Ultimate Fantasy
Quistis' Heart

He's been training really hard for the past month, and already he's got more talent and skill than our most senior student has. And that's not speculation. Jehli Wilgron, the top student in the garden, challenged Scott to a fight. Or at least he was. They met in the Quad, in the shade of the Ragnarok. Jehli arrived first, Scott second with me trailing behind.

"Now, Quistis," he said aloud so Jehli would hear. He's so cocky. "I'm sure he just wants to talk, that's all. This is just a big miss understanding."

"Come on Scott," I said, equally as loud, "this is dumb. Why would he want to talk to you? He's so much better than you."

I heard a snap, and dove back out of the way. Scott turned and caught a fist in the face, sending him reeling. He recovered quickly and sent a barrage of fists and feet of his own. Jehli blocked every one of them. He dropped below Scott's defenses, and landed a solid kick to his midsection. Scott fell back, and pretended to be hurt. As Jehli stood over him, I could see Scott prepare to fire a magic spell, his fist was to his forehead, and his face was a mask of concentration.

"Think you're hot stuff, eh?" Jehli was saying. "Who's laughing now?"

"After this," Scott said, "you'll laugh when you look in the mirror!" He very quickly thrust his fist out toward Jehli and released the elemental blast. It caught Jehli half in the face, throwing him back. Slowly Scott stood, and walked toward him. For a moment he just stared at him, then he helped him to his feet. "Let's get you to the doc."

I ran over and helped hold him up. He was mumbling something I couldn't make out. It was in Helic, his home language. I spoke very little of it, and he was speaking too slowly for me to get any of it. We got him to the Infirmary, and left him in the capable hands of Doctor Kadowaki, our head nurse. As we walked out of the office. Something was bothering me.

"Notice anything strange about that?" I asked.

"What, the fact that he wanted to kill me for no reason?" Scott replied.

"No," I said, shaking my head. "While we were carrying him here, he started saying something in his home language. He never speaks it in public, especially after a fight."

"So? Why's that strange? He was probably cursing me for beating him like that. Scar on his face'll make him madder and meaner."

"If that's true, you'd better be more careful around here. You don't need any trouble right now."

"Something tells me," Scott said in a low voice, "that trouble has me marked and targeted. Come on, let's get to the Training Center."

I agreed and we headed off to start the day's session with the monsters. He had already met with Squall and Zell for his hand-to-hand and close-in fighting. He was getting very good with his Gunblade. After that, he met with Rinoa and Selphie in the library for history, math, and English lessons. History and English were easy for him. He told us he was well cultured from his grandma and his father. Math gave him trouble, though. He wasn't very apt at number crunching. Not that was the most important subject in Balamb Garden. Far from it. It was the least important, but Cid wanted him to take it.

Next was his choice. He worked in the garage with the garden's cars. The garden was flying, and the cars hadn't been used very much. Scott took it upon himself to fix a few up. He even got Irvine to help. He was able to get two cars running again. He said his skills came from his uncle. Lately he was working on a car that was pretty messed up. For some reason, he wanted this car to run.

We arrived at the entrance to the Training Center, and I stopped him for a moment.

"I want to give you something before we get in there," I said. I placed two fingers on his forehead and concentrated on transferring a Guardian Force (GF) summoner to his mind. He started to fall over as the initial surge hit him, but he caught himself. When it was done, I stepped back. He shook off the feeling and stared me.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I just gave you a GF."

"Aww, and I didn't get you anything," he said, jokingly.

"Just take care of it," I said. "I borrowed it from Squall, and he'd be slightly mad if it came back damaged."

"So, what's it's name?" he asked.

"Shiva," I replied.

"NO WAY!" Scott exclaimed. "I get to use Shiva?!"

"Yep," I said with a smile. "It's yours from now on."

"Cool! Thanks Quistis!" he said and hugged me. When he released me from that lovely embrace, he said, "come on, let's rock!" He then ran thru the entrance shouting Leroy Jenkins.

For a moment, I couldn't move. His touch had been absolutely wonderful. I didn't want to move, but I found the strength and followed after him.

