Chapter Eight

Of Timber Trains and Grat Tentacles

Squall woke up the next morning to the sound of insistent rapping on his door. He rolled over, groaning and blinking through the faint streams of sunlight filtering in through his window.

"Squall!" Selphie's entirely-too-chipper-for-this-time-of-the-morning voice suddenly yelled through the paneling of his door, "it's our first SeeD mission! Looks like we're going to Timber. Meet by the front gate. Hurry!"

Then he heard the echo of her boots running away in another direction. Squall groaned again and rolled over until his face was buried in his pillow. Hyne strike him down now. His first SeeD mission, and he'd been paired with Selphie. Someone up there must really have it in for him.

After another moment of self-pity, Squall finally rolled out of bed, scrubbing at his face to try and remove the last bit of sleep, yawning a little and then heading into the bathroom. He jumped in the shower really quick—not knowing exactly how much time he had to get down to the gate, basically just getting wet and woke up—then hopped back out again, dried off and dressed in record time.

Squall took his Revolver out of it's case and raised the blade to eye-level, staring down the sharpened edge with a critical stare. The fight with those armored Raldos last night had caused a nick or two in the metal. He sighed. He was due for an upgrade soon anyhow. The last issue of Weapons Monthly had featured a fairly decent model that he was interested in, called a Shear Trigger. Sleek and silver, the newer model was less bulky than the Revolver but supposedly more sturdy as well. He might have to look into that in the next town he was in, wherever he was going.

Squall sighed—assuring himself that, while worn, his Revolver wouldn't be breaking any time soon—then clipped his gunblade to his belt. He then grabbed the small leather case on his nightstand, the SeeD Special as they were wont to call it. The little care package came equipped with 5 Potions, 3 Antidotes, 2 Remedies and 2 Phoenix Downs. The latter was not—as the name implied—a couple of mystical feathers. Instead they were syringes with scary-as-hell five inch long needles filled with a cocktail of fluids, namely among them pure adrenaline. When administered directly into the heart of a dying patient, it could keep them alive and their vitals functioning until that person could be taken to more professional help. As SeeD they were required to carry such items on their person at all times in case of emergencies. Squall stuck his into an inside pocket of his jacket, then turned to leave.

Thus your journey begins.

Squall stopped dead in his tracks, eyes rounding, at the sound of that cool, deep feminine voice. He blinked, but Shiva said nothing else, so he just shook off the weird feeling from her unexpected, cryptic words and left the room.

Garden was just beginning to come awake at this hour—at nearly 6 AM. Squall passed through the nearly empty halls, then out the front gate. He spotted Selphie standing next to Headmaster Cid and a Garden Faculty member. The chipper female gave him an excited wave as he approached, practically hopping in place. She wore street clothes today, a denim jumper mini-dress in the brightest color of yellow he'd ever seen someone wear. She also had a pair of brown cowboy boots on that reached her knees, and a silver necklace around her neck, her chestnut hair done up in her usual flipped-up bob. Squall bit back a sigh, returning Cid's greeting with a nod before coming to stand next to the chipper Selphie, inwardly praying for patience and continued sanity.

"We're just waiting for the last member of the team," Cid announced softly. Squall was almost afraid to ask who that might be. The Faculty member glanced down at his watch after another moment, then let out a loud sigh.

"One more minute."

The sound of startled yelling and the whirring of a hover engine caused them all to turn. Squall felt his belly sink as he spotted Zell zigzagging around other students on a huge blue T-board. The blonde was dressed now in a pair of knee-length blue jean shorts, a tight black t-shirt and then a red and blue jacket on over that, blue flame designs down the shoulders on both sides. He ramped up over the gate, then swung around in front of them and hopped off, kipping up the board with a wide grin.

Even Cid was speechless for a moment, eyes wide.

"Made it!" Zell heaved breathily.

The Faculty member finally recovered his wits, motioning angrily with his arm. "T-boards are prohibited within Garden. Have you forgotten?" Zell winced.

"Oops, sorry!" He straightened though, expression earnest. "But this is really cool. It might come in handy on a SeeD mission someday."

