Disclaimer : I don't own anything.
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(Shane's POV)
Once the spell broke, I jumped to my feet and ran to the wall, feeling along it with my hand to note it was solid. You idiot! I thought angrily. That was the sorceress, and he'd willingly gone with her. What was wrong with him?!
"Hey guys!"
Turning my head, I noticed a headache forming as I watched the blonde head of Kapri come running in. Panting a little, she bent over to catch her breath as I rejoined the others.
Once she was breathing normally, she looked around in confusion. "Where's Blake?"
She knew he was here? I thought in confusion, shrugging a little. "We don't know." I answered honestly. Just that he was an idiot and walked off with the enemy.
Her face fell and a look of concern crossed over it as she bit her lip. "Oh... He'll be ok, right?" she asked hesitantly before shaking her head. Gesturing for us to follow her, she turned and ran off in the direction she'd come.
Hesitating a moment, I sighed. "She's still our employer." I muttered under my breath, following after her a moment later. Why... Why do I feel so strange when she shows concern for him? A pain... Why's it even affecting me?
We ended up back in front of the station, and ran down the path until we got to the stairs. Beginning down them, I noted how Kapri stopped briefly in front of the giant outdoor TV and turned back with a dark look in her eyes. "They found our base." she called loud enough for us to hear. "It's completely destroyed."
Damn! So that was one way out of the town scrapped. At least she's safe... But what about Billy and Bridge?
Marah seemed to read my thoughts and tilted her head as she regarded the slightly shaking Forest Owls leader. "What about the others?"
This made Kapri smile a bit, thought it looked pretty weak. "They're fine. They're good at escaping." she responded before we continued our race down the stairs.
Once at the bottom, we paused by some garbage cans and stood as a large group. Kapri looked nervous as she walked up to me and looked warily into my eyes. "We need to get away from Timber a bit. Is there a safe place you can take me?" she asked softly.
I crossed my arms over my chest. Not again. I thought we were done with all this. I thought in irritation. Sighing, I looked at her and noticed as she got this teasing grin and a sparkle in her blue eyes. Oh no...
"This is an order, an order from your client, remember?" she reminded me with a raised eyebrow.
Slapping my forehead with my palm, I sighed loudly and nodded slowly. "...Alright." I agreed reluctantly.
With a happy nod, she led us back into the bar, where the woman we'd spoken to before stood, staring at us with worry and concern in her dark brown eyes. "Kapri!" she called once she saw the Forest Owls leader. "I heard your base was in serious trouble. Come over to my place until things settle down." she called.
I wouldn't admit it, but a place to rest sounded good right about now. And would admit even less, that seeing Kapri all right relieved me. I felt the strangest urge to protect her with my life. Sure she was annoying as hell, but there seemed to be a hidden vulnerability that drew me. Why? I didn't know, but I felt like I couldn't fight the feeling.
"I appreciate it, thank you." Kapri said with a genuine smile before she took off after the woman, Marah and Dustin on her heels.
Tori began to run too, before stopping and looking at me with a raised eyebrow. "Shane! What're you waiting for? Come on, let's go!" she called before racing off.
Shaking my head, I sighed and followed the others, heading out of the bar and into town and following Kapri back to the woman's house.
"I'll let you know if anything changes. Until then, make yourself at home." the woman advised with a friendly smile.
Kapri nodded with a wry grin. "Thanks, Chief."
I raised an eyebrow at this. "Chief?"
Turning to me, she nodded and grinned. "She's the leader of the Forest Fox. Almost everyone's a resistence member in this town. But right now, we're the only ones that are really active. Let's stay here for a while." she suggested before heading up the stairs.
The rest of us followed her and watched as she sat on the edge of a bed. Tori walked over to the window to look out over the alley we'd run through, and Marah sat beside Kapri on the bed. Dustin stood against the far wall and sulked with his arms crossed over his chest.
"I still don't get it." Marah said with confusion on her face. "What did Blake come here for?"
Isn't it obvious? I thought sarcastically as Kapri answered her.
"I think...he came to help us, the Forest Owls. I talked about it a lot with him." she admitted with a small blush and slightly confused look on her face. Giving me a pleading glance, her look almost begged me to understand. Understand what, who knew? "So please...don't think to badly of him."
