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"One… two… threeeeeheeeheeheeeee!" Selphie threw her arms up behind her as she sped down the icy tunnel made by the Trabian penluks. A group of five teenagers waited at the opening of the tunnel, bundled up in thick winter gear, watching as their friend disappeared around the bend, and listening as she squealed in delight. Hardly a breath was made as they waited to hear her reach the end. "Oof." A soft grunt was heard. "Alright! You can come down now!" Selphie shouted excitedly to her friends.
"Selphie! Don't yell-" Quistis shouted down, stopping herself short as she realized she was doing the exact same thing. "Cave-ins..." she muttered as she sat down at the entrance of the luminous blue hole. "Alright," she said as she turned to the others. "Now, when I get to the bottom, instead of yelling like Selphie," she said sharply as she looked down the tunnel to where the offending friend waited, "I'm going to flash this green light when the path is clear." She lifted her wrist, pressing a button which emitted a bright green laser. "If there are any obstructions, you'll see the red one," she continued, pushing another button which emitted a red light.
"Okay… here goes," she said as she situated her body to face her feet. After a deep breath, she gently pushed herself forward and simultaneously leaned back, falling into the cold hole. Four teammates were left, and they once again turned an ear forward to listen for another "Oof" as Quistis landed at the base.
"Whoo-hoooo!" Selphie's voice echoed through the surroundings.
"Selphie!" Quistis's voice came, scolding her friend. Subdued mutters were heard as the two had a few repartees back and forth, and finally a green light reflected through the tunnel.
"That's me!" Zell announced, saluting the others from his wool winter hat and stepping forward. He sat down and placed his hands on the ground, sliding his butt back, then forth, then back then forth, then back and zoom, down the tunnel he went.
"Oooohhh yeahhh!" Zell shouted, followed by thud and a sharp thwack and an "ow!" and finally a green light. The three at the top shared a snicker as Irvine stepped up.
"Guess it's my turn," he said walking forward, then turned back quickly, holding a finger out to the remaining two sliders. "Now, you two take your time, ya hear?" Rinoa giggled and turned her head embarrassed, as Squall shook his head at the pervert and rolled his eyes. "And a-one, and a-two…" and with a swoosh, the cowboy was gone. No shouts or thuds or thwacks accompanied his landing, and quickly the green light shined up at the young couple.
Rinoa stepped forward, then turned and looked at Squall, who gave her a tiny smile of encouragement. She looked back down into the tunnel, then turned quickly, stepped forward, and pressed her lips against Squall's. She stepped back and opened her eyes to see Squall smiling back as he started to lean in once more. A blinking green light flashed again distracting the motion and the two lovebirds shared a shy smile as Rinoa stepped to the entrance. "See ya on the other side," she waved a hand as she leaned back and allowed gravity to drag her down to the next level. Squall watched as she disappeared from view, then let out a soft sigh. Then, when the green light appeared, he sat down, and pushed himself forward.
The ground came up quickly, and his reflexes and memories of the others' rough landings allowed him to bring his legs down so he could stand up dignified, rather than fall to the ground like a bloated frog.
"Alright, where's the next one, then?" Quistis asked, looking onto the snow-covered mountain. They had climbed almost to the summit before starting any of the tunnels, at Selphie's insistence. The mountain wasn't the tallest, but it ran long. It had taken them nearly 45 minutes to hike to the top, during which time, Selphie regaled them with tales of her adventures in Trabia as a kid. The girl was truly ecstatic to be back in her home country and sharing it with her friends.
"There, I see it," Selphie pointed somewhere in the distance.
"Where?" Zell asked, raising a hand as if to block an imaginary sun.
"Here, follow me," Selphie commanded as she stepped to the front of the group. Irvine nudged Squall's shoulder discreetly, wiggling his eyebrows a bit and gesturing his head back up the tunnel. He leaned back quickly as a gloved hand came up to swat him away, then he snickered and walked ahead next to Selphie, who was lifting her knees up to her chest in order to stomp over the snow, which really wasn't all that high. Most of the snow had turned to ice from the trampling of the animals in the area and the people who came to do exactly what these six people were doing.
The tunnels were buried under the snow, only slightly visible like a trail made by a shallow-digging badger. Quistis was loathe to admit that the tunnels did seem pretty solid, and the air dry and chilly. But she still insisted that each of them wear the emergency bracelets in case they got separated. She would not allow them to be shouting all across the snow and ice-covered mountains. The last thing they needed was a cave-in, or worse, an avalanche. She also insisted they bring their weapons in case they came across anything less than friendly.
