A/N: OK, that was reeeeeeeeeeeally late… Sowwy…
Before we go on though, I'd like to make two things clear for this story.
First of all, I know it's supposed to be only the important things that Quistis would want to view, but sometimes I need to fill in the chapters, and it'd be darn monotonous if it was ALWAYS Seifer and Quistis, Seifer and Quistis… Don't get me wrong, I love those two as characters, but they're not the only ones in the story…
On a second note, I'll have to apologize in advance for something you're going to notice in latter chapters. When I started writing this, I thought Seifer's birthday was on December 21st. My mistake, since I've been recently infirmed that it on the 22nd. The problem is, that Quistis and Ellone will take three 'breaks' during the story, 'cause Ellone can't show her the whole thing in one day! The idea is to have it done by Christmas but seeing as they began on the 24th according to my story, that would be impossible. So please be nice and forgive that little mistake of mine, mmmkay? :-) Just pretend Sei's birthday is on the 21st…
Finally, the student 'Feries Malsay' which gets a cameo in this chapter is from the story of a fellow writer Bleeding In Vein. I suggest you check out her story He's All That. It's a Seiftis which promises to give you plenty of laughs! All I'm going to say is this: Seifer turns into a woman under Ultimecia's final curse to avenge him…
Last chapter summary: After the night of the ball, where Quistis and Seifer come 'close' momentarily, Seifer decides to leave Garden for the summer and go train in General Caraway's military camp. Meanwhile, Quistis begins her first classes with the new SeeD candidates.
~*A second chance*~
By: Sickness in Salvation
Chapter 8: New Blood
A thick curtain of chocolate brown bangs fell in front of his eyes. He slightly pulled it away and regrouped his concentration to the pen before him. He wasn't fully aware of what he'd been trying to achieve for the past ten minutes, but nevertheless, he kept toying with it between his fingers. Another strand of hair slid, after being haphazardly tucked behind his ear, blocking his view once more. Steel blue eyes rolled and a grunt of vexation escaped thin lips, as the young boy abandoned his pointless game and leaned back on his chair. All of his classmates were obviously too high on sugar and serotonin, as none of them had ceased talking –or rather, babbling- for one single second ever since they'd entered the classroom. The brown-haired boy could never understand the reason for such vigor and vitality, as he himself rarely talked in multi-sentence phrases or felt the urge to drift around any room non-stop as if he wasn't capable of '…pinning my ass down to a damned chair…' the boy thought irritated.
Delete rarely. Try never.
Hyne, how he hated animated people. Hell, some times he wondered if he even liked people period. Well there wasn't much room to debate that, was there? He never spoke unless it was absolutely necessary to do so, he didn't have any friends 'Hyne, even the greatest jackass of them all has friends…' the brown-haired boy thought, his mind trailing to a certain tall blond he much despised. Despised? No, not really… Once pushing away all negative feelings about arrogance and an oh-so-evident self-proclaimed disregard for authority, he respected Seifer Almasy. He respected him for his strength and confidence. And more than often wondered how people preferred to socialize with Almasy even, instead of him '*Scoff* I wouldn't want them to anyway… They'd all just drift apart sooner or later…'
Anti-socialism and agoraphobia in all their glory ladies and gents…
No, delete that too. They'd have to invent a whole new word to define his credos on mingling with other human beings.
The boy let out another grunt of frustration. He didn't like to just stand there, having nothing to do… It made him think too much. And thinking always led to realizations he hated to come across. His blue eyes fell on his watch. 8:58 a.m. His Instructor should be arriving any time now… He found himself more grateful than ever to be expecting a person to arrive. Thankfully, his anticipation didn't last long.
- "Good morning, class."
