Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy VIII.2 ❯ The Fire Cavern ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter One:

The Fire Cavern

 

Squall wearily opened his eyes, at first his vision was blurry; but eventually he saw the sweet face of Dr. Kadowaki,

“How are you feeling?” She asked.

Squall grunted and put his arm over his face,”…My forehead hurts…”

Dr. Kadowaki chuckled, “No kidding. Looks like your eyes are focusing. You should be fine. Why don't you take it easy in training? Next time you might not be so lucky.”

Squall grunted once again, “Tell that to Seifer.”

Dr. Kadowaki sighed, “That Seifer…” she said. “He won't listen to anyone. Why don't you just ignore him?”

“I can't just run away.”

“So, you want to be cool, huh? Well, don't get hurt in the process. Let's see… Your instructor is…Quistis! I'll call her now. Just wait here a minute.”

Squall watched as Dr. Kadowaki walked over to the phone.

“Quistis?” She said, “Come get your student. Yes, yes… his injury's not serious; it'll probably leave a scar… Right. Now please come by.

Squall sighed, he looked to the side window; behind it was a woman.

“Squall… So we meet again…” She said, Squall gasped,

“S… Sis?” Squall lifted himself up, He fell and put his hand to the window, the woman smiled at him, and vanished.

“Oh, Squall…” Dr. Kadowaki walked up to Squall and put him back on his bed. “Don't climb out of bed.”

Squall sighed. He heard the doors open; he looked up, and saw Instructor Quistis Trepe. Her shiny blonde hair was up in a clip, as usual. She took one look at him, and sighed. Quistis walked up to Squall.

“I knew it'd be either you or Seifer!” She said, “Come on, get up. Today's the field exam.

Squall got up from his bed and wearily followed Quistis. Together they took the elevator up to the second floor. Squall entered the classroom, Quistis followed.

“Good morning, class,” She said as students took their seats, “Let's start with today's schedule. There seem to have been some rumors flying around since yesterday… yes; the field exam for SeeD candidates will begin later this afternoon.” Several students gasped, “Those not participating and those who failed last week's written test are to remain here in study hall. Field exam participant will have free time until then. Just be sure you're in top condition. Meet in hall at 1600 hours. I'll announce the team assignments there. Any questions?” Quistis looked around for any raised hands, “Oh! And Seifer! Do NOT injure your partner while training. Be careful from now on.” Seifer looked at Squall, and banged his fist on the study panel. “Field exam participants, I will see you all later.”

The students began to leave, “Oh, and Squall, I need to talk to you”

Squall walked up to Quistis, “Instructor Trepe?”

“Squall…you haven't been to the fire cavern yet, have you?” Squall looked at her uneasily, “You won't be able to take part in today's field exam if you don't pass this prerequisite.”

Squall crossed his arms, `I was going to go this morning,' He thought, `But Seifer…'

“Hmm…? Do you have a good excuse?”

“No, not really.”

“Then let's get going, if you're not too confident yet, you can review your studies at the study panel. I'll be waiting at the Front Gate, so come down when you're ready.”

Squall nodded, Quistis left, the Trepies following behind. Squall sighed and left the class.

“Oh no! I'm late! I'm late! I'm LATE!” Squall walked to the hall leading to the elevator when someone bumped into him. Squall staggered, he looked down and saw a small girl on the ground.

“Um…are you okay?” He said.

The girl looked up; she had bright green eyes and short red hair that was curled at the tips. She lifted herself, hopping on one foot, “There. Tee-hee, I'm fine. Sorry, I was kind of in a hurry.” She smiled, then looked at Squall, “Oh yeah! Hey, did you just come from that class?” Squall nodded, “Is… Homeroom over?” Squall nodded, the girl gasped, “Woo, oh no…this place is so much bigger than my last Garden!” She yanked at her hair, and then she looked at Squall, “Oh hey, hey.” She said, jumping up and down, “I just transferred here, do you think you could give me a quick tour of this Garden?”

Squall crossed his arms. “…Sure, I guess.”

The girl flung her arms around, “Whoo-hoo! Alright, let's go!”

“We'll take the elevator to the first floor lobby and I'll show you the directory,”

Squall walked to the elevator with the girl following shortly behind. As the elevator went down, the girl began humming. The doors opened, Squall pointed at a computer-like screen.

“That's the directory.” He walked up to it with the girl; Squall turned it on, “Well, this is it. Balamb Garden is pretty big. I'll give you a quick explanation of the various facilities.”

The girl did a military salute, “Yes, sir!”

“You'll find the dormitory to the north; a majority of the students live in the dorms. There aren't a lot of students who commute,”

“Yeah, I'm in the dorms, too!”

“When you're an ordinary student, you have a dormitory double. But when you're a SeeD, you have your own room. West of the north block is the parking lot. We usually take a Garden car when a mission comes up. The Front Gate is located to the south…” Squall paused,

`That's right…' He thought, `I have to go meet Instructor Trepe at the Front Gate…'

“Huh? What's the matter?”

“Nothing… next, we have the Quad, located in the west block. There's an event being planned there…”

“I know! I know! It's the Garden Festival! It's going to be great! I'm planning to be on the committee! You wanna help out, too?”

“Let's just continue. South of the West block is the infirmary, this is where you get treated for all your injuries, but a lot of students just come here for advice.”

“What's the doctor's name?”

“Her name's Dr. Kadowaki. Here's the East block. This is the Training Center. It's the only facility open at night, it's used for training, hence the name, and they have real monsters running loose here, if you don't take it seriously, you may end up dead. Just be careful.”

“…O-okay…”

“South of the East block is the library. There's a lot of material you can look up here, but the terminals in the classroom are a lot more efficient. And you already know about the classrooms on the second floor, right?”

