A/N: Hello! Wow, it's certainly been a long-ass time since I've updated this story but I've recently felt compelled to scratch that writer's itch I've been having lately. Sorry it's taken so long for any of you who might have actually been following this story, but better late than never, eh:-P It's been a while since I've written anything so I might be a bit rusty so please critique me if you think something sucks.

Umm… that's about it I guess. I'll hopefully write another chapter soon(ish)!

Disclaimer: Amelia is mine, the rest of the characters belong to Square-Enix. So does FFXIII among many many other things. So there.


Chapter 3: Surprise

"What do you mean they're not here yet?!?"

Laguna Loire had many flaws but being short-tempered was not commonly listed among them. The celebration was in less than two days and his recluse of a son, who he just found out was living a year ago, had blown him off yet again – one time too many. The president of Esthar was past being hurt or disappointed: he was downright mad.

"No, no… I don't care about any of that. Just get me Balamb Garden on the phone pronto!"

Laguna ran his hands through his long brown hair that was just barely beginning to show signs of gray.

"Yes… I'll hold."

His aggravation was interrupted by a rapping at the door to his office, a place where he rarely remained for more than five minutes at a time and the last place Kiros thought to look.

"What do you want, now, Gretel? Can't you see I'm…"

Kiros opened the door slowly but with purpose just as he did everything and approached the ornate wooden desk that didn't seem to suit Laguna's style in the least. It was made of a rare form of cedar that only grew on some island off Centra… or something. It was old and it was boring just like the rest of his office which didn't help the president's deteriorating mood.

"Oh, sorry, K, I thought you were that secretary of mine. What's up?"

He was genuinely glad to see his old war buddy as he came as a welcome distraction to Balamb Garden's hold music which consisted of cheesy synth-pop decades old. Clearly updating it was low on the list of priorities.

"Well I was going to ask you if you had seen or heard from the guests of honor but seeing your face I can tell you haven't."

Laguna's brow furrowed as he slammed down the receiver of his phone. "Screw it, I give up. He can get his award in absentia for all I care."

Unwavering as always, Kiros' expression softened a bit before choosing his words carefully. "You've got to give him time, Laguna. Being a son is as new to him as being a father is to you. That young man has got a lot of layers to work through, he just needs time."

"Well, damnit, at least I'm trying!"

The shrill sound of the phone's ring cut through their conversation like a warm knife through even warmer butter and Laguna disdainfully snatched it up with a curt, "What?"

"President Loire?" the female voice on the other end replied, "This is Xu Shin of Balamb Garden calling to confirm the arrival of Commander Leonhart and company. They have yet to check in."

Laguna took a moment to process this information and quickly asked in return, "They're not still there?"

"No, mister president, they left from here on the Ragnarok at 0805 hours Balamb Time yesterday and we presumed they neglected to check in being busy with… greetings and things."

So he did come! Laguna's disposition went from angry to overjoyed and then immediately skipped to worried out of his mind.

"Well if they're not there, and they're not here, where in Hyne's name are they?"

Xu's tone betrayed her normally authoritative sound. "They haven't arrived?"


The sun was nothing short of blinding as Quistis slowly began to open her eyes. Her head felt like a behemoth had been jumping up and down on it and there was a dull pain in her chest when she breathed. What the hell happened? Where was she? She tried her best to sit up and immediately regretted her decision as she became extremely dizzy and half lowered herself/half fell down to whatever it was she was laying on.

"Easy there, darlin'," a familiar drawl said next to her. "Don't try an' move just yet, you've been through quite a lot."

Quistis squinted her eyes and tried to focus on the figure before her who was conveniently blocking most of the intrusive rays of the morning sun.

"Irvine? Where are we? Where are the others?" she demanded.

The cowboy took off his hat with his good arm and held it to his chest with a mock expression of hurt on his face and said, "What, being trapped on a deserted island with yours truly isn't a secret fantasy?"

If she could've moved she would've smacked him. Only Irvine Kinneas could make a joke in a situation like… whatever they were in.

"Irvine, you're a married man," she said with a sarcastic tone as if to remind him.

"Which is why," he replied with a grin, "I'll have to ask you not to try any funny business. Believe you me, the last thing you want is a pregnant woman on the warpath."

He laughed to himself and even managed to elicit a smile from the instructor. It was typical Quistis, always asking about and putting others before herself, often at the expense of herself.