The Faculty member was practically vibrating with displeasure. "We'll be the judges of that." He stepped forward and then snatched the board away from Zell, who was too stunned at first to react. The Faculty member turned to another one, who had approached at the commotion. He handed over the board. "Confiscate it," he ordered, and the other one immediately turned about and left. Then the other one swung back around to stare at each of them in turn. "All of you are members of SeeD, but nevertheless. You're still students at this Garden. Furthermore, because you are SeeDs you must set an example to all others and abide by Garden's rules. Understood?!" He finished the last with a pointed glare in Zell's direction. The hot-headed blonde growled a little under his breath, face flushing, but Cid quickly cleared his throat and stepped forward.

"Well, about your first mission," he began, arms folding into the small of his back. "You are to go to Timber. There you will be supporting a resistance faction. That is your mission." Cid met their gazes, one by one. "A member of the faction will contact you at Timber Station. This person will talk to you and say, 'The Forests of Timber sure have changed.' At this time you must reply, 'But the owls are still around.' That is the password. Just follow the faction's orders."

Zell glanced around, then turned back to pin Cid with a confused stare. "Uh . . . just us three?"

The Faculty member stepped forward again. "Correct. We have agreed to do this mission for very little money." His tone turned sneering. "Normally we would never accept such requests, but—,"

Cid suddenly cleared his throat and shot the Faculty member a withering glance, then turned back to them and gave them an uncomfortable smile. "Enough talk about that." He glanced and Squall and nodded. "Well then Squall, you're the squad leader. Use your best judgment based on the situation. Zell and Selphie, you are to support Squall and give your all to carry out the faction's plans." He nodded again, then sighed. "Best of luck on your first mission."

All three of them saluted, then they turned and began out of Garden. Squall released a somewhat shaky sigh, pulling his jacket closer around him at the chill that suddenly enveloped him—though he couldn't be sure if it was his own nerves or more of Shiva's unusual antics. Zell and Selphie followed after him obediently.

It was such an odd feeling as they set out on their own. For the first time there were no instructors looking after them, no other members of SeeD leading them or directing their actions. From this moment on until they returned to Garden when the mission was completed, Squall was on his own. Not only that, but in charge of two other people, responsible for their actions and well-being. It was a heady—and scary—feeling that Squall wasn't at all sure he relished.

Sure, out of the three of them, he was probably best suited for squad leader, but Squall prayed fervently that Cid wasn't trying to groom him into a position of leadership. He wanted no part of that kind of responsibility.

An hour later they entered the town of Balamb. Zell stopped off real quick to say good-bye to his mother—as they weren't sure when they'd be back next. Selphie went to go say her good-byes too, and Ma Dincht assured them all that they were welcome back any time, even just to say hi. Squall remained near the door, uncomfortable, and finally led the way through the streets toward the Train Station. He stopped off at the weapons upgrade shop, but the customization and the items needed to convert the Revolver into a Shear Trigger cost too much right now. Squall promised himself that he'd get it done with one of his first SeeD paychecks, then led the way for the train station.

The conductor stood just outside, waving his arm. "The train to Timber is here. Please purchase a ticket." Squall moved forward and bought a ticket for 3 passengers for 3000 gil, taking almost all of the money he had on him. "Please go inside right away," the conductor admonished him afterward. "The train to Timber will be leaving shortly."

They shuffled inside with the other passengers, and began boarding the large blue train. Selphie hopped out of line at one point, grabbing up an old magazine before she trotted back to them. "Look! An old copy of Timber Maniacs!" Squall just rolled his eyes, keeping his gaze forward. They finally got to board, going to the rear of the train rather than the main passenger section, as SeeD had their own private car on all the trains that ran throughout Gaia.

Selphie hopped over to the window opposite the door. Zell came to stop in the center of the room while Squall remained standing by the door. Selphie leaned up to look outside, practically bouncing in place. "This train is so awesome!"

"A transcontinental railroad, baby!" Zell pronounced proudly. "It even runs through an underwater tunnel to get to Timber." The blonde turned to him, brows quirking. "Pretty cool, huh?"