A voice that mysteriously enough balanced between cold steel and feminine sweetness, succeeding in containing equal quantities of each, filled the atmosphere. The subtle sound of boots clattering against the concrete floor announced the arrival of their teacher. Many a gasps and sharp intakes of breaths accompanied the entrance of said teacher, a tall blonde girl, with startlingly blue eyes 'Oh great… Quistis Trepe…' thought the brown-haired boy, internally cursing his bad luck. It's not that he had anything against the woman; hell, he barely even knew her, but he was aware of her little fan-club. From what he'd heard, they made every class a living hell by disrupting the lesson every two seconds, to try and win the pretty Instructor's attention. He suddenly felt incredible pity towards the girl that looked barely a day older than him; she probably was the one who suffered the most from the infamous 'Trepies'. The mental image of a club like that of his own, with people stalking him and following him on every step he took raced in mind. The idea alone made him shudder…
- "My name is Quistis Trepe and I will be your Instructor for the next semester, until you are ready to take part in the written and field SeeD exam, held twice every Academic year." Quistis spoke.
The boy rolled his eyes; the very first victims of the girl's deadly charms had been spotted. A few boys that probably resented their luck a few minutes ago for arriving late and were hence obliged to occupy the front rows of desks, now looked thrilled beyond imagination. They were practically sitting on the very edge of their seats, jaws dropped, tongues almost hanging out of their mouths 'Like damn puppies in heat…' The young boy felt disgusted. Quistis on the other hand, seemed completely un-phased by the whole situation 'She must be used to all this… Or way full of herself…' the boy thought.
- "But we still have a lot of time before you need to worry about your exam. I'll proceed in calling out your names." Quistis continued, picking up the list, resting so far on her desk.
She adjusted her glasses and skimmed the list swiftly, then spoke.
- "Anderson, Simone." the blonde said. A hand flew up in the air each time she phrased a name "Cornell, Max. Dincht, Zell."
- "Yo!"
The whole class turned around and faced the classmate whose name had just been called. The brown-haired boy scoffed. He knew him; he was that blond hyper kid, with the gravity-defying hair. Quite annoyingly vigorous if you asked him… This would probably be because that boy, Zell Dincht, was everything he wasn't…
- "Alright…" Quistis continued, grinning slightly at Zell's salute. The 'oven-fresh' Trepies sighed and swooned "Jodorowsky, Annette. Leonhart, Squall."
Upon hearing his name, the brown-haired boy timidly raised his hand. Quistis nodded at him and went on.
- "Malsay, Feries. Moreno, Brian. Rogers, Steven. Scholes, Annya. Shearwind, Nida. Silveria, Drake…"
Squall buried his head in between his crossed arms on the desk, waiting for the 'roll call' to end. He yawned. His first day in his SeeD class and he was already bored…
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
A cigarette butt fell onto the ground, to be extinguished moments later by a black military boot, adorned by a sliver of steel at the front. Seifer threw his backpack on his shoulder and walked down the narrow trail leading to the woody area before him. The plains of Galbadia were quite known for their scarcity of forests, a fact which made Seifer realize why this region had been chosen to 'host' Caraway's military camp. The blond SeeD raked a hand through his hair, feeling the first traces of moisture concentrating on the top of his forehead as he did so 'Damn it's hot…' It was already mid-June and, as expected, the temperature had begun to rise steadily. Ergo, Seifer's tall trench coat-clad frame made him seem out of place, but he was never one to abandon his routines for the sake of compromise. And his attire would be no exception. A little heat never hurt anyone. However, he'd let himself believe that his pulled-up sleeves served style and not need…
As his steps brought him closer to the entrance, he could easily make out the two sentries standing under a kiosk by the gate, right underneath a noticeable enough label, brandishing the name of the camp. The two men that seemed to be about his age, were leaning wearily against the wall behind them, obviously bored stiff. Upon seeing Seifer approach though, they stood up straight and rested their elbows against the counter before them. Seifer walked up to the kiosk, nodding at the two guards.
- "Morning…" one of them mumbled unenthusiastically "You here for the camp?"
- "Yeah, the name's Seifer Almasy." replied Seifer, slipping his hands into his pockets.
The other removed the cigarette, which was up to now clung upon his lips, resting it on the ashtray onto the counter. He grabbed a shabby-looking stack of papers and quickly skimmed through it.
- "Right… Here you are…" he said, once coming across Seifer's name "Let's see some credentials." he added.
Seifer dug his hand in his coat pocket, retrieving his wallet. He opened it, slipping out his SeeD ID, as well as a verification form he'd received when applying for the camp. He slipped it across the counter to the guy before him. The latter picked them up, cocking an eyebrow.