"Everyone's here and fine," he continued, his voice becoming more serious. "For a moment there I was afraid we'd lost you."

It was then that Quistis looked down at herself and saw the unsightly scar where the piece of the Ragnarok's hull had pierced her chest, which would explain why her ribs hurt and some were probably cracked, bruised, and/or broken. She also saw that her top had been ripped open, something that she immediately chose to rectify by pulling herself together.

"Ah, sorry 'bout that, Quisty. We had to mess up that suit of yours to get that big hunk 'o metal out of you and to give you the phoenix down. Are you thirsty? Hungry? We don't have much with us but…"

"Irvine, where are we?" Quistis interrupted.

The cowboy put his Stetson back on his head and with a sigh replied, "I don't rightly know. The ship's totaled and none of our phones are working. All we know is that we're on some island probably off Centra somewhere and that we're keeping a signal fire blazin' to attract anyone who might be lookin' for us. It won't be too long before someone sees that we're missin' and sends people to rescue us. We just gotta sit tight in the meantime."

Quistis went to speak but was interrupted by a loud resounding, "QUISTY'S AWAKE!!"

Immediately arriving next to Irvine was a visibly flushed and out of breath Selphie who promptly eased herself down into a sitting position in the sand.

"Baby," the cowboy said with a look of amused frustration, "what did I tell you about all that runnin' around? You've gotta take it easy for a while longer yet."

Selphie just stuck her tongue and pushed Irvine's hat down in his face. Their cuteness made Quistis more nauseous than when she tried to sit up.

"So how are you feeling, Quisty? You had us sooo worried," Selphie asked with a smile.

Quistis slowly began to sit herself up again, this time more successfully. Her headache wasn't showing any signs of going away but she could just grit her teeth and bear it, an act she had become an expert at performing.

"I'm fine, just a little dizzy. It'll pass."

She looked down at her Garden-issue digital watch but the face had been smashed in, undoubtedly in the crash. She cursed under her breath and as if to answer her question Irvine offered, "No use, no electronics seem to be working. When Rag lost power so did everythin' else."

"So did our luggage survive the crash? I need to change out of this thing," Quistis asked with a hint of disgust in her voice. Not only was her trademark once-peach battle suit torn open, it was soaked through with her own blood which had since dried. Selphie seemed to have changed into another ridiculous tee that was again probably once Irvine's. She flat out refused to wear the typical maternity clothing calling it words like 'restricting' and 'frumpy' to name a few. She was tiny enough in any case where she could still fit into her jeans with the top button undone and a large tee that seemed small on her. All of Irvine's cowboy clothes looked the same so it was impossible to tell if he had a fresh change without getting close enough to smell him.

"Oh yeah, Rin and Amy have been gathering anything they could find together in a big pile. Do you want me to get you something?" Selphie asked.

"No, I'll get it myself."

Quistis scooted herself forward slowly until she was out of the small lean-to she woke up under. She squinted her eyes in concentration and pure force of will and slowly but steadily she brought herself to her feet. She wavered a bit and had to grab onto Irvine's right arm which was quickly outstretched to support her.

"Hey now," the cowboy objected, "Squall said you should be resting."

"Squall's my commander, not my doctor," she retorted blankly while getting her bearings. "I'll be fine, really. I've been through worse."

She wasn't lying. Quistis Trepe had seen and endured many horrors that seemed unavoidable as a Class A SeeD, not to mention the fact that she had taken to volunteering in Dr. Kadowaki's office during her spare time and tackled picking the good doctor's medical dictionary of a brain with the academic fervor with which she did everything. She knew what she was talking about but, truth be told, she hated sitting still. She needed to be doing something or she would go insane. Were she left to 'rest' in her little shelter she would feel useless and would be left with only her thoughts and for her that was a dangerous place to be. Selphie simply smiled and took her hand, pointing in the direction of where Rinoa and Amelia were still busy gathering things together, be they luggage that was strewn about the beach or anything remotely useful they could salvage from the wreckage of the once-majestic Ragnarok. Together the two young women made their way over slowly, more for Quistis' benefit than Selphie's, but Irvine was grateful that someone was able to slow his wife down if only for a moment.

"Yo! Irvine!"

