Disclaimer: I still don't own any of the following... Final Fantasy (only some of the games and my muses, who are happily rampaging in my mind...), Magic - The Gathering (again - all I own are my ideas for creative use)
Only one thing left to say before the insanity my muses unleashed begins... Have fun reading chaper two!
SeeDs, Guardians and... Love
Leaving for the north
After we'd been informed about our new assignment – it wasn't that much information… most of the stuff we'd already heard yesterday – we got some warnings from the instructor and a few friendly words from the headmaster.
After the two left us alone, Seifer looked at me, "Ya ready, kid?"
I sighed, "As ready as I'll ever be… Let's go." Yeah… I know… what a witty retort, but hey! Bear with me…
After leaving the Garden grounds, which took several minutes, we walked the whole way to Balamb-City. It was a long road and monsters got into our path, but not for very long… My sword and Seifer's gunblade – Hyperion – made short work of them… Well… at least it wasn't boring… At the railway station we got ourselves two tickets to Vinoria-City, our destiny. Vinoria definitely is up north… But… It could be worse… We could've been sent to Trabia… At least in Vinoria the cold is not as bad as it is in Trabia… but it's not quite spring yet and there's still the possibility of snow… as low as it may be…
The journey itself would last several hours – first we had to go to Deling-City, Galbadia, and there we had to change trains for Vinoria-City – and hopefully I would be able to catch a few hours of sleep. I got tired and sleepy because of all the fighting and walking around that I'd done that day… Yet I was afraid that Seifer was probably not going to let me get much more sleep than a short nap.
After finding our compartment, I placed my bag carefully on the floor – my sword and a few other important things were in it – and claimed a spot for me, where I promptly curled up and went to sleep. Seifer could do whatever he wanted for all I cared, as long as he didn't interrupt my sleep, because otherwise I wouldn't play nice…
In Deling-City there was no time left for anything, we changed trains and were on our way again. By now it was already early afternoon, but I couldn't care less. It seemed that all I could do right now was sleep… Even when we had to wake up to leave one train and board another, I merely dragged myself forward, but in reality I was half asleep. What the hell is wrong with me? At least Seifer hadn't bothered me yet. But it seemed he was content with sleeping too… I wonder what he did last night or last week to need to sleep… But I wasn't about to question my luck.
When I woke up again, this time being fully awake – much like I was in the morning – I didn't want to disturb him, or worse… wake him up…, and so I stood up, silently slipped through the doors and left for the corridor to have a look out of the large windows I'd seen earlier. But just before I could close the doors again, I saw that Seifer had woken up too. Now I really wanted to leave, because I didn't want to get dragged into some exchange of words. I'm rarely in for longer conversations – meaning that I had to do more talking than usual… I turned around immediately and basically fled… The windows were looking very interesting today…
The view was amazing, or more like breathtaking… There's no other word to describe what I could see right now… The plain wasn't very large, which is why I could clearly see the mountains surrounding it and since the railway was raised, I could also look down and watch the large river flowing beside it. The blue sky was somewhat mirrored in it and I could not help but wonder how that happened. Then, all of a sudden the whole scenery reminded me of home. But before I could dwell any longer in my memories a voice – I recognized it as Seifer's deep baritone – dragged me back to reality. It wasn't like I had gotten that flashback on purpose… I simply hadn't been able to stop it from happening on my own…
"Like what ya see, chibi?"
I didn't bother answering his teasing question. I mean, what could I possibly say? It's obvious that I do, ne? And I can't do much against Seifer calling me a dwarf… Compared to him, I almost am… Instead I continued looking out of the window. Although I couldn't see it, not even through a reflection in the window, I was quite sure that he was smirking. It was always clearly audible in his voice, or at least I could hear it…
In times like these I was ready to swear that he loved doing this to me as much as he loved to tease and annoy Squall Leonhart – him being Seifer's favourite victim. I'm absolutely aware of the fact that Squall and I have more than just one similarity… It's probably no wonder that pretty much everyone in the Garden refers to us as 'The Ice Twins'. They call Squall the Ice Prince and me the Ice Queen… Come on, we aren't THAT bad, now are we? Then again… maybe we are. But hell if I care! Seifer's basically the only one who can make us react, even if it's only in an angry way that mostly results in a fight… The two of us, Squall and me, hardly ever respond emotionally to anything or anyone… And believe me, they did try. And occasionally some still do, but Seifer with his teasing is the only exception – he can almost force us to react. The result may not always be pretty, but he's got an impressive record of success… I've got to give him that…
Well… it's not that we don't react… I DO react – at least to a certain degree – and I think I can also say this 'bout Squall. Therefore my use of 'we'… It's just… You need to be able to read the tiny hints he gives, like his posture, his eyes and… ah well… you know… When you know how to read and interpret Squall's eyes correctly, they are rather expressive and can tell you a lot about his current mood.