"Alright, here's the next one. Who's first?" Selphie asked.
"How about doubling up?" Irvine asked slyly.
"I don't know if you and Zell can fit together," Squall remarked casually, causing the girls to laugh and Zell and Irvine to sigh at the quip.
"Squall, you old rascal," Selphie chuckled walking forward and giving him a playful punch. "Well, I guess I'm first again."
"But really, no doubles?" Irvine asked hopefully. Selphie sat down and turned to him, slowly bringing up a hand and reaching out to him. Irvine grinned and stepped toward her, before she swiped her hand away, bringing a finger to her eye, pulling it downward and sticking out her tongue with a "mleh", then she propelled herself forward into another blue cave.
"Aww, shucks," Irvine stamped a foot, causing an echo throughout the landscape. Quistis gasped and the others looked around, listening as the sound traveled further until finally it was gone. Quistis' lips puckered tight in irritation as she crossed her arms at the cowboy, who held his hands up in defense and gave a bashful grin.
Quistis stepped forward and sat, waiting for the light. When it showed, she slid down, making a soundless landing. The others followed suit.
The tunnels traveled across the mountain, the inclines angled just enough to allow gravity to pull the sliders down, but not so much that one would start speeding to the base of the mountain at 80 miles an hour. After 30 minutes of sliding back and forth on the luminous tunnels, Quistis' worries finally started to dissipate, and she joined the others in their jump starts, doubles, and backwards belly runs. So far there had only been one tunnel on each path, but soon they came upon a clearing with four different openings.
"Well, what have we here?" Irvine asked as he appraised the new obstacle.
Crossing her arms as she too observed the multiple paths, Selphie replied, "Ahh, this is what we call the 'hit it and quit it'."
"Ahh… wait, what?" Irvine stopped and turned to Selphie who looked back at him unfazed.
"The 'hit it and quit it'."
Irvine nodded slowly as he saw that Selphie did not realize the double meaning of her words. He bit his lip to hold in a laugh as he looked at the others around him, of whom Zell, Quistis, and even Squall were suppressing laughter. Rinoa noticed the apparent amusement of her friends and asked, "What?" Squall looked at her and quickly shook his head.
"And, umm," Quistis began, arms crossed and hand outstretched in question, still holding in laughter, "Why do you call it that, Selphie?"
"Because at least one of these tunnels is gonna lead to the end of the line," Selphie explained matter-of-factly.
"And what about the other tunnels?"
"They keep going."
"Then shouldn't it be called the 'hit it or quit it'?" Zell asked.
"Yeah, maybe, but the bigger kids called it 'hit it and quit it', so we just copied what they said."
"Oh, I see," Zell replied bringing a hand to his mouth in laughter.
Selphie flashed a stern look at her friends. "It's not a joke you guys. If you get to the bottom, you can't climb back up through the tunnel. You have to go alllll the way to the top of the mountain and start again. And that's a lonnnng walk back."
"So, what do you suggest we do, Sefie?" Irvine asked.
"Well, the way we used to do it was split up and whoever was at the bottom had to be our slave for the day."
"Oooh, I see," Irvine began eagerly. "So why don't you go through this one and I'll go through that one, and let's hope one of us gets lucky."
A collective eye roll was practically heard throughout the mountain and Selphie grabbed the red scarf wrapped around Irvine's neck. "Uh-uh. You're coming with me. I'm not taking any chances." She dragged him to the opening and sat down, pulling him down behind her.
"Wait, I'm not bein' anyone's slave," Zell contested as Selphie and Irvine pushed forward and went zipping down. He stared after them, mouth agape, then turned back to the others, crossing his arms. "If slavery's involved, I'm not doing it," he said definitively.
"You don't have to be anyone's slave, Zell," Quistis patted his shoulder as she walked past him to the second tunnel. "But, it's probably best if we go together, too. We don't want to get completely separated from each other."
"Alright," Zell acquiesced as he stepped forward. He sat behind Quistis before saying, "But, if by some chance, Selphie and Irvine are at the bottom now, and we get to keep going, we get to make them our slaves, right?"
"Oh, Zell," Quistis rolled her eyes as she slid them forward through the tunnel.
"Well, just us two now, huh?" Rinoa asked as she smiled at Squall. "Wanna split up and hope one of us ends up the other's slave?"
Squall smiled and held in the thought, I'm already your slave. "How about we go together and just hope we don't reach the end?" He held a hand out, which Rinoa took.