I lost track of him shortly after I entered the Danger Area. I searched and searched, but I couldn't find him anywhere. The place wasn't that big, but I had gone all the way across the compound. I was getting really worried. I started thinking things like he was hurt or dead somewhere in here. I was beginning to panic when a T-Rexaur burst through the foliage at a dead run at me. I dropped to the ground as it's large feet passed over me, and it ran right passed me. I looked up, and had to duck again; Scott was running after the T-Rexaur. He said a brief hello as he passed over and chased the T-Rexaur down. He leapt onto the monster's back and climbed up to it's head. Reaching back into his pocket, he pulled out a small pouch full of sleeping powder which he emptied onto the beast, halting it's movement as it dropped to the ground asleep. He dropped off it's head and walked back to me.

"That was fun," he said.

"Damnit, Scott," I said as I punched him in the arm. "You scared the crap out of me! First you disappear, and I can't find you, then you reappear chasing a T-Rexaur, and then you walk up and say 'That was fun?'"

"Sorry," was all he said, and he meant it. "I wasn't thinking. I was just so happy about alot of stuff, I went a little crazy."

I looked into his eyes, and I could tell he was remorseful. I softened a bit, but I was still angry. "You still should'a waited for me. It's still dangerous in here. You took down a young one. The family'll be around here somewhere."

Do you believe in irony? How about excellent timing? The family burst through the foliage all around us, roaring and snarling. We were surrounded. As I searched for an escape, the largest one grabbed Scott in it's jaws and took him into the air like a piece of meat. Only Scott wasn't gonna go quietly. He quickly drew his Gunblade and swung it towards the beast's nose, striking a gash. It immediately dropped him and roared in pain. The next largest one came at me, but I used my Chain Whip to keep her at bay. I yelled for Scott to run for the exit, but I saw that he had his hands full at the moment. The eldest T-Rexaur had him against a large rock and was trying to get at him without getting sliced up. Scott was holding him off, but it was starting to look bad. I ran through the legs of the T-Rexaur I was facing, and ran towards him. Thinking quickly, I began to charge with an Ice magic spell. I released it upon the monster, and tackled Scott to get him out of the way. It worked and we flew into the bushes and down a hill to a safe area. I landed hard on top of Scott, but he didn't complain much. We rolled to a stop at the bottom of the hill, and I crawled off him.

"You ok?" he asked. I was more than ok. I felt good laying next to him. It was like something inside me had been sleeping, and was just waking up. It felt like I was floating, drifting in zero-G.. I hadn't felt like this since... since before Rinoa came and got Squall to love her. Is that what I was feeling? Love? I couldn't tell at the time because, when I loved Squall, I hadn't had much feedback. With Scott, I get responses, feelings, feedback that suggests he might feel the same.

We climbed back up the hill and, since the monsters had disappeared, made our way to the exit. I was really struggling inside with a decision I had to make. By the time we reached the exit, I couldn't stand it anymore.

"Scott?"

"Yes?" he replied.

"Um.. I'm gonna ask you a question, and I want a serious answer. But it's hard to ask..."

"Go ahead and ask, Quistis," Scott said as he pulled me closer and put an arm around my shoulder.

"Ok... Do you have a girlfriend?" He looked at me in a weird way. " I mean, back home."

"No, I don't," he replied, and I felt my heart leap for joy. "Couldn't get one if I tried either. Kinda had a bad rap for being the school loser."

"Oh," I said. "Well, I kinda have that reputation too."

"You? I doubt that," he said. "What about the Trepe Groupies?"

"Oh please, those people are way too weird for me."

"What about me?" he asked. The question shot through me. What about me?

"Well... um... you... I kinda..."

"Like?" he said.

"Well, yeah.. I guess..."I stammered.

"That's cool. I kinda like you too," he said.

"You mean that? Really?" I asked as I looked into his eyes.

"Yeah. I do," he said.

"Good," I said, as I drew him closer. "Cause I mean it too."

The next month went by very fast for us. We did everything together. Well, almost. I didn't let him sleep with me for a while. I wanted to see how serious he really was. I found out about a week before he was scheduled to take the preparatory test to become a CeeD. He came back to the room real late one night, dirty and covered in grease. He had a smile on his face. I asked what was he so happy for.

"I got Mad Cat to run," he replied.

"Really? That's great!" I exclaimed. Mad Cat was what he referred to as an SUV that we had down in the garage. He had really put a lot of effort into it.

"It still needs work, but it runs."

"That's good," I said, returning to studying maps.

"I also talked to Squall," he said as he began to change clothes.

"About what?" I asked.

"My pre-test. He asked how I wanted to do it. I told him I wanted to fight three CeeD."

"That's..." I started, then stopped and looked at him. "You what?"

"Yeah," he replied. "I want to fight CeeD's. If I can't beat them, how am I gonna pass the real test?"

