FanFiction.Net - unleash your imagination
| FanFiction.Net - unleash your imagination |
|
| Home Just In Communities Forums Beta Readers Dictionary Search | Login Register Extras |
Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters. Square Enix does.
Warnings: Blood. Violence. Cursing.
konekomh’s ramblings: haha.. .with the speed that Kitty’s updating these fics it’s no wonder that people start to forget about the stories. (smiling really sheepishly) Now here’s another update. Hope you like it and keep feeding Kitty.
Super-mega big thanks to Wushu, JadeAlmasy and Florinoir for the reviews!!
Let move on!
Chapter 11
He looked around. It was completely dark. Even with his better-than-average night vision he could decipher nothing but darkness within the void. It was suffocating.
Fighting the urge to shiver he asked, What’s this place? Shiva?
The silence was deafening. Wrapping his arms around his body he closed his eyes and tried to sense his surroundings without using his sight. Still there was nothing.
It was long. It was so long that he couldn’t tell how long he’d been there. But then…
Help!
"Who’s that?" Turing around swiftly he spotted a dim light far away. Although suspicious he couldn’t fight the urge to reach for the light. So he moved forward.
Please… someone… anyone…
There was a slight quiver, as if the person was really scared.
Who are you? He cast, trusting that he could be heard.
And he was right. There was a surprised gasp after a brief pause.
You can hear me?! To say the person was overjoyed was an understatement. And the voice was sounding extremely hopeful. Finally!!
So… He paused in his steps hesitantly. He suddenly couldn’t decide if it would be a good idea to move further when a foul smelling breeze passed by.
Behind his back something was gathering and slowly rising from the ground.
I’m Ellone.
Ellone!? Princess of Esthar?
The light brightened as if to confirm his guess. Where… His thoughts stopped short when his heart froze. Something was crawling up his legs and held him in place. What the…!
It seemed Ellone sensed his predicament. Run!! You must go!
Damn! I can’t! He fell on all fours when it slapped heavily over his back and tried to press him to the ground. The thing was moving fast to curl around him like a king cobra, ready to squeeze him to suffocation…
Zell’s eyes narrowed.
Irvine. Using the power from his guardian the blond with gravity defying hair tried to communicate with his de facto brother. We’re back. How’s he doing? You guys still casting healing spells? I can see the lights from downstairs.
Quistis’ already done her job. It’s something even worse. Shiva can’t go back and he isn’t waking.
What? Frickin’ hell…
Quick as lightning Zell immediately darted upstairs and rushed towards their room, leaving Rinoa chasing after him.
Not minding courtesy Zell entered without even considering knocking. But what greeted him stopped him short from rushing to Squall’s side and caused Rinoa to bump into his back.
The room was covered in ice from ground to ceiling. Shiva was floating in the air hovering above Squall worriedly. A hand was pressed against the boy’s forehead as the ice goddess tried to gain access back to the warrior but it seemed a strong wall was erected to block her from entering.
Suddenly Squall was thrashing wildly in the bed as if he was trying to get away from something. Fine brows drew together in a tight frown as pale lips opened in a silent scream.
"SQUALL!!" Irvine and Zell immediately moved to his side trying to rouse him. "Wake up! Man! It’s only a nightmare! Shake it off and wake up!" Desperate, Zell put both hands on the brunet’s naked shoulders and started to shake him senseless. "Open your eyes! Can you hear me? Oi!"
"Hey, what…" Seifer was quickly cut short when Zell’s teary eyes turned towards him.
"Nightmares eat him! He won’t be able to find his way out if this continues!"
Understanding dawned on Rinoa. Without hesitation the black mage moved to yank Seifer’s hand and pressed it against Squall’s sweaty forehead.
"Watch it! Woman!"
"Call him."
"Huh?"
"Call him through your bond. Don’t use Ifrit’s power, it’s going to be useless if Shiva can’t go in. Perhaps the bond that Edea creates can help."
"What…"
"Do it. I’ll explain later."
Nodding, Seifer took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
No! Don’t come any closer to her territory! Her power will tear you apart!
Then where should I go? Panting, he wiped the corner of his lips with the back of his hand as he tried to sense where the next assault would come from. How do I leave this place? My bones are rattling already.
"Oi!"