"Sounds like a plan," she said as she stepped closer to him. Their thick clothes stopped their body heat from reaching each other, but the cold, dry air seemed to magnify the static between them. Rinoa's heart pumped as he leaned down and kissed her slowly. His nose was cold on her cheek, but his lips were warm. Her surroundings melted around her as her world became only what she could touch, taste, and smell, and that was him. Squall gripped her closer, though her fluffy blue jacket formed a barrier between his hands and her body. Her hands pulled him closer to her and he wondered how long they could stay there before having to meet up with the others.
A loud crack suddenly echoed through the night. Squall and Rinoa ripped apart from each other as they listened for more noise.
"Monster! We need help!" Quistis voice rang out, and Squall and Rinoa rushed to the tunnel she and Zell had traveled through. Squall brought his gunblade in front of him, pointing it toward the opening as they rushed through. He squinted his eyes against the cold air as he watched blue shades of ice flash in front of him. The tunnel turned left then right, until finally there was a clearing. Squall gasped and turned his gunblade quickly to the side as he nearly collided with Zell, whose back was to him, and stood facing a giant white behemoth.
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The monster was one they had never seen before. It looked like a wendigo, but larger; a giant white ape with no head, and a slit in the place where its neck would have been, opening and closing to multiple rings of short, obsidian teeth. Its two arms were the double the size of its torso, and two limp legs dangled from the body, flopping around seemingly lifeless. If they weren't currently preoccupied with its flailing, terrible fists, the four teenagers would have related the legs to a stubborn piece of poop, clinging to a hairy butt.
The monster lifted one giant arm and brought it down, aiming for Zell, who jumped out the way. Squall jumped in the same direction, and Rinoa the opposite as she strapped on her pinwheel. The monster lurched from side to side, then turned quickly on its giant fists toward Rinoa. Rinoa held back a gasp and quickly brought an arm up, casting a shield in front of her. The monster's fist rang against the shield, pushing the invisible barrier into the ground, making a small crater with Rinoa in the center. Rinoa held her arms up and willed the shield to stay in place as the monster continued pounding it.
"Rinoa!" Squall shouted and dashed forward, slashing at the torso of the monster. It staggered at the assault and wheeled around to face its attacker, its tiny legs flying outward. It stomped forward on its giant arms, then swung an arm around, 360 degrees, and landing in the spot where Squall had just been standing. He spun his gunblade once as he prepared to leap in again, but jumped back in defense as the monster slingshot its torso forward, legs reaching out toward Squall. Between the legs Squall could see a small, round eye, an inky black color.
"There's an eye at the base of the torso!" he shouted to his comrades. "Aim for that!"
"I'll distract it!" Cracks rang out to the right, where Quistis unleashed a barrage of attacks, her teeth gritting as she stepped around the moving monster. She was limping slightly as she tried to circle the monster and stay out of its line of sight. It swiveled around, unable to bring Quistis to its front, then stopped, allowing Quistis to move directly to the side of its arm, then it whipped the arm up, knocking her backward onto the ice. She rose slowly, clutching her whip as she cast a cure spell on herself.
"Rrrahhhh!" Zell shouted as he raged in, attacking the torso in a flurry a fists, movements so quick they appeared as blue blurs. The monster staggered backward from the power of the blows until finally falling on its back. "Gotcha!" he shouted as he rushed in toward the tiny black eye. He threw a fist out, aiming for the center, and the legs wrapped around his arm, stopping him with a force contrary to their tiny size. Zell clenched his teeth as he tried to pull his arm out, bringing a leg over to push against the torso. The grip was strong, and the long, toe-like appendages squeezed at his arm as he grimaced in pain. Zell looked at the middle of the torso again and lifted a foot, bringing the heel down on the eye. A shrill shriek escaped the upper maw of the beast. Zell took that as a good sign and continued pounding at the eye.
The monster rolled onto its fists and began shaking its torso, the legs letting go of Zell's arm and flinging him away. Zell rolled to the ground, then stood, clutching his broken arm. A tingling, cool sensation replaced the fiery pain as Rinoa cast a cure spell from her spot near the entrance of the cave. "Thanks Rin!" he shouted as he watched for an opening in the melee.
Squall jumped from side to side as the monster brought down fist after fist, attempting to squash its prey. He made his way under the beast and ducked low as the legs reached out for him, then brought a powerful slice upward, slashing at the legs, and severing them halfway down from the body. The monster let out another shriek as Zell leaped up again, punching and kicking high, attempting to knock it on its back again. The monster lurched backward, then found a new strength and charged forward quickly, knocking Squall to the ground, and carrying Zell forward. He jumped over the top of the beast, avoiding the gaping maw at the top, and landed behind it, sliding under it, where he began a relentless round of furious punches. The monster squealed and staggered backward, Zell following it, pounding away at the angry eye, until finally, his fist broke through the flesh. The monster stopped suddenly as Zell reached around inside, feeling something solid, warm, and throbbing. He grabbed the base of it and squeezed tightly, then ripped it out. A heart the size of a basketball pulsed against his fingers. The monster lurched forth and back one last time, before finally dropping to the ground.