He turned his head to the left to see a sprinting Zell tearing his way towards him. The martial artist was a blur of blue, black, and gold until he finally came to a stop a few feet before the sharpshooter. The slash down Zell's face wasn't deep enough to warrant needing stitches but it would likely leave a scar that Irvine thought would rival Squall's on the badass-o-meter.

"There's nothing but beach for miles and miles here, man!" Zell continued.

Irvine smirked and replied, "Well what did you expect? This is an island, genius."

The blond instinctively play-punched him on his left shoulder and Irvine winced at the pain. Zell gave him a shocked and apologetic look after realizing he hit his friend's sling-bound appendage.

"Sorry dude, but hey! You know what I mean, there aren't any landmarks or anything. Just a whole lot of sand and not much else, but I only ran for about five miles or so."

"Wonderful," Irvine replied in his usual nonchalant way. "You hungry?"

"Always," Zell said with a wide grin.

"C'mon, I think they found some MRE's or something like that in the cargo hold. There probably aren't many so we gotta make 'em last until we're rescued so don't hog 'em all, alright?"

Zell let out a laugh as they walked towards where the girls were by the Ragnarok's wreckage. "No promises, man. No promises."

Squall arrived around the same time they did from his exploratory walk down the other side of the beach. His silence was a clear indication that he didn't find anything of note just as Zell had. Clearly the two had very different methods of expressing themselves.

The young commander looked around at the six pairs of eyes seated on whatever was available expecting some sort of direction from his mouth. He first focused on Quistis who had discarded her ruined outfit in exchange for jeans and a white tank top. He specifically remembered telling Irvine and Selphie to keep her immobile for as long as possible, but knew Quistis too well to be surprised.

"Glad to see you're up and about," he said, his face still looking as if he was deep in thought. "How are you feeling?"

"I've been better, but I'll be fine," she replied with a small smile. "And thank you, all of you I guess, for saving my life."

"It was mostly Squall, Selphie, and Irvine," Rinoa chimed in. "I tried casting, but… I can't."

Rinoa's expression sunk and sensing her shift Quistis put a hand on hers. "Still, thanks all the same."

"Hell," Zell laughed, "we've all saved each others' asses so many times by now that it goes without saying."

"Just don't overdo it," Squall said, which was met with a nod.

"Anyway, Rinoa and Amy found nine MREs in the Rag and some bottled water," he continued, motioning behind him to the nine boxes stacked neatly next to a small collection of clear plastic bottles on the severed overhang of what used to be the Ragnarok's cargo hold. "That's all we have. We'll each get one and save the rest for emergencies."

"And what about those of us eating for two?" Selphie asked with a sheepish grin and an overly flamboyant rubbing of her belly.

Everyone laughed and even Squall managed to smirk as he replied, "Alright, you can have an extra but don't eat them all at once. Now since we can't be certain exactly how long we'll be stuck here we need to focus on four things: finding food, finding fresh water, making our shelters a little more habitable, and keeping that fire going. Chances are we'll be here for a few days, but don't get too comfortable."

With any luck they'd get rescued after the ceremony ordeal but knowing Laguna Loire he was probably going to put the whole damn world on hold.


"Put the whole damn WORLD on hold for all I care, we can't have this thing without my SON and his FRIENDS who are MISSING!!"

Ward gave his best 'calm down' look to the Estharian president but even his commanding, albeit mute, presence wasn't loud enough for Laguna to take notice. He looked over at Kiros who stood on the other side of the circular office and all the dark-skinned advisor could do was shrug. When Laguna had his mind set on something it was almost impossible to divert or distract him from his chosen task. Usually they'd just let him ride it out until he got bored enough that they could talk some sense into him and eventually lead him back to what he should be doing, such as signing some new legislation or negotiating some transit union dispute. This time, however, was quite a bit different. The Balamb Six, as they have come to be known, were missing chief among which was Laguna's son.

"Well get every available airship, boat, whatever, out there looking for them!"

"Hell I don't know where to look, if I did then we wouldn't have this problem now would we?"

"Just find them, ok?"

The slamming of the receiver down on the body of the phone was almost deafening in the otherwise silent office. Laguna had never looked so concerned, even during the conflict with Adel he held himself together better. He sat there at his desk with his head propped on his hand for a few minutes as if he was lost in thought. Kiros and Ward could only look at each other, neither knowing what to do or how to console their friend. Suddenly Laguna's hands slammed down on his desk and he stood up. Without a ward he walked quickly around the corner of his desk and headed for the door. He was met immediately with the broad chest of the silent giant Ward as he moved in front of the office door.