He ran off with the enemy. I thought darkly. What am I supposed to think?
Faintly we heard the sounds of knocking and the voice of what was obviously, a Galbadian Soldier. "Anybody in here?!"
"What is this?! I have two small children in here. Don't do anything to frighten them!" the Chief called as her oldest daughter rushed in to see us.
"Just stay up here and stay quiet and everything'll be fine." she said with a small grin.
"Will she be ok?" Kapri asked nervously.
The girl nodded. "She'll be fine. The legend goes...that my mother took down many soldiers with her strength, cooking and beauty."
"That 'beauty' part sure makes it sound like a legend." Marah said thoughtfully before her eyes widened and her face paled.
The girl just laughed and nodded in agreement before leaving quietly.
"...I wonder if he's alright." Kapri said softly, pulling her legs up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them.
Tori sighed and rolled her eyes. "He was so angry when he found out it was only the three of you dispatched to Timber." Making a face, she began to mimick what he'd said, deepening her voice to add to the effect. "WHAT?! They might end up fightin' the whole Galbadian force!"
I really doubt that. I thought dryly.
"And all they dispatch are three rookie SeeD members?!"
At this I bit my lip to keep from sneering. At least we made it as SeeDs. I thought darkly, banishing the thought as quickly as it had come. He sure had some attitude to look down on us, especially since he was still a SeeD cadet after all this time.
"Dammit! I'm going to Timber!" Sighing, she looked out the window once more. "I never would've imagined he was serious about it."
I frowned at her back and raised an eyebrow. That guy's always serious. You should know that by now...
"What's going to happen to Blake?" the former Instructor asked softly, turning back to face us.
Shrugging, I thought about it before answering in my usual monotone. "He may already be dead."
Kapri's head swung in my direction with a shocked look. "How can you sound so casual? I actually feel...sorry for him." she admitted softly.
At this, I couldn't help but grin. ...Feel sorry? Blake would hate to hear that. All his life, Blake hated pity and sympathy, turning on those who'd dare show him kindness. Why he was filled with such anger and hate, no one could possibly know, but one thing was for sure...it ruled him.
She must've seen my grin because her eyes narrowed angrily and she let her legs drop quietly to the floor as she slammed her hands into the blankets at her sides. "What's so funny?!" she hissed as she glared at me. "You're terrible!! So...why do you think Blake might already be dead?!" she challenged.
Rolling my eyes, I turned my face away from her. Because... "The President of Galbadian and the sorceress joined forces. Blake attacked the President. It's no surprise that Blake might have been killed because of it." I explained emotionlessly.
"Even so!" she retorted. Sighing, she looked at the floor. "I still hope he's alive."
Ok, so I felt a little bad for her, but still... I didn't let it show. Think what you want... Reality isn't so kind. Everything won't work out the way you want it to, that's why... I thought as I regarded her for a moment, looking at the floor as I unconsciously voiced my thoughts. "As long as you don't get your hopes up, you can take anything." I said quietly. "You feel less pain." It worked for me, at least. Shaking my head, I focused my gaze on the confused face of Kapri and shrugged with an indifferent look. "Anyway, whatever you wish is none of my business."
Her look turned from one of confusion and pain, to one of hurt and a little anger. Glaring at me, once again, she rolled her eyes. "...You're mean." she said simply.
I had a feeling she wanted to say something more along the lines of, 'you're such an ass!' but for some reason, she held back.
"MEANIE!" she stomped, standing up and turning her back on me.
Blinking for a moment, I felt totally lost as to why she was so angry. What's her problem? I wondered silently as I felt my eyes narrow. "...Sorry." I muttered in confusion.
The older woman from before suddenly entered with a slight smile on her face and nodded to us. "The Galbadian Forces are withdrawing. Only the soldiers normally stationed here will remain. If you're gonna leave town, now's your chance. You know how persistent those soldiers can be." she said with a raised eyebrow before leaving.
Tori, Marah and Dustin followed after her eagerly, and Kapri hesitated a moment. Giving me an apologetic look over her shoulder, she slowly moved to follow them, and still being completely lost, I just followed her silently.