Then there's me… there's hardly any difference between the two of us… Seems like this is the origin of our 'Twin Title'… What I'm feeling is my business and no one else's. I suppose the same reasons are valid for Squall, but I'm not absolutely sure of it. We've hardly ever had a longer conversation with each other… ah… Whatever…
"Hey! Ya still among the living, Faero?" Seifer waved a hand in front of my eyes as if he wanted to test that.
No, I'm already gone… "Go away…"
Maybe that had sounded childish, but I couldn't bring myself to care – not the least bit. If my words worked, then that was fine with me. If not… I was going to survive it. Somehow… hopefully.
"And what are you gonna do if I stay?"
Again I didn't answer his question. It was useless. So… Why should I even bother with an answer? It wouldn't change anything. Maybe… If I continue my silence he'll go away? A mental snort followed that thought. Yeah… as if…
"Really… you're soo talkative today…"
It was impossible to miss his sarcasm… And again Seifer had managed to annoy me, but I still didn't want to answer. The view before me continued to hold my attention and my thoughts were running wild…
That's what he wants, ain't it? He wants me to get irritated enough to answer him. Seeing as my answer would be rather rude right now and since that's not really bothering him, he would've reached his goal by making me talk. Additionally, through my answer he'd get even more things to tease and annoy the hell out of me with. Shit! There's absolutely no way out…
"Get back to reality, chibi! It's absolutely not the right time for going into one of your internal monologues and shutting out the rest of the world. We're going to arrive in Vinoria-City in 'bout five minutes?"
How the hell did he know that? Seifer had been right. Not even half a minute later I heard the announcement of the guard. And… can somebody stop him? Please? I hate it when he's calling me that, referring to my size… granted I'm not very tall, but still…
And all of that just because I'm what? … Mere 26 centimetres smaller than him! It's not fair! But still… why did he have to come up with that infernal nickname?
After the announcement I went back into our compartment to get my things. It was already late afternoon when we finally arrived in Vinoria-City. We'd been travelling by now for almost 10 hours. I think it was good that we slept a great deal of that time or else we would've been fighting long ago…
Sadly though there was no time left for me to get my coat out, since it was nearly at the bottom of my bag… I didn't know it yet, but I was going to regret that one bitterly.
When we left the train, I took some time to look around. The railway station itself was neither large nor small, but somewhere in between. It was well lit and made it easier to get a first impression of the Vinorian craftsmanship – everything is aesthetic.
But as soon as we got out of the station, I realized very quickly my mistake on the train. The temperature was way cooler here and even more so in the late afternoon. I was already getting slight goose bumps… I really don't wanna think about the nights here… Shit! It's cold! I should've taken my coat out and put it on, damn the consequences… but nooo… I had to leave it in my bag… I glared at said item and silently grumbled for a while. How could I have forgotten about the headmaster's hint about the cold? Stupid me… I should have remembered what it means to me when someone from Balamb says that it's going to be colder… I looked to my right where Seifer was standing, who was apparently feeling not the least bit cold.