Squall just rolled his eyes, turning to stare out of the window on the door. "Sure is," he muttered dryly. Zell slumped.

"Guess you're not interested," he heaved. Then he straightened again. "By the way, Squall. You have to use the ticket to get inside."

Squall glanced at the door adjoining this outer car to the SeeD's private car. Red words drifted across the white ticker box above it; Next stop . . . Timber . . .

Why bother opening it? It only took about three hours to get from Balamb to Timber by train. It's not like they would need to sleep or anything. He glanced back at the others' expectant faces, then sighed again and rolled his eyes before pushing himself up off the wall and then striding over. He put the ticket stub into the appropriate slot, then punched in the appropriate security code. The console beeped, flashing a green light at him, then the display read; ID Check . . . confirmed. Access Granted.

"Ok, we can go inside now," he announced, tone bored.

Selphie immediately pounced forward. "Woo, I'm gonna go check out what's inside!" She skipped past, patting him on the shoulder as she did. "Tee-hee," she giggled, "thanks Squall!"

Then she ran through the automatic doors, rushing down the plush hallway beyond. Zell stepped forward then. "Let's go check it out, Squall," he coaxed before stepping through himself. Squall hesitated only a moment before his own curiosity got the better of him and he stepped through.

The hallway beyond had a wall of windows, at which Selphie stood and stared out at the zooming landscape beyond. She swayed back and forth. "I love trains," she announced, then she began singing softly to herself—in a voice that was surprisingly very good. "Train, train, take us away," she sang, in an almost haunting lullaby type melody. "Take us away, far away, to the future we will go . . ."

"Yo, check this out," Zell pronounced, standing by the other doorway. It opened in front of him. "So this is SeeD's private cabin." He stepped inside and out of sight, but it wasn't long before Squall heard the martial-artist's loud exclamation. "Whoa! Oh yeah! Awesome!"

Selphie just continued to hum and sing to herself, unperturbed. Squall rolled his eyes heavenward—and though he was almost afraid to look—he sighed and stepped inside himself. He found Zell sitting on a plush white leather couch, bouncing up and down and giggling like a three year old.

"Hehe, this is great!"

He put a hand on his hip and gave him a bland stare. "I'm glad you're so excited." Zell stopped bouncing with a frown, but quickly brightened again and reached for something on the table near-by.

"They even have magazines here," he announced, flashing the latest copy of Pet Pals. Squall just shook his head with a wry chuckle, then walked over and sat down on the couch himself. Meanwhile Zell sat back and began flipping through his magazine, one ankle propped on the opposite knee. "This is pretty damn amazing," Zell continued. "It pays to be a member of SeeD." He flipped for a moment, then suddenly turned to him. "Squall, y'know anything about Timber?"

He shrugged. "Not too much." Zell grinned and set the magazine aside.

"Thought so. Well, let me fill you in," he began eagerly. "Timber used to be a country surrounded by deep forests. But eighteen years ago, Galbadia invaded. Timber fell quite easily to Galbadia. So now Timber is under Galbadian occupation. It's said there's a whole bunch of resistance factions, big and small."

Squall blinked as Zell fell suddenly silent. He frowned. "And?" he prompted, hoping for some information that might actually be useful. Zell sighed and sat back.

"Nope, that's it," he heaved. Squall snorted.

"Thank you, Mr. Know-It-All-Zell." His sarcasm was totally wasted as the blonde beamed a broad smile.

"Hey, no prob!"

Squall eyed him, then rolled his eyes again, but turned when the door suddenly opened and Selphie entered. She suddenly looked pale and her whole body seemed to droop with weariness. She rubbed at her eyes, swaying a little on her feet as she neared.

"I'm not . . . feeling well," she announced softly. Squall tensed, brow furrowed. He wondered if maybe her strenuous magic casting of yesterday was starting to catch up with her. He stood.

"You should get some rest if you're tired," he offered after a slight pause, unused to offering such comfort or advice. She barely reacted to his words, her eyes opening and closing several times, groggy, as if she were disoriented.

