The Trouble With Guardians:
Squall Leonhart groaned as Dr. Kadowaki left him on the far too hard hospital bed. The pain between his eyes had lessened to a dull throb, but the pain had spread through the rest of his head resulting in a headache that could fell a T-Rexaur.
The sound of the door opening prompted the SeeD trainee to raise his head and glare at whoever had entered the room. Unfortunately for him, Instructor Quistis Trepe had been rendered immune to his glare through prolonged exposure.
"I knew it would either be you or Seifer," Instructor Trepe said, an exasperated tone in her voice.
Squall frowned. He could have sworn that he put Seifer in the hospital as well. He had a tendency to give as good as he got, so when Seifer Almasy had drawn blood and scarred Squall's face he returned the favour.
He must have escaped then. Squall thought tiredly, it was no secret that both young men loathed anything to do with the medical bay.
"Are you going to come back to class or do I have to call Dr. Kadowaki back?" Trepe asked amusement in her eyes.
Squall almost groaned at that. A headache was better than the Garden's resident Dr. breathing down his neck.
Hauling himself to his feet Squall noticed that his balance was remarkably good given that he had just been hit on the head with a very heavy sword and supposed that despite his dislike of Dr's and hospitals in general Kadowaki did actually know what she was doing.
Following Trepe out of the door to the medical bay without another word Squall let his thoughts wander. If all went well he would be graduating as SeeD within the next few weeks.
The next few days if an opportunity arose that could be used as an exam.
"What's on your mind?" Trepe's overly inquisitive voice broke into Squall's musings as he gave the standard answer.
"Nothing."
"Nothing."
Squall frowned as she answered with him. If she knew what the answer was going to be then why did she bother asking?
Squall's frown only deepened as Quistis laughed happily.
"What?"
"Oh, I just feel like I'm finally beginning to understand my student a little," The Instructor answered gaily.
Squall wanted to say that he was more complicated than she thought but even in his head it sounded ridiculous. He doubted that Instructor Trepe really understood him on any level. Despite her probing questions that he seemed to spend far too much time fobbing off.
Shrugging his shoulders Squall followed her into the classroom on the second floor, noticing that Seifer was already there. Squall smirked when he noticed that they had matching bandages. They would be able to come off in about an hour, but Dr. Kadowaki was irritatingly strict when it came to keeping fresh wounds clean. Even if they had been healed by magic.
Taking his seat across the aisle from Seifer at the back of the room Squall turned his attention to the front.
Trepe stood there and tried to act imposing. She failed miserably. For all that she was a battle hardened SeeD, she just did not do imposing.
"Alright, today we have some SeeD exams to be completed. All those who passed the written exam are to meet in parking at 16:00. All those who have yet to complete their written exam have Study Hall for the rest of the day. For those taking the exam, they have free time for the day to tidy up any loose ends or prerequisites that need to be taken care of." Trepe glanced at Squall briefly as she said this. He frowned and sunk into his seat a little more.
He had one prerequisite he had to finish. Though he was loath to do so as Quistis was the standard Instructor for the trip to the Fire Cavern and he wanted to spend as little time alone in her company as possible.
Still, it had to be done. The low-level Guardian Force would be useful during the exam if nothing else. Ifrit was a powerful ally to have so early in the Garden.
As it was Squall was already ahead of most trainees as they only had Quezacotl. He had earned Shiva's favour two years ago, exploring the lower foothills of the mountains just north of the Garden.
As the rest of the class filed out of the room Squall patiently waited to be called by the Instructor.
"Squall, you haven't been to Fire Cavern yet. Have you got a valid excuse?" She asked. It may have been intimidating on any other teacher. As it was she just came across as nosey.
"Not really." Squall sighed internally at the raised eyebrows that comment earned.
"Well, you won't be able to go on the exam this afternoon if you don't pass this prerequisite. Unless you have any other commitments I'll meet you at the front gate in half an hour." Trepe said glancing back down to her clipboard as she spoke.
Squall suppressed another sigh and nodded.
"Yes, Instructor."
Squall groaned internally when he arrived at the front gate.
Moving up to the Instructor Squall waited as patiently as he could while she recited the junctioning methods. Resisting the temptation to roll his eyes Squall wondered just what she thought he was. If he had not known how to junction by now he never would have passed the written exam let alone survived on the Balamb plains when he decided that the cramped quarters of the training area were too much for him.
All the same Trepe was making a good point. Squall shifted as he turned his attention inwards and checked his junctions. Focusing on Shiva for the time being he made sure that all the blizzard spells he had were linked to his attack and fire to his defense. There was no point walking into a place called the 'Fire Cavern' without being appropriately prepared.
"Are you ready?" Quistis voice registered as Squall turned his attention outwards again.
Not bothering to answer he nodded.