"Who will you be fighting?" I asked, but I probably already knew the answer.

"Zell, Squall, and Irvine agreed to help out."

"No," I said as I stood up. "I won't let you get yourself killed. They have more experience than any CeeD in the field right now, and they'll kill you. Don't do it. Please!"

I kept talking to him, giving him many more reasons not to go through with it, but I could tell in his eyes that I wasn't having any success. He was very hard-headed, and wouldn't change his mind. He told me he had a week to prepare, and he planned to be very ready. Dressed in his fighting clothes, a blue long sleeve shirt, blue shorts that hung just below his knees, and black fingerless gloves, he went down to the training center. I followed him after about ten minutes. By now, I knew how to find him down there: Look for a heard of monsters running for their lives. Tonight he was chasing a rather large Gnat (not the flying type) when I caught up. I let him finish his kill, then approached from behind. He turned and saw me.

"I'm not going to change my mind, Quistis," he said as I got closer.

"I know," I said as I came close to him. He hadn't even broken a sweat yet. I wrapped my arms around him after he sheathed his Gunblade, and he returned the gesture of affection. We walked to the "Secret Area," a place we had frequented lately. There were only a few other couples there tonight, so we weren't bothered by the company. Besides, they were here, doing the same thing we had done for the past month. We found our favorite spot, right in the center of the rail overlooking the garden, and leaned on it together. We didn't speak much tonight. At least not out loud. We just stood and looked out on the beautiful site of the garden in flight. Of course we were flying with it, but this angle made it look more majestic.

After about three hours, we grew tired of standing and starring, so we adjourned to our room. By just being with him tonight, I understood why he chose the venue of his test. He wanted to be part of us, the CeeD's, but he wanted to do it the hard way, to show those who had recommended him to stay that he was not going to just succeed. He was going to be the best CeeD that he could, and the only way he could do that, was to fight his way to the top. To be the best. That's what we all want. Even I want it. I knew my will wasn't as strong as Scott's, so I would be there to support, to be with, to love him through everything he, we, went through. That night, I let him sleep in the same bed as me. No fancy stuff, just a restful sleep.

The week past, and Scott took the test. He was seriously injured, but endured the pain and won the fight. We rushed him into the Infirmary, and Dr. Kadowaki tended to his wounds. He awoke hours later. I was so happy that he was alive, that I almost jumped onto the bed. Instead I sat down next to him and held his hand. He was there for three days before the good doctor released him.

Things with Jehli had gotten worse. Scott personally had no problem with the top student, and said so openly. But something made Jehli hate Scott so. He attempted to start fights regularly. Most of the time, Scott would shrug it off, but sometimes he would react rather harshly. It would end up with either Scott or Jehli, or in one instance, both in the Infirmary. Jehli really had it in for him.

I was growing tired of all of it. Jehli relentlessly attacked Scott, physically and verbally. Scott could handle both pretty well, and only got physical when he grew tired of the abuse. Finally, I decided enough's enough. I told Scott he was "confined to quarters," a ruff term meaning grounded. I then went looking for Jehli. I found him and his gang in the cafeteria.

"Jehli," I said in my most commanding voice. "I want to speak to you."

He half turned to me, showing his saber (his weapon of choice) like it was supposed to frighten me, and said, "So talk."

I drew in a deep breath, and began. "I want to know what you have against Scott Wolf."

"That's a personal matter," he replied and turned back to his gang. I walked right up to him, and spun him around till we were face-to-face. "It involves Scott, so it's also personal with me. Now start talking."

He shoved me back so hard that I lost my balance and fell to the floor. He and his gang laughed at me, and I began to get very angry. So angry, I didn't notice I was summoning Ifrit, my GF. I looked up and all of his buddies were standing around me, but at a distance. I stood, and beckoned for Jehli to come forward. Instead, one of his friends attacked from the side, catching my right arm with his dagger. I yelped and jumped back, but another came at me from my left. He swung his ax at my head, but I ducked and whipped my chain around his leg. It caught, and I pulled his leg out from under him. He landed with a thump. As I prepared for a follow up attack, I was knocked to the ground from behind. The next thing I knew, five feet were kicking at me from all sides. I couldn't tell exactly when I released Ifrit, but I knew he had done major damage. Three of the students were unconscious, the other two had escaped serious harm.