Zell turned to his comrades, heart raised high, then he threw it to the ground in front of them like an offering. They watched him with smirking smiles as he raised his fists up to the sky and shouted in victory.
Two soft plops sounded from behind the group.
"Are you guys alright?" Irvine asked running forward.
"We came as fast as we could! We had to find a way back to these tunnels," Selphie explained tearfully. "Oh my God! Zell!" she shouted as she ran toward him. "You're covered in blood!"
Zell grinned as he looked at his soaked arm and then back at her. "Not my blood," he said.
A loud groan made them all jump to attention as the monster let out a gurgling death rattle.
"Oh man, look at that thing," Irvine said walking toward it. "What is it?"
Quistis let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. "I've never seen anything like it before. It must have come down in this last Lunar Cry."
"Was it a tough cookie?" Selphie asked, joining Irvine by the monster and bending down to look at it.
"You could say that," Quistis replied. "It's fast and very strong."
"Even the legs in the middle were like a vice. Man, that thing definitely broke my arm. Hey, thanks for the cure, Rin, I don't think my magic would have helped as much as yours," Zell reached a hand out and patted Rinoa's shoulder.
"Anything to help," Rinoa replied as Squall moved beside her and placed a hand on her back.
"Are you okay?" he asked quietly so the others couldn't here.
She smiled, glad for his concern. "Yeah. You?"
He cocked his head and smiled. "Yeah, of course." He couldn't stop his need to be close to her and put his arm around her small, shivering frame.
"And there's some kind of mouth at the top that it tries to shove you into if it grabs you," Zell continued his description of the beast. Squall eyebrows twitched upward. He hadn't seen that happen. It must have been before he and Rinoa had gotten there.
Another loud groan caused the six to jump to arms again. The mouth about which Zell had just been speaking had suddenly fallen open, the rings of teeth exposed.
"Oh wow… freeeaaaky… Hey, look, there's something in there," Selphie said as she leaned precariously close to the chainsaw-like mouth.
"Me-me! It's mine! Me, me, me!" Zell shouted as he ran over, jumping on the giant arm and to the top of the head. He peered in next to Selphie, uncaring that this same creature had been this close to putting them all inside that hole. "Oooh, pretty!" he said as he reached both hands in and pulled out two shiny purple stones. He held them up to his face as a grin spread across his face and his tongue slipped out of his mouth in desire. "Ooohoohoo boy!"
"What is it?" Rinoa asked from her place next to Squall.
Quistis stepped closer to Zell as she inspected it. "I don't know, I've never seen anything like this." She looked up as she thought. "I guess with new monsters comes new materials. It's hard to know what properties they'll have without being analyzed, but judging by the type of monster, we can make guesses."
"So what would your guess be?" Irvine asked as he too leaned in close to inspect the purple orbs.
"Well, judging by the strength of the monster, the magic in the stones would probably be strong, too. It could be stronger than a wizard stone. Or it could contain a kind of elemental magic. The monster is clearly an ice creature, so it could be ice magic."
"Ooh-ooh! Do I get to name the monster?" Zell asked suddenly, hopping from foot to foot.
Quistis cocked an eyebrow at Zell. "What? No, you don't get to name the monster."
"But I killed it. And no one has ever seen it before," Zell argued insistently. He looked upward in contemplation. "Hmm… I think I'll call it… dingleberry."
"Ha! What kind of name is that?" Irvine laughed.
"Zell, even if you could name it, I don't think dingleberry is an appropriate name."
"Oh? Then what do you suggest, your majesty?"
"… Turdzilla."
The group laughed at the terrifying creature with the unfortunate, floppy legs. Their laughter echoed throughout the silent mountaintops, and a sudden and loud crack filled the air. They ceased their frivolities and turned toward the sound, watching as a large billow of snow slowly began tumbling down the mountain where they had begun their evening. They watched, mouths agape, as the tunnels they had just slid through began cracking down the middle, tracing the paths they had just followed.
When the noise finally ceased, they exchanged wide-eyed glances, silence permeating the air once again.
Finally, Irvine spoke. "… So… home?"
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