The path to the Cavern was well worn, at least in places. Most students wandered from the path, picking off as many Bug Bites and Caterchipillars as possible to draw magic and gain as much experience as they could. For all Squall wanted to spend the shortest possible time in Instructor Trepes company he was short on cures. Deviating from the path into the forest Squall headed towards the mountains where he could pick off Glacial Eyes for Blizzards and Cures until he was satisfied.
Ignoring the soft huffs of amusement coming from behind him, Squall headed for the mountain just north of the Fire Cavern.
Several short battles later Squall was willing to admit that for all her incompetency as an Instructor Quistis knew what she was doing. Filled to the brim with Blizzard spells and Cures Squall turned his attention back towards the forest and the Fire Cavern to the south.
Moving down the overgrown path in the forest, dodging low hanging branches and creeping vines trying to trip them over, Squall was for the first time glad that Quistis was with him.
"This isn't good."
"What?" Squall asked glancing around the clearing.
"We should move," Trepe said her voice steady and serious.
Stumbling into the clearing was, at first, a relief from the suffocating closeness of the thick foliage. Upon closer inspection, however, Squall agreed with Trepe's suggestion to run wholeheartedly. Intruding in a T-Rexaur nest was considered one of the more painful ways to commit suicide. Even for Rank A SeeD's.
Through the forest on the other side of the clearing, Squall heard an angry roar.
"Run!" Trepe shouted even as she broke into a sprint, dodging trees as best she could.
Squall was not far behind her, taking full advantage of his longer legs.
In the close confines of the forest, they quickly lost the beast, but even so it had been a close call and Squall had no intention of ever repeating the experience.
Finally free of the constricting trees Squall paused for a moment to catch his breath. Quistis beside him as they concentrated on getting air into their lungs.
After a few moments Quistis straightened, glancing at the watch on her wrist.
"We should get moving. You still have to finish the Fire Cavern, and then get back for the exam."
Squall nodded, straightening himself and taking off down the rough stone path leading into the Cavern.
The two Garden faculty members outside the entrance of the Cavern turned to follow their progress down the path, or at least Squall assumed that was what they were doing as their heavy robes and over large hats made it difficult to see what they were doing.
Behind him, Quistis began talking.
"I'll be your support only for this exam. What we find in there you're going to have to deal with but I follow your orders. If you don't tell me to do something then I won't do it. Understood?" It was probably the most serious that Squall had ever heard her.
"Understood."
Nodding in satisfaction Quistis deftly dodged around him on the stony ground and started addressing the Faculty.
"One trainee for SeeD prerequisite exam. Instructor Trepe will be the observing Instructor for this exam. Facility ID: 14." The Garden Faculty said nothing as one of them made a notation on the clipboard they had pulled from their overlarge sleeves.
The other Faculty member turned to Squall.
"Which time limit would you like to set yourself? It should be challenging but still reasonable." The dull monotonous tone of the Faculty left Squall with a feeling of lethargy.
Turning his mind to the task at hand Squall considered his options. He knew that the path to the Guardian Force wasn't overly long, but he had no idea how many monsters he would encounter and subduing the Force always took time.
But still...challenging.
"Give me fifteen minutes."
Quistis glanced at him, a curious and appraising look evident on her face. The last trainee to finish the test in under twenty minutes had been Seifer and he had yet to pass a SeeD examination. He had been on three already.
As the first Faculty member made a final note on his clipboard his companion pulled a stopwatch from one drooping sleeve.
As the timer was set and the robed figures cleared the entrance to the Cavern Squall needed no further prompting to set off into the dark and stiflingly hot cave system.
Squall was glad he had only given himself fifteen minutes. It meant that he wouldn't have to spend any longer in Trepe's company. Yes, she was a good SeeD but why did she insist on talking so much? And was it truly necessary to bring up her fan club?
"You know most guys choke when they do this exam with me." Quistis voice echoed out from behind him.
Hearing her Squall almost did choke. She couldn't seriously be going there could she? Sure she was only a year older than him but she was still a teacher, his teacher. And he honestly wasn't interested, he never had been.
As she opened her mouth to say something else Squall had never been so glad at the sight of monsters. A few bombs that he was very glad for have stocked up on Blizzard's for.
Ahead of him, just around the next bend Squall was grateful to see the deep Fire Pit that held the GF. No sooner had they clambered onto the cleared rocky ledge surrounded by smaller fire pits that sent a flickering glow into the unseen darkness, that the rumbling reverberated throughout the cave system.
A quick glance at Quistis told Squall that this wasn't exactly Ifrit's usual welcome to prospective SeeDs.
It wasn't much longer before the Guardian Force leapt from the Pit. Teeth bared in what at first seemed to be a ferocious snarl. On closer inspection, however, the flickering light of the fires revealed that the black eyes held laughter. The rumbling laughter emanated from the Forces chest again.