"Get out of my way, Ward," Laguna said with somber resolve.

"And where are you going?" Kiros asked, already knowing the answer.

"To find my son, now move," the president demanded putting a futile hand on his large friend in attempt to budge him.

"Like Hell you are," Kiros said calmly, to which Laguna responded by turning around and glaring at his war buddy.

"You'll have plenty to do coordinating the search from here, not to mention the inevitable press conference you'll need to call, oh and also running Esthar."

"Esthar can wait, this is my son!" Laguna shouted with grim determination.

"Laguna, you and I both know that you'll only slow them down. We have people trained for this sort of thing, let them do their jobs. You can help Squall from here."

Ward placed a calloused hand on his friend's shoulder, turning him around and giving a look and nod that spoke more clearly than most can manage who have their vocal chords intact. The president turned back around with a defeated sigh and let his tense shoulders slouch. With a single tear in his eye he looked up at Kiros and said, "You're right. You're always right. It's just ironic, you know, that when he finally comes to see me after all of my calls and letters, even if it was for some dumb formal ceremony, he falls off the map. A little too ironic."

Kiros put a consoling hand on his friend's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I'm sure they're fine, wherever they are. Squall will have the situation under control."


Squall sat quietly with his back against the fuselage of the ruined dragon-ship that was most likely starting to rust in the salty sea air. He never cared for the Balamb Garden standard issue Meal Ready to Eat but time and time again he ate them on missions without complaint. And that's exactly what this was to him: a mission. The objective? To keep his friends alive, healthy, and, if possible, happy until their rescue comes. It seemed simple and straightforward but like most things in life there was much more to this 'mission' than meets the mind's eye. On missions he was involved in and even led there were clear and concise goals. There were protocols to follow. On this island there were too many unknowns, the most important being when or if they would be found. Doubts infested his mind like sharks in bloody water but he pushed them away just as he kept them close at hand. They had to be found. Before long Garden and Esthar both would have realized they were gone, if they hadn't already, and used all resources available to find them. A soldier's life was, in a manner of speaking, expendable but these particular soldiers were invaluable… or so he'd like to think.

He looked next to him as Quistis managed to both read a book and hold a conversation with Rinoa at once, something that always amazed and confused the hell out of him. Maybe it was a female innate talent but Squall was abysmal at multitasking. She seemed to be holding up well but Squall could tell she was in pain. The corners of her mouth would turn down every once in a while coupled with a furrowed brow and squinted eyes. The reinstated instructor had one of the best poker faces he knew but even she had her tells. Rinoa on the other hand, who was technically a civilian, could be read like an open book. At least to everyone else but him, or rather he could read just fine but seemed to fail miserably at speaking her language. He stared wistfully at her as she delicately picked apart the foil wrapper of the dry chocolate bar, the only thing that remotely tasted like its intended imitation, with her slender fingers. She sent him a small smile before turning back to Quistis who had apparently said something funny because Rinoa started to giggle. He loved seeing her laugh. Whenever the raven-haired beauty smiled or laughed everything in the world seemed to make sense. It embodied a certain sort of innocence – the kind he was robbed of.

Behind them Zell was seated in the sand swatting at the box of Selphie's second MRE as she dangled it over his head like one of Angelo's doggie treats. The brawler had mellowed out some since meeting Amelia, who was sitting behind him scratching his head and saying something to the effect of "Sit, boy, sit!" He waved his arms wildly just out of reach much to the amusement of the two girls, but Squall was sure most of his frustration was for show. He was still enthusiastic, but also responsible. In fact Zell occasionally took older students on their field missions if he wasn't somewhere on a mission of his own. Amelia was still working at the library quietly and diligently as she was oft to do but the old crone that inhabited the Head Librarian position announced her retirement earlier in the month and Amy was a shoe-in for the position even at her young age. Selphie, who still hadn't grown tired of bouncing around teasing Zell with her 'necessary' extra food, obviously couldn't go on missions in her condition so Squall, with Quistis' prompting, proposed to give her a position teaching the younger students which she took to with great enthusiasm. Cid liked the idea as Selphie was always good with the young ones, which would come in handy with her own. Irvine wasn't technically a SeeD during the war but Cid considered that his very elaborate field exam and gave the Galbadian the honor upon their return shortly following the party which Selphie documented with her camcorder. The rest of that tape, however, was for their eyes only. In a way Squall was jealous of Irvine as he watched the man stare entranced at his wife with his usual sly smile, propped back in the sand with his good arm. No matter the situation he never got tired of showering Selphie with affection. It was very public and often very inappropriate physical affection, but affection none the less. That was something Rinoa longed for, especially, though of course not to that degree. Squall was getting better but it was a slow process, the coming out of the shell he lived in alone for seventeen years.