- "I didn't ask for the verification form…" he said.
- "But you were gonna, so I beat you to it…" replied Seifer shrugging, a smug grin apparent on his lips.
- "*Scoff* As if we didn't have enough wise-guys already…" said the guard sarcastically, examining Seifer's ID and form. Seifer glared at him.
- "Everything seems to be OK…" said the other man who was leaning over his friend's shoulder "Just sign here." he added, handing Seifer the list and a pen, while returning his ID and form.
The blond SeeD spotted the blank box next to his name, where he jotted down his first name's initial and then proceeded in filling in his last name with a calligraphic scribble. He handed the pen and list back to the sentry, who checked it for a couple of seconds, then tossed back onto the counter. Seifer picked up his ID and form from the counter, slipping them back to his pocket.
- "Alright… Once inside, head for the Bestiary right to your left to get measured for your uniform." said one of the guards, filling in a clearance form for Seifer "The guy there will also tell you which tent you'll be sleeping in." he finished, handing Seifer the form.
- "OK…" said Seifer indifferently, grabbing the form and making his way to the gates nearby.
The blond had just crossed the entrance of the camp, when he came face-to-face with a middle-aged man, dressed in a uniform. The –obviously- high-ranked official stopped before him, cocking an eyebrow, studying him thoroughly. Seifer was far from enjoying the man's sudden attention to him, but decided to swallow his discomfort and stand still; apparently, he was one of his superiors and a bad first impression wouldn't look good… 'Then again…' he thought, a smirk spreading on his face. The man raised his head back up, a few strands of grayish-black hair falling back on his forehead. He gave Seifer a questioning look and spoke.
- "And who might you be?" he asked, in a seemingly disapproving tone.
- "Seifer Almasy." Seifer replied apathetically.
- "First of all, you will address me as General Caraway." said the man sternly, his forehead creasing into a frown 'Ah. The 'General'…' Seifer thought "Second, you'll wipe that sneer off you face if you know what's good for you. Understood?"
- "Yes." Seifer replied through gritted teeth.
- "Yes, what?"
- "Yes General Caraway." said Seifer, the vein in his temple threatening to pop any minute now.
- "Sir." said Caraway, a superior grin plastered on his face.
- "Yes General Caraway, sir." Seifer repeated frowning.
- "That's more like it. And for the record, your lack of salute is only excused due to the fact that you're new. You did arrive just now, right?" Caraway asked, raising an eyebrow.
- "Yes General Caraway." Seifer replied wearily. The General eyed him austerely "Sir." Seifer added quickly.
- "Next time we meet, I expect better behavior from you, Almasy. Dismissed." said Caraway, making his way towards the gates.
Seifer narrowed his eyes at the General's departing form 'Fucking fascist son-of-a-bitch…' thought the tall blond, shaking his head in disbelief and turning his heel to head to the Bestiary 'This place is crowded by jackasses with a fucking attitude problem…' Quite the ironic thought, coming from a guy who spent half his days in Garden inside the Disciplinary room. And the Head of the Disciplinary Committee to add more to the oxymoron Seifer Almasy was… As he sauntered down the path, a roar coming from the entrance pierced his eardrums and made the head of every man in the vicinity turn around.
- "SMOKING IN THE CAMP AND WHILE ON DUTY?!! KISS YOUR NEXT FOUR WEEKENDS GOODBYE MATTHEWS; YOU'VE GOT A DATE WITH THE JOHNS!"
Seifer's smirk crawled back up on his lips. His day wasn't completely ruined after all…
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
- "…so it's very important to learn how to use the elements to your favor in battle." Quistis spoke.
The blonde Instructor was sitting right atop her desk, legs crossed, explaining to her students the function of Elemental Attack and Defense.
- "The eight basic elements, as you should already know," continued Quistis, getting up from the desk and walking towards the blackboard "Are Fire, Ice, Water, Earth, Wind, Thunder, Bio and Holy." she scribbled with a piece of white chalk. She turned back to face her students "When it comes to junctioning magic onto your Elemental Attack and Defense, you should first consider your enemy's weakness and strength. Then use that knowledge against it, by junctioning said magic onto your Stats, hence achieving high defense against your enemy's attack and causing a great amount of damage to it at the same time."