"I'm really sleepy," she mumbled then, beginning to sway more on her feet. Squall really started to become concerned then.

"You ok?" he demanded sternly. Zell got to his feet too, frowning with concern.

"Hey," he began, then suddenly started blinking like crazy, and shook his head slightly. "Huh? What the . . ." He blinked some more, then put a hand to his head. "Something's wrong with me to," he then announced, his voice becoming slightly slurred. Squall watched, stunned, as the energetic blonde flopped back onto the couch, and then Selphie stumbled forward to lay down next to him. "I feel . . . sleepy . . ." Zell murmured softly before his head fell back and then he seemed to pass out.

"What's going on?" Squall demanded aloud, growing frightened and confused. Then he winced when a sickeningly swimming sensation suddenly took over his brain. "Ugh?!" He stumbled a little, cradling his skull and hunching over. His whole body started to feel impossibly heavy, and he became incredibly sleepy. Too sleepy to stand. "What is this?" he whispered as he hit his knees to no one, and then he fell forward. The last thing he remembered was staring listlessly at the floor and thinking how pathetic it was to die on his very first mission before darkness overtook him.

Seifer swung Hyperion in a wide arc, trying to chase the uncooperative, bad-tempered, foul-smelling plant monster up the ramp and into the back of the cage mounted to the back of the truck bed.

"Get up there, you little bastard," he snarled.

The Grat clicked and squeaked in protest, it's long tentacles swinging out and batting at him, trying to fend him off. Seifer merely grabbed a couple of them, wrapped them around his fist, lifted it up, hauled back and then physically slung it in the back of the truck. The Grat tumbled end over end and then struck the four others already inside, causing them all to fall down like a bunch of bowling pins. Angry and startled clicks and squeaks lit up the early morning air.

Had Seifer not been so pissed, he would've laughed at the sight. As it was he spun around with a foul glare, ignoring Alana's wince and Nida's snicker.

"O-only five more to go, sir," she offered tentatively.

Seifer's only response to that was to growl low, so she quickly hushed again, clearing her throat uncomfortably and turning to stare somewhere else. Nida sat behind the wheel of the truck, as his weapon of choice—a power bow—didn't lend itself well to corralling monsters. The shy librarian packed a bit of a surprise, a thin silver bar that was no more than a foot long at rest.

"What do you plan on doing with that," he'd sneered when he first seen it, "lecture them to death?" Little Lani had just fixed him with a raised brow, then twisted the base with a flick of her wrist. Instantly the rod shot out to nearly six feet in length, a wicked foot-long spear-head at the top. She'd put her hand on her hip and leaned against her retractable lance with the other, eyebrow still raised. He'd blinked, then nodded. "Alrighty then, point taken."

Four hours and a lot of sweat, dirt and scratches later, Seifer had officially run out of what little sense of humor he had left for the day. He set Hyperion down for a moment and then peeled his coat off, sighing heavily with the sweltering humid heat that was starting to weigh them down, even deep in the woods as they were. His t-shirt was soaked, practically plastered to his body. Seifer tossed his coat into the passenger-side window, then grabbed up his gunblade again. He used the sleeve of his shirt to wipe away some of the sweat trickling down his face, then turned to Lani and Nida, who were both staring at him expectantly.

"I think we've cleaned out this section," he heaved irritably. "We'll have to head west, see what we can find. Nida, you stay put nice in cozy in the air-conditioned cab there and wait for us to call you on the CB," he snapped. Nida managed to smirk guiltily and motion an affirmative before rolling the windows back up and retreating back into that very same air-conditioning that Seifer had spoken of.

The Squad leader's eyes narrowed, but he turned away and began tromping off farther into the woods. Alana stumbled after him. She was a year younger than him at 17, and pretty enough he supposed—with a heart-shaped face, high pink cheeks and a pair of wide storm gray eyes. She was on the curvy and full-figured side despite her rigorous SeeD training, with breasts that strained against the front of her light blue t-shirt—the words Talk Nerdy To Me written across the front and now just as soaked with sweat as his own was—and a pair of hips and ass that similarly filled out her snug pair of blue jeans as well. If she wasn't so soft-spoken and shy—and if he wasn't so pissed off at the moment—he might've taken advantage of being on a mission with such a good-looking female. As it was he barely cast her damp t-shirt a second glance, even when she stood heaving for breath at his side, leaning heavily on her silver spear.