I was out of breath, and I didn't think I could take anymore. Luckily, I didn't have to. I heard a voice yell something behind me, and Jehli and his friend (maybe his girlfriend) looked up and behind me. I turned slowly and saw Scott standing there with a very angry look on his face.

"Ok, Jehli. I've been going light on you ever since I beat you the first time. Now you're in deep shit."

"Deep what?" Jehli asked in bewilderment. It occurred to me that I didn't know what he was talking about either.

"Shit. Synonymous with trouble," Scott said. "It means you're ass is grass, and I'm the lawnmower." He jumped higher than I'd ever seen him jump and landed between Jehli and the girl. With lightning speed, he swung out with both arms and knocked both of them to the floor. The girl spun into a table and disappeared from my sight. Jehli fell to the ground but was back up just as quickly, Gunblade drawn and ready. Scott drew his, and the fight was on. I had recovered enough to stand, so I ran over towards them. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the girl dive at me. I caught her, but wasn't able to fight centrifugal force, and we landed on the floor with her on top. I then recognized her: Jessica Kurtiz. She was Jehli's girlfriend. I heard what happened next from a witness. While I struggled with Jessica, the fight had moved out into the hall. Scott brought his Gunblade down in a sweeping motion aimed at Jehli's arm. Jehli blocked and swung a blow of his own. Scott blocked, and jumped back. He then summoned Shiva, while Jehli summoned Strong Arm, his GF. The two GF's became locked in combat, with both sides taking heavy damage. Meanwhile, the fight continued. The garden was becoming a mess. Scraps all along the floor, chunks of masonry missing from the walls as a result of miss-aimed, -directed, and deflected magic spells, the GF's were tearing it up pretty badly as well.

Suddenly, the GF's disappeared. I saw what happened from here. As I dragged Jessica out into the hall, I saw Squall and Zell restraining Scott while Selphie, Rinoa, and Irvine held Jehli to the ground. I ran to help Squall, but before I could help, he had reached Jehli and they were trying to fight again. It took almost half an hour to completely restrain the two. Irvine was accidentally hit in the head with the butt end of a Gunblade, but he couldn't tell who's it was. Rinoa suffered a bruise on her shoulder and minor cuts on her shins and forearms. Other than that, there were no serious injuries.

"I'm surprised at all of you," Cid said. Me, Scott, Jehli, and Jessica were standing before his desk as he paced behind us. Our injuries were bandaged up, and we were, more or less, presentable.

"I'm especially surprised at you, Quistis. You were the senior member at this little dance, and you end up beating Jessica into submission. Scott and Jehli I can understand if not forgive. You and Jessica had nothing to do with each other." Cid was madder than I had ever seen him. His face was beet-red. Squall, who was standing behind the desk looking at us, was also angry, but not as angry as Cid. "Can you please explain why you all decided to start this Royal Rumble?"

"It's my fault, sir," I started. "I went to Jehli and asked why he hated Scott so, and it escalated from there."

"From what I heard, you leveled the cafeteria!" Cid yelled. "Witnesses say you were outnumbered and resorted to using a GF to defeat your attackers."

"I was unaware of the GF building power at the time, sir," I said. "It just sort of released itself."

"That's not a very good excuse, Ms. Trepe," he replied. You knew you were in trouble when he addressed you by your last name. "GF's don't release themselves."

"Nevertheless, sir, it happened." I was trying to maintain my composure. Pressure wasn't my strong point. Scott must have saw this, because he discretely reached over and squeezed my hand. Cid saw, and seemed to get angrier. "Stand at attention, Mr. Wolf!" Scott's hand shot back to his side.

"In all my days, I have never seen a fight so savage, so relentless, so... vicious!" Cid said, trying to regain his composure. "You are all confined to quarters until I say so. There will be no exceptions. I'll decide further punishment later. Squall, return them to their quarters, now."

We all about faced and left the room. As soon as the door closed behind us, Scott and Jehli were toe-to-toe again.

"What's the idea attacking Quistis like that?"

"She was pokin her nose where it didn't belong. Be glad I hadn't cut it off."

"Try it again and I'll cut yours off."

"Keep a better watch on her, and I won't have to mess her up."

It's a good thing Squall had gotten between them. Scott tried to lung at Jehli, who only laughed and entered the elevator.

"That's enough, Scott!" Squall said. "He's not worth it. Besides, you're in enough trouble already. Now get into the elevator."

The ride down was quiet. No one said anything, even after we were all brought to our rooms. Jehli and Jessica were ushered into their room first, then Scott and I were taken to ours. After Squall left to check on everyone else, Scott threw himself on the bed.