The sun was beating down on the seven young men and women from its highest position in the sky and Squall finished the last of the water he had rationed for himself. With a bit of a stretch he stood and made his way over to where Rinoa was seated in the sand. She looked over at him and Quistis took the cue to focus the full of her attention to her book that had been roughed up quite a bit in the crash but somehow still remained mostly intact.

"Hey," he said softly. "How is it?" motioning to the chocolate bar she was finishing.

Rinoa swallowed the last of it and replied, "It's not bad if you like the taste of cardboard."

They laughed which almost broke the sort of awkward tension that still existed between them since the day before. They hadn't really had time to just talk since their argument.

"Rinoa, I'm sorry about what I said yesterday," Squall said. "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions, I've just…"

"And I'm sorry for reacting the way I did," she interrupted. "I know you've been under a lot of stress lately, I just miss you a lot and wish we could spend more time together. But I guess time is all we have now until someone finds us so maybe we can start right now."

Her smile was so sweet it was sickening with just a hint of coyness for flavor. Only Rinoa Heartilly could find the silver lining in a plane crash. In fact, everyone seemed to be in good spirits despite all that had happened. Perhaps that was because rescue wasn't as much hope as it was inevitability in everyone's minds. It was almost like an unorthodox and forced beach getaway.

Squall returned her smile and leaned in close, staring into her warm brown eyes for a second before touching his lips to hers. She was a bit startled at first but quickly committed to the kiss. As they parted Rinoa asked with wide eyes, "What was that for?"

"Do I need a reason?" Squall replied with a smirk.

Rinoa narrowed her eyes and with a look of surprised approval she slowly said, "Good answer."

Squall stood and held out his hand for Rinoa to take it and she did just that as she followed suit. Holding her hand, much to everyone's surprise, he led her to where everyone else was still laughing at Selphie and Zell's antics but when they arrived all eyes turned to them.

"I hope everyone enjoyed their meal," Squall said somewhat sarcastically, "it'll be our last unless we can find some of our own on this island. In a few minutes I'm going to go into the jungle and I want Zell to come with me."

Zell nodded but Irvine struggled to his feet saying, "Wait just a second. How do you plan on goin' huntin' without Irvine? Is scarface gonna go wrestle 'em down for you?"

Zell stood up with a grin and with a horrible fake accent said, "Say hello to my little friend," holding up his fist.

"You save your little friend for Amy, tough guy," Irvine quipped back causing Zell's face to immediately turn a bright hue of red and Amelia to giggle nervously as the others burst into laughter. It was obvious that it hurt Quistis to laugh but she couldn't help herself.

"Irvine," Squall said once everyone calmed down, "Your arm is broken."

"Sure is," he replied, "and luckily it wasn't my shootin' arm and that's all I need as long as I have ammunition."

"Do we?" Squall asked towards no one in particular.

"Y-yes, we managed to find a few boxes as well as Exter," Amy answered.

"I'd rather play with… I mean tend to the fire anyway," Zell said with a mischievous grin on his face that didn't settle well with anyone.

Squall eyed them both for a minute and said, "Fine, Irvine we'll leave when you're ready."

"I'm ready now," he replied.

"Alright. Everyone else work on making those shelters a little more habitable," Squall said looking back towards everyone. "We'll be back soon."

Squall and Irvine walked off towards where the girls were organizing all of their belongings and anything else that could be of use from the wreckage and found their weapons. Some might think it unnecessary to bring such things to an awards ceremony in a place as safe as Esthar but one of the many credos that were drilled into their minds as students was "be prepared". For once it seemed their superfluous preparation had actually come in handy. Irvine fingered his gun as he shook the sand off of it and proceeded to inspect it as best as he could to make sure nothing strange got lodged inside its inner workings. Squall did the same with Lionheart and fortunately nothing seemed to be wrong with either weapon aside from a few scratches or dings from being thrown around violently.