"They've gone into hiding now," he murmured. "We're gonna have to sneak around to catch the little bastards. You go that way," he indicated the left fork, "and I'll take this direction. Radio in if you spot any likely activity."

Alana saluted half-heartedly, took an especially big gulp of air, then began moving down the path he'd indicated she check.

Seifer began down his own path, his anger boiling with every step. He was a Hyne-damned gunblade specialist, one of two in the entire Balamb Garden. He'd had some of the best battle scores and exam time records ever recorded since Garden's inception. He had junctioned with one of the strongest GFs in the world, one of five who reportedly didn't need a human host to survive. Yet here he was, Rank 1 and tromping around the Hyne-damned woods chasing Grats. Seifer stalked through the woods, not for the first time this morning second-guessing his decision to become a SeeD in the first place.

Taking such piss-poor, pointless orders never had been his thing. Maybe being a member of this "elite mercenary force" wasn't really what he was cut out to do. But then, if not this, what else? Fighting was what he was good at, all he was good at. What else would he do with his time? Fish? He snorted at the thought.

No, he was a SeeD now, come hell or high water. And he was going to stay a SeeD too, he decided furiously. No matter how many shit jobs and ridiculous missions Xu sent him on to try and break him, he'd smile sweetly with every one. He'd play their game, he'd nod and say yes sir and yes ma'am, and when he got his Rank A license he'd shove it all in their pretentious faces.

By the time they'd gathered up all the Grats required to replenish the monster's lair, it was going on one in the afternoon. Seifer was sweaty and dirty and in the foulest mood imaginable as he oversaw the Grats' unloading. He started heading off for the dorms, but Alana called out to him.

"Uh, sir, a-aren't you . . . supposed to . . . go report to the headmaster after every mission?"

Seifer sneered. "If he wants the intimate details of spending six hours chasing after a bunch of fucking plants, he's more screwed up than I thought. If you want to go give a report, be my guest," he threw over his shoulder. "I'm going to go get a shower."

Seifer left Lani blinking after him, unsure of what she should do. He entered his room and went straight for the bathroom, jumping under the cool spray with a gusty sigh. After a moment he washed the sweat and grime from his skin. When he was through he splashed some Antidote on the worst of his scratches, hissing with discomfort as the damn stuff burned like hell.

He dressed in a clean pair of jeans, then sat down to carefully clean and oil down his gunblade, cleaning it of the forest filth and Grat blood, polishing it down and then replacing it in it's case. Then Seifer threw on a fresh shirt and then headed down to get something to eat. After that he was going to come back up here and crash. Two hours of sleep were starting to catch up with him. He yawned heavily as he entered the cafeteria. He stepped in line and quickly grabbed himself something to eat, then turned for the tables. He smirked when he saw Raijin motioning at him toward the back. Seifer made his way over.

He and Fujin were sitting eating their lunch as well, with Mutt sitting attentively at Fujin's feet. As soon as the dog caught sight of him however it began barking up a storm, wagging his tail and wiggling his whole body with excitement as it danced and pranced around Seifer's feet. The blonde chuckled.

"Alright, alright, I see you Mutt," he murmured as he finally managed to fight his way to a seat. "Calm down!" he then ordered. Mutt fell to his haunches then, and heaved a doggy sigh if displeasure, but did as he'd ordered.

"DONE?" Fujin questioned, eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, didn't 'spect to see you back so soon, ya know," Raijin followed. "That was kinda quick." Seifer scowled and then bit into his sandwich.

"Don't even get me started," he growled after he'd swallowed. "It was a bullshit mission, just leave it at that." Raijin and Fujin just sighed.