Not fair! Why did I had to end up so sensitive to the cold? I know that I like it better when it's warm – can't help that… Where I'm originally from, the temperature is always higher than here in Vinoria – or even in Balamb. Yet… Balamb's quite okay with me, since the difference in temperature isn't too large. The reason for this being that while Balamb is not exactly on the equator, it's still near enough. Balamb is known for its pleasant and idyllic climate…
But this…? Vinoria is a completely different story… I wonder if it snows here? Snow is a rare sight for me – even though it's snowed occasionally in Balamb, that wasn't the case in every winter. Back home it never snows… or at least I can't remember anymore… I snort mentally. Not like that means much…
"C'mon, don't tell me that ya can't move anymore, 'cause if we don't get a move on, we're going to miss the bus and then we're gonna have to walk all the way. What's up with ya anyway? You're spacing out more than usual…"
Yeah, thanks for reminding me…
But Seifer was right. We're going to miss that bus if we don't hurry up a bit, which would be my fault… Fortunately we managed to get the bus to the inner city, where Noavyn Juun and his wife lived. I made myself comfortably on my seat, staring out of the window, not intending to talk before we reached our destination, but the silence was soon broken. Guess by whom… Seems like my attempts on ignoring Seifer were useless - he isn't someone you can ignore easily… And all I had wanted to do was think about this new assignment and wonder what we would have to do.
"Yo! Ice Queen! Why the sudden change of attire? You look almost normal… That's scary!"
Not really, it's just… "You DO realize that if I was running around here, as I do in the Garden… Some parts of the population here would be likely to get a heart failure… and we don't want that, now do we? Not to mention that some might take a closer look…" My sarcasm was almost visible. Besides I didn't change that much. For Seifer it may not be a problem, when he's stared at, but I, on the other hand don't like being stared at. Period.
…Here I have to say that only someone who knows me well or at least has a very good idea of interpreting my actions – like Seifer – would've realized this… Yet I'd merely altered the number of my belts, even though I wasn't too happy about that. But it was definitely better than attracting anymore unwanted attention than I already did, due to my one visible tattoo. Another change was the visibility of my sword, which I had put into my bag, since I had nothing to conceal it – like a coat or at least a jacket – and mercenaries are not always welcome…
Currently I was more or less without a weapon – at least a visible one – though… Even in this state I was capable of taking down a monster or if necessary, also a human attacker. For now I would have to rely mostly on magic to defend myself, should we be attacked. But not for much longer…
The third thing I'd changed was my shirt – I had exchanged it for a long-sleeved one.
Currently I was happily soaking up the warmth in the bus, but as soon as we're going to leave it, I would be stuck freezing again. My warmer shirt didn't help much to lessen the cold. As soon as I get the possibility of searching for it, I'm going to wear that coat!
Seifer has less trouble… One of his trademarks is his long grey coat – very useful in cold surroundings and to conceal weapons from 'innocent' onlookers.
"Come on – you're more fun when you're actually talking!" Seifer said.
"Don't wanna."
"Nah… You do realize that we've got to get along with each other for however long this mission is going to last?"
No need to answer this one… He and I both know that it's exactly like he said. There's no point in talking forever about it.
Eventually we reached our destination and got out of the bus. It took awhile until we found the building, where we were supposed to get more specific orders for our assignment. Several minutes later we were still standing in front of it and admiring the awesome construction. It seemed that the more important the building the more complicated and aesthetic it is designed.
As soon as we entered, I felt relieved that it was warmer inside. Seifer must've caught my expression of relief and started teasing me again. Then again, what else is new? But right now I was neither in the mood to retaliate verbally, nor was I warm enough. I was frozen – my teeth were chattering!
"Oh – shove it! I'm frozen! At least let me gain some warmth before you start grating on my nerves again… please?" The first part I'd almost shouted at him then got a grip on myself and started explaining… Fate must be laughing at me right now…
For a short moment he looked astonished – must've been my plea – and then tried to stifle his laughter. Bastard! I hate him! When he finally calmed down enough to be able to talk again, the first thing he asked was if I'd really been serious. Of course I am! Would I've asked otherwise? I'm not freezing just for the fun of it! I glared at him.
"Nah… just kidding…" Seifer's basically an expert in reading people, when it comes to hearing unsaid sentences. Or – at least he can do it with Squall. Seems like he can read me also somewhat. Right now it couldn't be too hard to see that I'm cold…
I shuddered shortly, decided I had gotten enough warmth again, picked up my bag from the floor and started walking in the general direction of the lift. I knew that we were going to talk about this later on, but I wanted to escape the inevitable as long as I possibly could.
Liked it? Hated it? Found mistakes, strangeness or other stuff that's not making sense? Let me know what you thought of it ^^
*points at the review button* Come on - you know you want to press the shiny button! *grins* Now that we cleared the obligatory who is who... Let's head on to the next questions - like what this mission will bring? (Aside from insanity)