog over while blood spurted from his mouth while the beast shook him from side to side in order to hurry his journey to the other side.
The training center fell eerily quiet all the while this scene took place. No other T-Rexaurs came out to challenge this one for the meal. No other beasts dared reveal their presence by making a sound. Only one solemn noise could be heard while all living things choose to become deaf to the tragic scene taking place. It was the sound of a gunblade falling several stories and clanking against the dirt ground while the blue luster it usually glowed with faded away into nothingness.
So i am probably not the most liked guy at the moment am i? Well you guys will have to review a lot to find out what happens next.
A decent number of reviews again would be appreciated. I'm not tryin to be mean, im just really really like reviews P
So tell me if you loved it, liked it, hated it, hate me. Maybe a few suggestions as to how to improve and all that good stuff. Once again i appreciate teh support. I will do my best not to let anyone down. I hope you all enjoy this. Thank you once againm and please review. :-)
Until next time, take care all.