"That's totally messed up, ya know. Completely bogus." He propped his chin on his fist, balancing his elbow on the edge of the table. "Gave Squall his first mission this morning too, ya know. Bet they didn't give him a babysitting job, ya know." Seifer took another bite, his brow raising with curiosity.

"Oh really? Know anything about it?"

"Not much. Just where they're goin, ya know. Most missions are top secret until debriefing." Fujin nodded.

"Well where they goin'?" he demanded then. Fujin answered him.

"TIMBER."

Both didn't notice the way he froze in place at first. "Yeah, took the train outta Balamb this mornin', ya know?" Raijin pronounced blandly. "That spike-haired martial-arts kid and the other new transfer student you fought with yesterday went with him. Probably in Timber by now, ya know. Train only takes about three hours or so from Balamb station—."

"What?!" Seifer finally roared, interrupting a startled Raijin and garnering the attention of several students near-by. Mutt cowered at his feet. "They might end up fightin' the whole Galbadian force!" he continued to yell, incensed. "And all they dispatch are three rookie SeeDs?"

"H-how d'you know what's goin' on in Timber?" Raijin ventured, blinking. Fujin was scowling herself. Seifer just snarled under his breath, then shot to his feet and spun on his heel.

"I'm goin' to Timber."

"WHAT?!" Fujin demanded from behind him. He heard the sounds of her and Raijin quickly getting to their feet, but ignored them and started purposefully for the door.

"W-wait! Seifer!" Raijin cried afterward as they both hurried after him. "You can't just take off to Timber man, ya know?!" Seifer kept walking. Raijin made a noise of disgust. "If you leave Garden without orders, you'll be finished! Goin' AWOL is serious shit, ya know?"

Seifer ignored him, but had to stop when the larger teen suddenly grabbed him by the shoulder and physically spun him around. Seifer, scowling, made to wrench away but Raijin tightened his grip. His normally goofy face was deadly serious, dark eyes sharp.

"Seifer, please," he pleaded. "Come on, man, don't do this to yourself. You just graduated yesterday," Raijin continued to entreat. "You're already a Rank 1. You do this, and Cid won't have any other choice but to revoke your license completely." Seifer continued to glare, and Raijin let out an exasperated sigh. "Is that what you want, man? You want all those prejudiced bastards to win?"

Seifer finally managed to free his shoulder from his friend's grip. "I don't expect you to understand, but I have to go," he replied at that. Both Fujin and Raijin slumped. Fujin's eye was awash with sadness, while Raijin just hung his head. Seifer sighed. "Look, I don't expect you guys to come with me."

Fujin made a swiping motion with her arm. "IDIOT." Raijin scowled too.

"Yeah, then you're a dumbass, ya know? You think we'd follow these assholes over you?" Seifer felt something squeeze his chest at the wide grin Raijin suddenly gave. "We're a posse after all, ya know?" Seifer smiled back, but shook his head.

"I appreciate that, but it's probably best if you two stay here. Just . . . look after Mutt for me. I'll be in touch."

Raijin and Fujin hesitated a moment longer, then nodded to his wishes. Seifer clapped each one of them on the shoulder, offering them the best smile he could manage under the circumstances, then he turned and hurried for his room. Seifer tried to put out of his mind what he was probably sacrificing by doing this damned fool thing. Probably his entire life and career. All for a girl he wasn't even dating any more, had never loved in the first place. Unfortunately, that annoyingly large chunk of personal honor that had taken root in his chest the first day he'd slipped into his father's Dragoon coat wouldn't let him leave it alone. No matter the cost, no matter the consequences, he had to go to Timber. Rinoa and her Forest Owls were in trouble and he had to make sure that Pube Boy and his little dork squad didn't screw things up.

Seifer shook out the worn gray material and then slipped into his coat, shoving his SeeD Special kit inside one of the pockets before opening his gunblade case and pulling out Hyperion. He checked the chamber, stuffed a few extra rounds in his other pocket, then clipped the weapon to his belt. He took one last look around the room—perhaps saying good-bye—then he turned on his heel and left.

Promising himself that he'd never look back again.