"And I thought Spira was behind the times." Tidus slashed the air with the sword he'd been given. "Are these swords seriously made of iron?"
Squall was pretty sure the swords were untempered steel, not iron. But Tidus's point was well taken—whatever the material, it was a far cry from adamantine, that was for sure. His borrowed sword hung heavy at his waist, making him miss his gunblade with each step.
"Hey, are you mad at me?" Tidus stopped and tugged on Squall's sleeve, forcing Squall to turn and face him and allowing Locke, Terra, and Celes to get even farther in front of them.
Squall tried not to roll his eyes as he regarded Tidus. "Why would I be mad at you?"
"I don't know. You just haven't talked to me much lately."
Does anyone talk much compared to you? Squall suppressed a sigh as he searched the darkness ahead for the forms of the others. Locke had told Squall and Tidus to hang back, but now they'd fallen so far behind he was afraid they might not be able catch up if there was trouble.
"What happened to your wrist?" Squall had noticed Tidus was missing a glove and had several long scratches starting from the middle of his left wrist and stretching down the back of his hand. It really wasn't any of his business what had happened, but Squall took the opportunity to change the subject.
Tidus looked at the back of his hand. "Oh, ha, you really weren't kidding about Rinoa's nails."
That was definitely not the answer Squall was expecting. "Rinoa scratched you?" When had that happened? And why? They'd seemed to get along really well. How had he missed this?
"It was just a little…disagreement. No biggie."
Squall was still puzzled, but a loud curse from up ahead interrupted his thoughts. He immediately ran toward the voice, sword drawn. Tidus followed close behind him.
Back at Garden, Rinoa was eager to see Yuna. She found her in the dorm room they'd been assigned to share.
"Did you learn anything?"
Yuna had been staring out the window and turned back in surprise.
"Was Ellone able to connect with Squall again?"
Yuna shook her head. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay." Rinoa tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice. "I didn't learn anything either."
Yuna nodded and looked back out the window.
It had now been several days with zero progress made toward finding Squall, and Rinoa couldn't stand it. Moments ago, she'd been hopeful that Yuna would have new information. Now she felt close to tears—as much out of frustration as sadness—and she really didn't want to cry in front of Yuna. She bit her lip until she felt she could hold her voice steady enough to say, "I'm going to take a shower. Then I'll meet you in the cafeteria for dinner?"
"Okay."
Although Rinoa was supposed to be sharing the double room with Yuna, in fact she had been spending most of her time in Squall's room. The lock on his door was easy to jimmy and it made her feel a little closer to him, to be in the space where he used to study and sleep. She wasn't sure how he would feel about her being there, but she would gladly take the fight, just as soon as he was home.
Once Rinoa got the door open, Angelo trotted into the room and plopped down in the center of Squall's bed. Rinoa almost told Angelo to get off the bed and lay on the floor, but she stopped herself. Everything in Squall's room was neat and orderly and she'd done her best to keep it that way. But seriously, what teenager made his bed with perfectly tucked corners every day? A few mussed sheets and a little dog hair never hurt anyone. A small smiled tugged at her lips as she slipped into the tiny bathroom. She imagined Squall standing there, looking at the dog nesting in his bed. He wouldn't have said anything, of course, and his face would be its usual neutral mask. But he would have the slightest crinkle in the skin around his eyes and she would know he was just a little annoyed.
"What's wrong, Squall? Didn't you miss Angelo?" she would ask him.
"Did I…miss...Angelo? Why would I…? I mean, uh, sure…?" He wouldn't know what to say. He'd be honest, but he'd also want to please her.
She wouldn't make him stumbled for words for very long. "Did you miss me?" she'd ask instead.
He'd get that slightly panicked look. The look he never, ever got in battle. The look he only got in awkward social situations. She wouldn't make him answer, not verbally anyway. Instead, she'd step toward him. He'd put his arms around her, hold her tightly. And she'd feel safe.
Warm water ran down Rinoa's face, mixing with tears. She could imagine what Squall would say—or not say—if he was here. But what she really wanted was to hear his voice. Or to feel his silence, his presence so strong and gentle that she would know everything would be okay, even if he didn't say a word.
Locke, Celes, and Terra were stopped. They were at the bottom of a cliff, perhaps fifteen feet high. Tidus paused, glancing around to make sure there was no danger. The area was relatively well lit, though he couldn't pinpoint a light source. It must have been magic, from Celes or Terra.
"How are we going to get up?" Terra asked.
Squall had wandered up to the wall and set a hand against it. Locke ran up to Squall and hooked his foot in one of the belts that hung loose around Squall's hips, then pushed off his shoulder to jump to the top of the wall. Before Squall could properly react, Terra followed Locke, climbing up Squall's side to reach the top of the wall.
Looking startled and dismayed, Squall moved quickly away from the wall, eyeing Celes suspiciously as he did. Celes raised her hands nonthreateningly, though she couldn't stop herself from laughing. "I'm not going to climb you," she assured him. "But I wouldn't mind a little help."