He immediately swiped Lionheart as he turned around.
"Hey! Watch it! I still don’t want to die just yet."
"Almasy?!" He face faulted. Of all people, he didn’t really expect to meet the arrogant, annoying and moronic bastard. And the idiot was shining like a beacon with the brightness keeping the dark monster at bay.
He immediately pointed Lionheart at the intruder.
"I knew you wouldn’t trust me. So I’ve brought your princess with me. Hell, take her back already! She’s been bickering with Ifrit for Hyne knew how long. At this rate my head is going to crack from switching between hot and cold one moment to the next."
Bright crystal blue immediately filled his vision as Shiva spurted from the blond and dashed towards him like a long lost lover. "Squall!" The impact was so powerful that he stumbled as the junction took hold.
Shiva! Relief rushed over the brunet as he finally bonded with his guardian again.
I was so scared. I thought I would never… It sounded as though the ice goddess was crying like a small girl as she joined with her host. He’s right. I shouldn’t have… I won’t leave you ever again!
Sh… it’s okay. I’m still standing, right?
Barely...
Shiva! Don’t say it as if I am dying!
Long before Squall managed to recover from the strong junction a warm hand already encircled his wrist. Seifer was dragging the shorter man with him. "Let’s go and meet the kiddies"
"Wait! The Princess…" He turned his head around and found that the light was already gone.
It was dark, but not pitch black. The pale moon was shining through the balcony painting the room silver. Squall breathed a sigh of relief. Finally…
Something, or rather, someone stirred by his side. It was Seifer, and he was pressed close to him.
What the…
Intending to murder the man Squall suddenly found himself sitting on the floor as Seifer took on a defensive stance and pushed him to the ground. Damn his fighter instincts. Snarling Squall jumped to his feet and pounced on the half-awake man to sock him in the face.
"Hey is that how you treat your savior?" Seifer hissed as he nursed the abused corner of his lips, noting with amusement that Squall was also mirroring his action even though the blond did not retaliate. Edea’s words suddenly rang in his head, this bonding spell only makes sure you won’t hurt each other intentionally… For once Seifer had to be thankful for the woman’s meddling.
"Where’re the others?" Shaking his head the blond mused out loud as he moved to put his coat on. "They were all packed in the room when Rinoa came up with the idea of me being your knight in shiny silvery armour."
"I’m not a damsel." Squall muttered darkly as he climbed to his feet to look for his clothing. The room was a bit chilly from the melting ice. Despite Shiva’s protection he didn’t fancy baring his body for all to see. "The magic in the room is too strong for any normal person to stay." The brunet sniffed, "it’s still lingering in the air, the after effect of whatever magic it was."
"Magic? As in Shiva freezing hell over?"
"No, it’s something else." With a shrug Squall added, "whatever. We won’t get any answers today anyway."
"mmm… shall we get something to eat? I’m starving."
"Whatever."
Seifer placed a hand over his chest as he tried to calm down from the sudden attack. Although he was sure it wasn’t meant for him he was lucky that he managed to sidestep the last moment. Otherwise… shaking his head the knight decided he should join his friends at the far corner.
"Wait. Zell. Get off." Squall was completely flustered as the blond refused to let go. Struggling to push the boy away the brunet blushed as he cried, "I said, get off."
"Zell, let go. You’re hurting him." With mirth dancing in his amethyst eyes Irvine grabbed Zell by the collar of his shirt and dragged the martial artist away from his prey.
"Welcome back." With a charming smile Irvine extended a hand to help Squall up. Once the boy was on his feet the sharpshooter gave Squall a tight hug and whispered, "Don’t do that again, ok?"
Burying his face in Irvine’s neck the shorter man replied softly, "I’ll try." For once the brunet sounded guilty.
"Hn. Although that’s not enough, at least you’re promising something." Releasing the boy from his stronghold Irvine wrapped an arm around Squall’s shoulder and led him to their table at the far corner of the dining room. The royal trio were already there.
After pushing the brunet into a chair the sharpshooter ordered, "Sit here, I’ll get something for you."
Squall nodded obediently and leaned against the wall with a sigh once he’s slumped into his seat.
"You tired?" It was Rinoa. She was sitting across from the sword wielder as she observed his antics closely.