"Damn him," he said. "That bastard Jehli. I oughta kick his ass."

"You did, Scott," I said in a soothing voice. "I wonder what Cid's gonna do with us."

"I'll probably get kicked out."

"Cid wouldn't do that," I said, sitting down beside him. "He has faith that you'll become something more than this. He won't stop that."

"I dunno," Scott said as he rolled over to face me. "He was pretty pissed off at us."

"He was mad at me for not controlling the situation. He wasn't very sore at you, but he was mad all the same."

"Well, we've got an undetermined time locked in this room," he said. "What are we gonna do?"

"Well, we've got your CD's and my CD player," I said as I reached under the bed and pulled out my CD player. I grabbed his backpack and, after some digging, pulled out a disk with the words "Korn Issues" on it. The R was backwards. "Tell me about your culture."

"I don't know if you're ready for that one," he said. "Let's try something more beginner."

For hours, we sat and listened to his disks. He explained as best as he could what each song was, and the time flew. Sometime around eight at night, Zell came by with some food for us. After he left and we ate, Scott dug into his pack again and came out with a pack of cards unlike any I'd ever seen. They were the same size as Triple Triad cards, but had symbols and numbers on the face. Some had faces of men and women on them. He explained each card type to me and, after a while, taught me how to play a game called Gin. It was fairly easy once I caught on. Before we knew it, it was midnight. I was tired, and I flopped onto the bed. He flopped down behind me and put his arms around me. We both fell asleep like that.

The next morning, a knock on the door awoke me. Scott rose and answered. Zell and Squall greeted him. I was still half asleep, so I didn't hear much, but I did hear Cid's name a few times. When Scott finally closed the door, he turned to the closet and started to get dressed in his combat gear. I guess he thought I was still asleep. When I stirred, he looked over at me. His face was all serious, and his tone was even more serious.

"Cid's ready for us."

I quickly dressed in my fighting clothes and grabbed my Chain Whip. Scott waited for me outside. I joined him, and we walked to Cid's office. Selphie, Rinoa, and Zell stood outside the office doors. Irvine opened the door from the inside and let us in. Squall stood beside Cid, who was sitting in his chair. Jehli and Jessica were already at attention. We saluted Cid and went to at-ease.

"Now that you're all here, I'll begin," he started. "We received a request for CeeD thirty hours ago. The Shumi Village is under siege from an unknown group. From what they could gather before sealing the village, this isn't a random attack." I was confused, but didn't show it. I thought we were going to be punished. "The group haven't damaged the village yet, limiting their attacks to injuring the Shumi there. There have been no deaths as of yet that we know of. From the request log, all Shumi were accounted for.

"I know you all expected punishment. This is it. Your task is to learn the identity of this new group and, if possible, drive them from the village without killing each other. You will be dropped eighty-five miles from the village to insure that the garden is not discovered. You'll be issued cold-weather gear as well as supplies to last you for three days. Within that time, you will make your way to the mountain north of the village to a secret entrance. It will take you directly into the village, specifically the Artisan's home, assuming it still stands. Complete your mission using your discretion. Quistis Trepe, you are the squad leader."

I was surprised at that. I mean, I knew I would be senior officer on the mission, but I had no leadership abilities. How was I going to plan an assault on an unknown force?

"Do you all understand? Your punishment is to work together. No fighting amongst yourselves. You will be shadowed by a professional CeeD team led by Squall. Should you fail in your mission, they will attack the enemy and do their damnest to finish what you started." I could tell Cid was still mad at all of us. He didn't swear when he was in a good mood.

"Sir," Jehli said, "is there any idea how big the enemy force is?"

"Negative," Squall said, taking over the briefing. "Like you heard before, this is a unknown enemy, so we don't have an estimate as of yet. You will have a radio with your gear, and we will send you any updates as we receive them. Scott will have the radio. You will be in charge of the temp lodgings and Jessica will have the rations. Of course, you all will have emergency ration packs, but they are just that, emergency ration packs. There will be no rationing in the field. There is enough for all of you. No holding back food. Understood?" Jessica gave him a "yes-sir" and nodded.

"Very well," Cid said. "Get moving. Dismissed."

We all saluted, about faced, and marched out of the office. When Scott and Jehli had both set foot out of the room, they began to star each other down, neither one moving for fifteen seconds. Finally, Selphie stepped in.