Upon noticing the bewildered expression on the majority of the faces in her class, Quistis grinned and explained further.
- "For example, let's suppose that you're up against a Bomb in the Fire Cavern. Can someone tell me that monster's greatest weakness and strength, elemental-wise?" she asked.
Many hands flew up in the air. Quistis skimmed around the room quickly and decided to pick a very pretty blonde girl, with shiny jade eyes, whilst throwing a quick glimpse onto the list of names.
- "Umm… Feries Malsay, right?" asked Quistis.
- "Yes, miss Trepe." said the girl nodding.
- "Alright, go ahead."
- "A Bomb is a fire monster, hence its greatest weakness is the Ice element, while its biggest strength is the Fire element." replied the girl vigorously.
- "Correct." Quistis said approvingly "And what would you say should happen if one tried to use Fire against a Bomb?"
- "Not only would they not cause damage, but they would replenish the same amount of HP that the Fire attack would cause to any other monster, without a weakness to Fire."
- "Excellent." Quistis said smiling "Back to our example then. If you had to come across Fire elemental monsters, you should junction the strongest Ice magic possible onto your Elemental Attack stats, while junctioning the strongest Fire magic onto your Defense. That way, when you attack the monster with your weapon, you will cause extra damage from the Ice spell. On the contrary, if the monster chooses to use a Fire attack against you, the damage cause to you will be greatly reduced."
Right then, the school bell rang, indicating the end of the first period for the day.
- "Alright everyone, next time I want an essay handed in, about eight hundred words long, on Status Junctioning, similar to what we talked about today on Elementals. Before you leave there's something we need to go through very quickly." Quistis said, as her students began gathering their things.
Everyone assembled around the teacher's desk, listening closely to what Quistis was about to say.
- "Our next class will be a practical one, so keep in mind that you'll be divided into teams of two. I'll be posting the pairs on the board outside the classroom in about an hour, so check back here to see who your partner is. That is all, dismissed." the blonde Instructor finished.
The teenagers quickly dispersed and left the classroom. Quistis gathered her binders and notebooks back to her black briefcase, removed her glasses and slowly stepped out of the classroom. Once outside though, she came face-to-face with a small group of quite eager-looking male cadets. The young Instructor smiled in an awkward manner and sighed inwardly 'Oh boy…'
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Seifer walked around the plethora of deep green tents, clutching his similarly colored uniform underneath his armpit, his back-pack hanging from his shoulder. He scanned the area, trying to spot the tent he was supposed to be residing in. After a few minutes' search, he came across the one he thought was the right one, and hunched slightly, stepping inside. Two other soldiers were already in there getting ready, both likely to be around his own age.
- "Hey there…" said a blond guy, while putting on his white tank top "What can I do ya for?"
- "My ID number is HST-23869. Is this were I'm supposed to be?" Seifer asked.
- "Yup. What's your name?" asked the other guy, a raven-haired one.
- "Seifer Almasy."
- "Pleased to meet you Seifer, I'm Scott Donovan." replied the raven-haired man, nodding politely at Seifer.
- "And I'm Josh Taylor." said the blond, introducing himself as well.
- "So it's us three in the tent?" asked Seifer, dropping his bag onto a sleeping-bag which seemed vacant.
- "Nope, there's one more guy. His n- Ah there he is…" said Scott, as a brown-haired, slightly tanned guy entered the tent "Seifer, this is Pete Calavera. Pete, this is Seifer Almasy."
- "Hey." Seifer nodded at Pete.
- "Nice to meet you. Hey, Caraway's gonna be giving his speech in about ten minutes or so, so get ready." Pete informed them.
Seifer began removing his clothes, slipping his uniform on.
- "The 'Blue Princess' is here again, ya know…" Pete said meaningfully at some point, while watching the other three get ready.
- "Oh man! I haven't seen her in a whole year! How's she lookin'?" asked Scott grinning.
- "Better than ever…" replied Pete, rubbing his chin.
- "So what's she doing here this time?" asked Josh, buttoning his shirt up.
- "I dunno… I heard her babbling about something dealing with Timber or whatever and the General was all like pissed…" Pete trailed off, shrugging.