Feeling braver now Squall squared his shoulders, lifting his gunblade into a defense position.
"What's so funny?" He asked, only just then questioning the wisdom of mocking a creature several thousand years old.
"Oh, nothing is funny. But it is good to see that you have finally made it. You're several hundred years late," the rumbling answer vibrating their bones.
"What?" Squall asked before he could stop himself. Late? Maybe the GF's had finally gone mad in their old age.
"You'll understand soon enough," the Fire Lord said simply. "But for now you are subject to the same tests as the rest them. Let us see if you can beat me mortal."
Squall and Quistis were given no more warning than that as the fireball came hurtling at them. Dodging to either side Squall shouted over his shoulder. Giving Trepe the order she had demanded he give.
"Focus of ice spells!"
With that, they were given no more time to talk, dodging out of the way of a viciously clawed hand Squall rolled to his feet and called on the strongest Blizzard he could. As he waited for Shiva to answer his summons.
When the Ice Queen stood in Squall's place, leaving a confused Quistis on one side, Ifrit smirked.
"I should have known he found you already."
"Of course, I was never known for my patience and he beat me fairly," Shiva replied even as she charged her own attack on the other Guardian Force.
Ifrit was chuckling even as the icy blast of Diamond Dust knocked him down and Squall returned to the battle as Shiva was dismissed.
"Enough! You have beaten me fairly mortal. I will join you."
Squall frowned. Sparing a look at Quistis Squall noticed that the expression of confusion and surprise had been firmly lodged and he wondered what his summons had done to surprise her so much.
"We should be heading back then," Squall said to get her attention though she only nodded absently as she followed him towards the entrance and the waiting Garden Faculty.
In the end, Squall was surprised that his fight with Ifrit had only taken a few minutes. Despite Quistis' awkward questions and the strange encounter with the Lord of Fire..
Satisfied with setting a new record for the Fire Cavern, Squall made his way gratefully back to the Garden. Quistis dragging behind him. While he was curious he wasn't about to ask her what was on her mind. He hated it when others intruded on his thoughts. The least he could do was let her think in peace. It also meant that she wasn't bugging him.
However, like all good things, Squall's peace and quiet return journey to Garden was interrupted when Trepe broke the fragile silence.
"Do you know what Ifrit meant?" There was genuine confusion in her tone as she shot Squall a suspicious look.
Squall looked at her. He could always say he didn't know what she was talking about, but that would only be an insult to both of them. For all of her faults, Quistis Trepe was no idiot.
"No."
"No, you don't know what he meant? Or no, you won't answer?" Trepe pushed and Squall suspected that she was enjoying the valid excuse to grill him for answers.
"No, I don't know what he meant. And he's refusing to answer me now." Squall said in an effort to placate her.
He should have known that that would not happen.
"So what do you think he could have meant. 'You're several hundred years late'? Hmm?"
Squall honestly didn't know how to answer that question. He didn't know what the Guardian Force had meant. How was he even supposed to find out? The being was several millennia old and he was barely seventeen?
But all the same. What had he meant? 'You're late.'
Squall shrugged his shoulders in answer to Quistis before turning and continuing on his way back to Balamb Garden. There was no point asking useless questions. Especially since the GF had promised that he would 'understand eventually'.
Something in his gut told him that he would be getting that answer sooner than he would like. And when it came it would not be an answer that was easy to deal with.
They didn't encounter many monsters on the way back through the forest. Only a few wayward caterchipillars that fell from the canopy at unfortunate times. The monsters, Squall mused, could smell the new Guardian Force. He had been similarly avoided when he first acquired Shiva and Quezacoatl. It never lasted, but he knew to take advantage of it while it did.
The rest of the walk was spent in blissful silence and Squall was relieved when the rings over the Garden came into view. For one morning, it had been far too tiring.
As they approached the front gate Quistis shattered the silence again.
"Don't forget that the SeeD exam starts this afternoon. Be in the front lobby at 16:00 sharp, and don't forget to wear your uniform. It's one of the reason's Seifer never passes." Quistis said ruefully.
Amongst the teaching staff Seifer Almasy had become a bit of a difficult case. He was brilliant certainly, Squall was one of those that knew just how good he was, but he lacked any form of discipline. And that was his downfall.
Squall was determined to not let it be him. Had been since he figured out what Seifer's problem was.
"Understood," Squall said before moving off. Making for the cafeteria.
A/N: Alrighty, as you can probably tell things are being edited. Actually fresh writing is also happening but I want to fix things before I keep going much more. This is one of those times when you wish you had plotted ahead before you took pen to paper...so to speak. Basically, I forgot what happened and have to rework things to make sense. Sorry to all readers. :) Maybe things will turn out better this time anyway, I picked up a worrisome number of grammar errors.