"I wanna go home!" Marah whined, leaning against the wall of the kitchen, downstairs. Dustin remained silent, but had a look of deep guilt and worry etched into his face, and I knew he was thinking about spilling that we were from Garden.
He was feeling remorse, and probably like a total idiot for speaking without thinking.
"I guess everyone's tired." Tori murmured as she leaned against a cupboard. "Shane, what's the plan? Getting out of here's only the first step."
I moved by the door and frowned as I crossed my arms over my chest and looked away. "What do you mean?" I asked quietly.
She gave a slight smirk before closing her eyes. "Garden Code, Article 8, Line 7..." she said firmly.
Closing my eyes, I thought back to what I'd leaerned. Article 8, Line 7... In the event that returning to the assigned Garden is not possible... "Head for the nearest Garden." I stated out loud, opening my eyes and looking at Tori, noticing how she was nodding with a happy look in her eyes.
"Very good!" she praised as she stood up. "From here, that would be Galbadia Garden."
Kapri stood beside her. "We can take a train from here and get dropped off at a station called East Academy. It's just a short walk through a nearby forest before we reach the Garden itself." she informed us with a nod.
Nodding in understanding. I chose Tori and Dustin to be a main part of my party with Kapri and Marah as backup in case we needed help. We headed out of the house and I looked around as I walked. Because I wasn't paying attention, I didn't notice the soldier in front of me until I walked right into him, causing him to spin around.
"Not good!" Dustin cried as he took up a defensive stand. Tori followed suit grimly, grabbing her whip and snapping it harshly against the ground.
The soldier immediately raised his hands in a sign of surrender before a way too familiar voice creeped out from the obscuring helmet. "It's me, sir! It's me!" the voice of Bridge called out squeakily as he took a quick step back.
Relaxing, we put our weapons away and he immediately calmed down before saluting Kapri who stepped forward. "Got some info, sir! Timber station will be shut down shortly!"
"Major bummer!" Marah cried as she slumped a little.
"Not necessarily." Bridge said in a knowing tone. "It's not completely shut down, yet. The last train out of here is bound for East Academy."
"We're getting on board that train." I said in sheer determination.
"You're going too, right Kapri?" the under cover Owls agent asked nervously.
She nodded slowly. "Yeah. What about you, Bridge?"
"No need to worry about me!" he said cheerily. "I'll just go gather more info!"
"I promise I'll be back. You take care, ok?" she said warmly, looking worried about leaving him behind.
He nodded before dashing off and we made our way through the town. Bypassing the pub, we walked along the street until we came to the bridge, which we noticed the trains were running again. But we also noticed that they were only outbound trains.
Once we were over the bridge, a man came running up to us, and I noticed it was Billy. He'd changed into a pair of black pants with a white hoodie sweater, and a grey beret in his hair, removing his glasses. It took me a moment to recognize him.
"Billy!" Kapri cried, running forward to stand in front of him.
He grinned and waved to us all. "You need to go to East Academy, right? There's no more tickets left." he said, his grin never fading.
Marah hunced over and crouched low to the ground. "Oh, major bummer!" she whined.
I noticed his look but let it pass as I grasped the hilt of my gunblade, ready to fight if we had to. "We'll do whatever it takes to get on that train." I said firmly.
Billy shook his head and laughed a little. "You won't have to do that." Digging through a pocket, he pulled out a handful of tickets and grinned even wider at us. "Lookie here! I have everyone's tickets right here!" Handing one to Kapri, he smiled warmly. "One for you."
Then he walked over to us and handed me three. "Three for you SeeD people. Here, I'll give them to your leader." And he stepped back. "And the last one's for me..."
His gaze travelled off to the side, and I followed it, noticing Tori standing there with a small smile, but I knew she felt left out.
It seemed he noticed it too, because he sighed and closed his eyes a moment before walking over and giving her a warm smile. "Go on, take it." he said, holding the last ticket out.
Tori's eyes widened and she shook her head, taking a step back. "I can't take that. It's yours!"
He pressed the ticket into her hand before backing off quickly and standing in a corner, hunching over and grabbing his stomach as he groaned in pain. "Ouch! Ouuuucchh! My stomach hurts! Just get going! The train's leaving!" he called as he leaned his head against the railing.
Tori took a few steps forward and bowed deeply, holding the ticket tightly. "Thank you." she said with sincerity.