"Boys please!" she said in her little girl-like voice. "You have a mission to go to, and I don't want either of you to mess it up."

"She's right," Scott said, not turning away from Jehli. "We'd better get moving."

"Yeah," Jehli returned. "Wouldn't want to mess it up, would we?"

"That would be bad, huh?"

"Yeah."

They stared for another few seconds, then turned away from each other and walked away. I caught up with Scott on the way back to our room.

"That went well," I said. "Not as bad as I had expected, but not as good either."

"Yeah," he replied. "I want to get the CD player and a few CD's, just in case we get bored on the way."

"Ok," I said. It was going to be a long trip. Might as well enjoy what we could. Scott grabbed his backpack and threw the CD player in. He next grabbed seven CD cases. I read the titles as he grabbed them and as I got myself ready. Korn, Led Zeppelin, Steppenwolf, Chrono Trigger (he said his friend "burned" it for him some time ago), and the others I couldn't read because I turned to lock the closet.

We were ready as we would ever be. After locking the room, we made our way to the front gate where everyone was waiting. Jehli and Jessica were already geared for cold weather. Our stuff was sitting next to Squall. Zell and the rest of the gang were there to see us off. I geared up slower than Scott, who threw everything on top of his clothes. I had to set all my clothing before getting the gear on. When I was ready, Squall handed me a map, wished me luck and stood back. I smiled, then went into action.

"Scott, you've got point, Jessica behind you, then Jehli and me. Move out!"

Jumping form a perfectly good aircraft is not a natural act, some one once told me. Obviously, Scott hadn't gotten that speech. He gave me a smile and, after a quick squeeze of the hand, dove off the edge. Jessica hesitated, then jumped. Jehli and I took one look, closed our eyes, and jumped. The feeling was invigorating. You drop some 359 feet or so straight down, and just before you hit the ground, you're supposed to cast a floating spell to cushion the landing. Jessica, Jehli and I all did just that. Scott, on the other hand, dropped straight down, and when he was at about thirty feet, cast Protect on himself. When he landed, the cloud of dirt and snow flew up fifty feet to where we were still floating down. As soon as I touched the ground, I ran to the crater where he had landed. He was slowly climbing out when I arrived.

"Jesus, Scott," I said, or rather shouted. "You could've hurt yourself! I don't want you to ever do that again."

"Easy, Quistis," he replied.

"Don't give me that! We're on an important mission and I don't want anyone to get hurt before it even begins." I looked up towards the garden, but it was already moving out of sight. The sun was beginning to set in the west, and we were in a valley eighty-five miles north-west of the village. "Let's set up camp for the night. We've got a lot of work to do tomorrow."

Scott and Jehli set up the single tent we had in silence. I was thankful that they weren't at each other's throat. Jessica and I got the food, water, and other essential gear in order. Jessica wasn't really a bad person once you got to know her. We talked the whole time we worked. I tried to find out what Jehli had against Scott, but she avoided those questions and changed the subject each time I tried. I finally gave up when we had everything in order. It was getting dark. I ordered everyone into the tent to get some rest.

Night passes slowly when you're excited. I was. Scott was. Even Jessica was. The only one who seemed unaffected was Jehli. He lay down next to Jessica and went right to sleep. It amazed me how men could sleep just about anywhere at any time. It took me hours to find a comfy position next to Scott. I fell asleep some time later. Scott remained awake the whole night. He watched for any wild monsters or unexpected company. None came.

When I awoke the next morning, he wasn't in the tent. I stretched (as much as I could at least, those snow suits don't allow for much movement) and climbed out to the world. Scott was practicing a few meters away. He had his snow gear off, and was swinging his Gunblade this way and that at his imaginary targets. I inhaled the fresh air, and caught a whiff of something delicious. Scott had cooked breakfast, and, judging from the dirty dished, had already eaten.

I grabbed a plate and dished out a portion for myself. Eggs, sausage, and milk. A good way to start a mission. I ate and watched Scott. His movement was fluid, and his technique was great. Having all of us, the Final Fantasy Gang as he nicknamed us, helping and training was an added bonus. He had taken all of the techniques we had shown him, and made his own. He definitely had talent.

Jessica and Jehli arose and joined me. We ate as Scott finished his workout. He got his gear on, and joined us. With breakfast out of the way, we set to the task of clean up, which took relatively no time at all.

"Ok," I said when we were ready. "We'll move twenty miles before we rest, then another twenty. That should take all day to do. Let's get a move on."