The brunet didn’t bother with answering and just closed his eyes. But then something came to his mind and Squall nodded. "Thanks Ms Heartily. Almasy told me it’s your idea."
Rinoa smiled, gratitude accepted. "That’s Rinoa. So what happened? Something’s definitely off."
"I’m not sure. Can we wait? I don’t feel like telling the story more than once." At that Squall closed his eyes again and relaxed in his seat.
"Are you sure that’s going to be enough?" Seifer asked as he eyed the bowl placed in front of Squall.
Squall cocked his head to the side and eyed the blond quizzically.
"You don’t eat meat? Where do you get all the energy from?" Seifer said incredulously.
"Whatever. That’s none of your business." The brunet picked up some grapes and started his dinner as if to cut off further discussion of the matter.
Sensing some hostile sparks flying again Irvine felt he should do the proper explanation, "he can’t. And for some strange reasons Edea kept on reminding us that he can’t touch meat and blood. But as far as I can remember he’d never touched any meat since he was a child."
"And the consequence?" Quistis asked carefully. "Blood’s inevitable when he fights."
"I don’t know. But I’d rather be careful." Irvine gently ruffled the chocolate brown mop and earned himself a half-hearted glare – the image totally ruined by the chubby cheeks fully stuffed with sweet smelling fruits.
"Hyne knows. Enough strange things happen to him already." Zell offered.
"Oh?"
"You know, when he was still a cute little kid…"
"Zell." The tone was so cold that the boy with gravity defying hair shivered. Sensing the immense displeasure the blond immediately shut up and dug into his food.
"So what’re we going to do tomorrow?" Irvine decided to dive into something safer.
The man immediately cowered under the heated glare and replied weakly, "Sir! I’m sorry, Sir! But we really can’t. You see, we haven’t even gone out for the fish for two weeks already."
"There hasn’t been a storm since we arrived. So spill, what’s the problem?" The man seemed to have shrunk further, if that was even possible.
Just then a dark bulky man appeared. "Sea monster, ya know. That thing came about recently causing shipwrecks, ya know. The survivors said that they heard someone singing in the sea and before they knew it they were already facing with great storms and waves. Now no one dares to cross the ocean anymore, ya know. You see all those men over there?" The man gestured towards the pier where it was lined up with numerous men with fishing rods. "They’d rather sit there than sailing out to give their lives away unnecessarily. And we haven’t even seen any foreign ships coming to Balamb that can take you. You can see we’re virtually cut off from the rest of the world right now, ya know."
"Then how do we leave this island? We haven’t got much time."
A seagull landed on his outstretched hand as Squall walked a few metres away from the noisy blond. At this rate he was going deaf soon for sure.
"You’re far much better." Squall praised the bird as he helped it to smooth out its feathers. When finished, the bird took off with a song of thanks, bringing a pleased smile to the normally stoic face. But then, something sounded weird and Squall closed his steely eyes to concentrate.
"What’s it?" It was Rinoa. Somehow she managed to sneak close to him.
"It’s Siren."
"Siren!?" The black hair girl exclaimed, causing the gang to turn towards them.
"Hn. It can’t be wrong. I can hear her loud and clear." Turning his laser blue eyes towards his teammates the brunet announced, "Let’s go and get her."
"You must have gone crazy. It’s Siren we’re talking about here. How can you kids take on her all by yourselves?" The nameless ship owner gestured wildly as he tried to convince the youngsters from doing something so reckless.
"Are you sure? I’m already fed up with monsters lurking in the sea stopping us from making a proper living, you know. So I’ll be more than happy to bring you there, ya know."
"Raijin! You can’t do this! That’s the only thing that you old man left you with. You can’t risk it like that!"
"Name your price." Squall completely ignored the blabbering man and had his steely eyes fixed on Raijin who was sporting a look of determination.
"I’m not asking for anything, just let me join you in the fight is all that I ask for. I’m strong enough, ya know."
Squall nodded in appreciation.
"Man, you’re so great!" Seifer was so happy that he slapped Raijin in his back in compliment. But he hit so hard that the knight ended up smashing the bulky man into the water.
Squall palmed his face in exacerbation and sighed.
Cookies, chocolates, ice-cream… (kitty’s stomach still grumbles…)
Love,
konekomh
February 2007