"Billy..." Kapri walked over to him and knelt at his side, placing a hand on his back. "We're gonna see each other again, okay?" she said softly. "No matter what, you have to survive. We have to liberate Timber together, remember?"
He nodded. "I know, I know. I'll go hide in a bathroom or something." he said with a weak grin. "Now get going."
We turned and raced down the long stairs case, leading to a lower part of Timber. Running along the narrow streets, we dodged several civilians and soon made it to the station. But... Did we make it on time?
I spotted a girl standing by the edge of the alley, and with a sigh, ran over, tapping her on the shoulder to get her attention. When she turned to me, I asked her if the train to East Academy was still there, and waited with baited breath as she thought about it for a moment.
"The...last train? It's gonna leave real soon." she said quickly, gesturing the way we had to go.
With a nod, I quickly thanked her before we ran off and soon made our way to the train.
"Let me double check..." I stated as we ran to the entrance. "Get off at the East Academy, go through the forest west of the station. Glabadia Garden is located nearby, is that correct?"
Tori nodded as she ran beside me. "Indeed!" she answered with a grin and raised eyebrow. "Glad we have a leader with such a good memory."
Ignoring her praise, and the fact that my face had begun to heat up, we ran aboard the train and I sighed in relief, allowing myself a moment to catch my breath. The automated voice of the train stated they were heading to Dollet, stopping off at the East Academy first, and began to shake a little as it started out.
Turning to Kapri, I felt a strange sense of needing to comfort her. "We'll..."
Of course, Marah decided to me childish at that very moment and stood in front of the locked doorway, stomping on the small mat under her feet. "Open, open, OPEN!" she yelled.
"...Make it..." I said with a roll of my eyes as Marah sighed loudly.
"Please... OPEN UP!!"
Kapri looked at me with a small smile before she began to giggle, placing one hand over her mouth and the other around her stomach.
Closing my eyes, I turned and opened them to stare at the back of Marah's head as she stared at the still locked doorway. Why she'd thought it would open was beyond me. I hadn't keyed us in yet, with the tickets, so we were locked out until I did. Shaking my head, I slapped my forehead with my hand and growled quietly to myself.
Better let her have her way...
If I didn't, I was sure I'd end up having to deal with her tantrums for a long time to come. So walking over to the doorway, I slipped our tickets into the slot, one at a time, until we were all confirmed passengers and the door slid open.
Marah turned to me and grinned as she pumped a fist into the air. "Thanks!" she cried before giggling and running into the hallway beyond.
"Weren't you just saying something?" Kapri asked softly.
I turned and looked at her a moment before sighing. "Well...we made it."
Tori nodded seriously, guilt lurking in her eyes. "I have Billy to thank for that."
"He's into Naughty Magazines." Kapri said with a odd look on her face as she broke out into giggles.
Raising an eyebrow, Tori nodded. "I see... I'll keep that in mind." she responded in a disturbed tone.
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You'll probably notice this is mostly in Shane's POV. That's because the game was done with Squall as the Hero, and thus any narration or thoughts were his. So I find it easier to do it in his POV, but like my other stories, I try to change every now and then to add a little variation.
Hmmm... Just a little fact... Remember the dreamworld with Tommy, Jason and Zack? It'll happen a few more times at least, and you'll find out what's going on currently with them, a lot later. I tried to put a lot of the characters in roles that seemed to fit them well, so I didn't think of the pairings. I guess... Just keep in mind this is really AU. Most of the main characters will have pairings I meant them with, but back characters... Merrick, Tommy, Kim and Kat... They won't.
Oh and... has anyone figured ou the link between Kapri and Kimberly? A cookie to those that do. Look over the dreamworld chapter, and the introduction to Kapri chapter to find out. Also... there's a link between Kat, Tommy and the red headed girl I've introduced twice already. Keep an eye out for that. LOL
And yes, the Naughty Magazine comment is very real. I'm not calling Billy a pervert... Really, I'm not.
Hope you liked it.
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"I, I'm worried about Balamb Garden. If anything happens, it's all my fault. I'm the one who said we were all from Garden... You think the President will retaliate against Garden?"
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R+R please.
Thank you.
Tenshi