Squall seemed willing to help—now that he had been given some warning—so Tidus cupped his hands under Celes's foot and boosted her onto Squall's shoulders. From there Locke and Terra pulled her up to the top of the wall.
"I think we're almost there," Locke called down to Tidus and Squall. "Hold tight. We'll be right back."
"Wait, we're coming," Tidus replied, but the three disappeared from view. He turned to Squall. "Now what?"
Squall shrugged. "I guess we can wait here." Tidus pursed his lips and eyed the top of the wall. "Or I could probably lift you," Squall added.
"Okay." Squall knelt so Tidus could stand on his shoulders. Slowly Squall straightened to his full height. Tidus could tell Squall was struggling a bit, so he added. "You'll be happy to know my dad thinks I'm too small, so I've been trying to bulk up lately."
"Well," Squall replied, "You can tell your dad I think you're plenty big enough."
Once Squall was standing, Tidus was able to reach the top of the wall and pull himself up. He looked down at Squall. "Um…I got an idea! Put your sword in the ground, then you can jump off the handle."
Squall looked skeptical.
"Just try it. If I can do it, I'm sure Commander SeeD can do it."
Squall complied, stabbing his borrowed sword into the ground. It took him a few attempts to figure out how to balance and jump from the top. Eventually Squall got a decent jump and Tidus reached down to help pull him up. Unfortunately, Tidus could not find anything to brace himself against and as he pulled Squall up, he was pulled forward toward the edge of the cliff. Fortunately, Squall reached the top of the wall and pulled himself up before Tidus slid over the edge.
Once they both back on their feet, Tidus and Squall peered into the darkness ahead. The cave split into three separate tunnels, and Tidus wasn't sure which way the others had gone.
"Are they seriously trying to ditch us?" Tidus wondered out loud.
"Of course. They don't trust us with their treasure, whatever it is." Squall chose a tunnel and started walking.
"Oh." Tidus hadn't really considered that. What had they done to make the others not trust them?
"Just wait. Soon they'll return and declare that they didn't find the treasure, but they're ready to head back without it."
A few minutes after Rinoa left, Yuna was feeling antsy. She wanted to talk to someone, but she'd didn't know whom, or even about what. She supposed she wanted someone to tell her that it would be okay, that Tidus would be found, and they would return to Spira and live happily together.
She knew no one could tell her that, but she thought maybe a little walk would make her feel better. As she exited the dorm room, she noticed a long grey trench coat disappearing around the corner.
Curious, she moved down the hall and peered around the corner. There, standing in front of the Squall's dorm room where Rinoa had been staying, was Seifer.
He glanced up and down the hallway and Yuna ducked back around the corner before he could spot her. She heard the quiet creak of a door being slowly opened followed by footsteps that were surely entering the room.
Yuna debated charging down the hallway to confront Seifer, or running to find Quistis or Zell.
Still unsure what to do, Yuna peered back around the corner, and saw Seifer exiting the room, seconds after entering. He once again looked up and down the hallway, and as Yuna slipped behind the corner she noticed a flash of silver in Seifer's hand. She could hear his footsteps walking away down the hall and again Yuna considered running for help. But if she left now she may not be able to find Seifer again, and may never know what he was up to. So Yuna followed Seifer as he slipped out the dormitory's emergency exit.
Tidus and Squall had been walking quietly through the cave tunnel for a few minutes. Tidus was debating whether or not to try to start a conversation when they heard shuffling up ahead and soon Locke, Terra, and Celes appeared.
Locke scowled as he approached. "Hey! I though we told you two to wait back there."
"We were bored," Tidus explained. "But look, you can trust us. We don't want your treasure, we don't even know what it is."
Locke stepped up to Tidus, seeming to try to stare him down. "Who said anything about treasure?"
Tidus took a step back. "Uh, that's what you said we were doing. You know, treasure hunting. And I just wanted you to know you can trust us. We just want to help."
Locke continued to glare at Tidus with a look that was anything but trusting. Tidus glanced to Squall, hoping for some support, but the other just sighed, arms crossed in a look of detached exasperation.
"Come on, guys, let's just get out of here and head home." Celes took Locke by the arm and pulled him along. He maintained his glare at Tidus as long as he could.
Man, that guy needs to lighten up.
Squall was now in the lead as they retraced their steps to exit the cave. Tidus jogged to catch up to him.
In his attempt to close the door to Rinoa's room silently, Seifer had not pulled it all the way shut and the latch did not engage. After Seifer left the room, Angelo could hear more footsteps in the hallway. She recognized them as belonging to Yuna, whom Angelo was quite fond of. Perhaps because she'd known the door would be closed, Rinoa had not told Angelo to stay. Angelo pushed her nose against the door, testing it. It yielded to her pressure, so Angelo trotted after her friend.
There wasn't much warning. Just Squall, as he stood at the top of the cliff where Locke had tried to leave them, with a puzzled look on his face. "The sword…" Squall began, but Tidus didn't hear the rest—it was lost beneath the screaming and the clash of weapons.