- "Who's this girl you're talking about?" Seifer asked curiously, straightening out his tank top.
- "Princess?" asked Scott grinning.
- "Yeah, whatever…" replied Seifer.
- "She's the General's daughter. She visits from time to time and let me tell you my friend… she totally compensates for the lack of females around here…" said Pete.
- "I see… So how come you know her? You haven't been here longer than I have…" said Seifer.
- "We were here last year too." replied Josh "Caraway's camp was just for Galbadians all these years, but now it's open for everyone."
- "So I'm guessing you're not Galbadian, right?" asked Pete.
- "No, I'm from Balamb Garden. A SeeD." replied Seifer in a subtly smug way, aiming to make an impression.
- "SeeD, eh? Cool…" said Scott approvingly.
- "OK ladies, we gotta hit the road… Caraway's waiting…" Pete reminded them, getting up from his sleeping-bag, walking outside the tent.
Seifer followed the three other soldiers towards the assembling area, his mind trying to settle with the idea that he'd have to hear another lecture from '…General Dickhead…'
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Squall walked out of one of the classrooms on the 2nd floor. His classes for the very first day in actual SeeD training were over. The sulking brown-haired boy clutched his books to the side of his hip and glanced at his watch 'Already 3 p.m.' He rubbed his rumbling stomach with one palm. He hadn't really felt hungry at lunch break before, but right now he was starving 'Better go eat something at the cafeteria…' he thought, and made his way towards the elevator. Upon passing down the corridor, he heard the humming of students chatting outside one of the classrooms. He cast a fleeting look towards their direction and saw that they were gathered outside Miss Trepe's classroom 'Oh that's right, she said she'd post out the partners for training…' The young boy decided to go check it out before heading down.
He walked over to the announcement board and tried to squeeze his way through the students gathered there, receiving some rogue nudges and some 'Hellos' from various classmates. He reciprocated with the tiniest of nods and turned his gaze upon the panel, scanning it quickly to locate the list he was looking for. He spotted it and skimmed through the names, trying to find his own '…Jodorowsky Annette, Leonhart Sq- There it is. Leonhart Squall with…' Squall's eyes widened up for what was probably the second time in his life '…Zell Dincht?! Oh, no… Oh Hyne no…'
Right on cue, he heard the annoyingly jovial voice of his supposed partner. Damn, he could literally sense the guy's overexcitement! He winced. Why did it have to be him? Sure, he wasn't thrilled with the idea of working with someone else in the first place, but since he had to go through with it, he'd wished for someone more… serious, dammit! Right now, he'd even trade for frickin' Almasy as a partner instead of that guy! OK, no, strike that. Nothing was worth having to put up with Almasy, not even-
- "Awesome! I'm with you?!" said Zell eagerly, laying a hard slap right on Squall's back.
The brown-haired boy staggered a step forward and cringed. He'd changed his mind; he'd definitely go with Almasy instead…
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Seifer poked what he hoped was chicken with his fork and took a bite. He chewed hesitantly, creased his forehead, then swallowed 'OK… Edible I guess…' he thought, and scooped up some rice, shoveling it down his throat. He was sitting among numerous other soldiers on their lunch break, eating and conversing vigorously. He got to know a fact or two about the men he was bunking with in the tent and got to meet a few more people. Apparently, many of them at the camp where quite familiar with each other, maybe even close friends, and were there on their second or third year at the camp. Seifer felt slightly left out, since most of the other guys were talking about common experiences. Then again, he wasn't there to make friends, so he couldn't care less…
- "…so the jackass caught me snoozing a bit on my patrol at night and he cuts me off of two weekends out!" narrated some blond Seifer now recognized as Jim something "Can you fuckin' believe it? Karen almost had my head when I saw her after almost half a month…" he added, shaking his head in disbelief.
- "You think that's bad?" Scott piped in "I heard that just today, Caraway saw Jake Matthews smoking while on duty and he's forbidding him to go on his leave for four consecutive weekends and he's having him clean the Johns for the whole month…"
Seifer grinned upon that particular recollection of the morning 'Serves that moron right…' he thought.