Squall nodded to Irvine but the cowboy was looking past him with a smirk on his face. The young commander could already tell he was looking at Rinoa who had since walked up beside him.

"What are you doing?" Squall asked looking over at her. The asking was more of a formality since he already knew the answer.

"I'm coming with you," she responded very matter-of-factly with a determined look.

"Absolutely not," he retorted. "Why don't you go and help the others?"

Rinoa crossed her arms in front of her and furrowed her brow, which was never a good sign. "What, is this a 'boys only' trip? What happened to wanting to spend more time together starting now?"

Squall put a hand up to his face and wiped some sweat from his brow that had accumulated in the sweltering heat. "Rinoa," he said, his voice showing a bit of concerned frustration, "I'm not trying to leave you out; I'm trying to protect you. We don't know what might be out there and you're unarmed and can't cast for whatever reason. Have you tried since yesterday?"

"Yes…" she replied, her tone and expression softening.

"Well we can talk about it when I get back. We won't be long, I promise."

Rinoa looked down and shuffled her feet in the sand. As much as she wanted to make a fuss and argue she knew he was right. She didn't bother to bring her unique pinwheel contraption with her anywhere anymore since she had been studying with Edea once a week on how to focus and control her abilities. In the past year she had come a long way from her unexpected bursts of natural magic in the war and no longer needed to draw most magic to use it, but she was still far from what Edea would consider finished.

"Ok," she resigned with a sigh, making eye contact again. "Just be careful." She stood on her toes and gave Squall a quick peck on the cheek before turning around to return to the others.

"Shall we?" Irvine asked with a grin holding Exter across his shoulder.

Squall simply walked on ahead into the tree line and Irvine followed suit. The beach had the head of direct sunlight but the air in the jungle was humid and thick. The two men walked towards nowhere in particular taking in the sights, the sounds, and the smells of the surrounding forest. Birds chattered noisily above them and seemed undisturbed by their intrusion. They were colorful and there were some that neither had ever seen before but otherwise unremarkable. As they trekked deeper the ground grew more moist but showed no signs of fresh water and aside from the birds no animals of any consequence could be found other than small lizards and the occasional snake that would slither away from the sound of their footsteps in the crushed foliage.

"Soooo… what's the deal with you and Rinoa?" Irvine asked, breaking the silence that hung as heavy as the air.

Squall cut an offending branch in front of him with his gunblade and a piece swung down and caught him across his cheek. He cursed and stopped in his tracks for a moment before continuing. "Please don't make me regret my decision to bring you."

"I was just saying," Irvine continued, "that y'all have been kinda tense around each other lately. Is something the matter?"

Squall groaned inwardly as he sliced through another vine. Everyone knew that he was never one to just open up with people, even his friends, without much preparation and coaxing. "If I tell you will it shut you up?"

"Cross my heart," Irvine answered with a bit of a laugh.

"She's upset that we don't see each other very often now because I'm stuck at the office all the time," he admitted not slowing his pace through the brush.

"Oh is that all?" Irvine asked. "Hell, that can be fixed easy enough…"

"I know," Squall interrupted, "when we get back we'll meet each other every day for lunch."

"Lunch?" Irvine laughed. "I was gonna say she should move in with you, man. You've got that huge new place and everything."

Squall stopped dead in his tracks and turned around with a scowl on his face. "Look, Irvine, just because you and…"

His words fell dead as he thought he saw something move in the trees behind his friend.

"And what?" Irvine said with a smirk.

Squall quickly put his index finger to his lips and made a shushing sound. It was then that he heard something move. Judging by the amount of leaves that were rustled it was something big. Really big. Instinctively the two young men crouched down and tried their best to see what was causing the disturbance in the trees.

"What was that?" Irvine whispered.

"I don't know. It's too quiet to be a T-Rexaur, let me try and get a little closer and see."

Slowly but surely Squall stepped out from behind the fallen tree they had taken cover behind. He saw leaves continue to rustle and branches bend but he saw nothing that was causing it. He crept further into a clearing that looked like it had been freshly made.

"I don't see anything…" he said a little louder back to Irvine who was still behind the tree.

Irvine mouthed a response but it was silenced by a deafening roar that sounded almost like the whistle of a giant train. Squall spun around, Lionheart in hand, and dug into the ground with his stance in hopes that it would do any good.