- "Oh, oh, oh! Here goes the Princess!" exclaimed someone, almost choking on his bite.
- "Hey Almasy, that's who we were talking about!" Pete said, nudging Seifer on the ribs.
The blond SeeD turned his gaze from his food and glanced towards the direction of Pete's extended arm. His eyes widened.
- "See, see? Some piece of art, huh?" said Pete mischievously, nodding.
Seifer's lips cracked into a grin. He was laying eyes upon none other than the girl he'd met on his SeeD exam. Yes, there was no doubt it was her; long raven hair, chocolate brown eyes, a very pretty face and finally the familiar long blue duster… 'I can't believe it… I didn't think I'd ever see her again…' the blond thought. The girl was talking to Caraway, her father apparently, and seemed to be having quite the heated conversation. She spat something at him that Seifer didn't catch and turned her heel. Thinking quickly, Seifer swallowed the bite lingering in his mouth for quite some time and got up.
- "Hey man, where are you goin'?" asked Josh bewildered.
- "Be back in a sec…" said Seifer and dashed away.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
'… "Don't know what you're dealing with"… Of course I know what I'm dealing with! What does he take me for, an idiot? I've thought this through… And I'm not gonna stick around with him and his… orders… and his… rules and… bah! I'm just gonna live my life the way I want to! I don't need him…'
A raven-haired girl was striding down a path, clenching her fists tightly, her face frowning. She tucked a stray lock of jet-black hair behind her ear and made her way towards the gates of the military camp. She hated coming here. So why did she even bother? She knew that nothing she could do or say would make him change his opinion. He was just-
- "Hey! Hey you! The girl with the duster!"
Puzzled, she stopped on her tracks and turned around. Who could be calling her now? Well, whoever it was, she was just going to get rid of him right away. She wasn't in the mood to-
Her eyes widened in surprise. It was… him. The guy who'd saved her a couple of weeks ago in Timber. It was definitely him; straw blond hair, green narrow eyes, tall brawny frame… He'd now caught up with her, slightly out of breath and was smiling at her.
- "Hi." he said.
- "Hi!" she replied cheerfully "What are you doing here?!" she asked, bemused.
- "Obviously training…" he said casually "Hey, you're the General's daughter?"
- "Yeah…" she replied nodding '…Unfortunately…' "I'm Rinoa by the way." she added smiling, extending her arm towards him. He shook it mildly.
- "Nice to meet you Rinoa Caraway. I'm-"
- "Actually, it's Rinoa Heartilly." Rinoa corrected him. The blond gave her a puzzled look "I've taken my mother's maiden name." she explained.
- "Ah, I see…" he said nodding.
- "And you are?"
- "Seifer. Seifer Almasy." replied Seifer.
- "Nice to meet you too Seifer…" said Rinoa, smiling.
- "So uhh… do you come here often?" he asked 'No.' thought Rinoa.
- "Yeah. I come here to see my dad." she lied.
- "Cool… Well… I suppose I'll see you around again sometime…" Seifer said, giving her what he reserved as his most charming smile.
- "Sure. I look forward to it." Rinoa blurted out, staring into his eyes 'Oh dear… Did I just say that out loud?'
- "I bet you are. Gotta go now. See ya…" said Seifer smirking, turning his heel.
Rinoa was left gawking at him while he walked away, grinning goofily. Suddenly, her expression changed; she frowned 'What does he mean 'I BET you are?!'
A/N: OK, there's something you need to know *sigh* The next chapter will… *gulp* reek of Seifnoa. There, I said it. Now before all you Seiftis fans go on and prepare to lynch me, hear me out. I'm a huge Seiftis fan myself. I have no intention of keeping Seifer with Rinoa and that's pretty darn obvious from the events of the future. But I have to be impartial. I can't just show favorism to Quistis, because I like her better as a female character. And you can all certainly understand that Seifer's not the type of guy to go all bummed because Quis rejected him and moan over it the whole summer. As I said right above I want to be impartial and this means covering all sorts of aspects of the story. So there. And before I get any criticism on that, at least wait to read the chapter first…
ON THE NEXT CHAPTER OF 'A SECOND CHANCE':
Seifer's summer in the camp and my version of his relationship with Rinoa