“Yep, I remember.”

“By the way, the headmaster's office is on the third floor. You need permission to get in.

“Question. What's the headmaster's name?”

“Headmaster Cid Kramer. Well, that's about it, anything else?”

“Nope! Got it! Hey, um… are you taking today's SeeD exam?”

“Yeah.”

“Then maybe I'll see you again later. I've already finished my training at my previous Garden. I'm taking the SeeD exam today, too. Good luck to both of us, huh! Thanks a lot!” The girl waved goodbye and left.

`Now I need to get to Instructor Trepe,' Squall walked to the Front Gate where sure enough, Quistis was waiting.

“Are you ready, Squall?” She said,

“If I wasn't, I wouldn't be here,” Squall replied coldly.

“Alright, do you have your GF equipped?”

“Yep.”

“Then onward to the Fire Cavern.”

“Yep.”

Quistis and Squall left for the Fire Cavern, Quistis leading the way. Squall held his head down. He flinched as his scar throbbed in pain, clutching his forehead; he heard a faint cry,

“Squall...”

“Squall, is something wrong?”

Squall perked up “W-what?”

Quistis fidgeted, “It's nothing Squall, you just seemed like something was wrong,” she sighed and kept on walking, “I was getting a little worried.”

As Quistis and Squall made their way to the Fire Cavern, two of the Garden Staff blocked the way.

“This is the Fire Cavern, “one said, “Your objective is to acquire a low-level GF along with the support of a SeeD.”

“Please,” the other said, “State your name for us.”

“Squall saluted, “I'm Squall Leonhart.”

Quistis saluted as well, “I'm his support. Instructor # 14, Quistis Trepe.”

“Very well, select a time limit.”

“20 minutes.”

“Okay, then. Good luck.”

The two Garden Faculty moved from their post, allowing Squall and Quistis to enter the Fire Cavern. Squall looked around, there was a long curved path leading all the way to the end. He turned and looked at Quistis.

“We go this way, right?”

“Don't worry, it's not a puzzle, just a straight line, or curved.”

“…Whatever, let's go.”

“Ah… Yes sir.”

Squall and Quistis walked all the way to the end of the Fire Cavern, when they reached their destination, all that squall saw was merely a big crater.

“Okay…” Quistis said, “This is it, “Are you ready?”

“Yes.” Squall replied,

“You seem confident enough.”

“Bring it on.”

“I guess you're not going to back down,”

“Can we just get this over with?”

“Of course.”

Squall fell the ground underneath him shake, and out of the crater came a giant red dog-like beast, with large black horns.

“Squall, this is your challenge, “Quistis said, “The fire Guardian Force, Ifrit.”

“Right.”

“Squall, I warn you, do not be too hasty, it-“

Squall didn't listen to rest of Quistis' sentence and charged for the monster, Ifrit grunted and swung its claw, sending Squall flying through the air.

“Ah, damn…” He muttered,

“I told you!” Quistis yelled, “You have to be sneaky about physical attacks!”

“You could have told me that before I went and attacked it!”

Quistis merely sighed. Squall readied his gunblade, he then paused, `It's a fire-based element, right?' he thought. `Then this should be easy…'

“Diamond dust!” Squall yelled, suddenly a ice formed on a small spot on the ground, it then rose up, a large chunk of ice with a young blue woman inside. The ice shattered.

“Excellent, Squall, “Quistis praised, “Shiva, the Ice GF will be an excellent damage doer to something like Ifrit. I'm proud of you.”

Shiva threw her hands in the air, ice forming in her palms; she thrust it at Ifrit, and then disappeared.

`Now's my chance to attack…' Squall thought, he held up his gunblade.

“Renzokuken!” Squall ran toward the monster, attacking it with his gunblade, every blow pulling the trigger, releasing a surge of energy. Ifrit was sent a few feet backwards, but he ran again for Squall.

Squall readied his gunblade, then charged at the monster, he swung; then the ground under Ifrit split, then a burst of energy sent Ifrit flying through the air .

When he landed, Quistis wrapped her chain whip around the monster's neck. “All right, Squall,” she said, “you did all the work, I'll just finish him off. That is, if it's okay with you…” She pushed her glasses up.

“Go ahead…”

“Ugh…” Ifrit grunted, “For me to lose to a human…very well, I shall join you,”

Quistis released her chain whip from Ifrit's neck; he began to glow bright red, Squall covered his eyes. When he uncovered them, all that was left of Ifrit was a GF Junction. The small glass back glowed orange and red. Squall picked it up.

“Looks like it's mine…” Squall lifted up his hair behind his neck and inserted the Junction into the back of his head, “Shall we be going now?”

“Yes, you did well, Squall, congratulations…” With that, Squall and Quistis left the Fire cavern and headed back to Balamb Garden,.

“Okay, Squall,” Quistis said, as soon as they headed to the Front Gate, “Here we are. Change into your uniform and meet me in the hall.”

Squall nodded, he made his way back to his dorm and changed into his blue Balamb Garden uniform. He then left to the hallway.

“Oh, Squall, there you are!” He heard Quistis say, I'll be announcing the squad assignments for the exam now.” Quistis looked at her clipboard, “Let's see…you'll be with…Zell Dincht, quite a lively fellow.”

“Lively?” Squall said, “He's just loud…can't I switch members?”

Quistis shook her head, “I'm afraid that's not possible.” She waved her hand in the air, “Zell, over here!”

Squall turned around, Zell was doing a number of martial arts; as soon as Quistis called, he turned over to her. He had short, light blond hair , some of it spiked, , and a tattoo on the left side of his face.

As he walked up to Quistis and Squall, he jumped back in surprise. “Whoa! I'm with you?” he said, gawking at Squall. He then held out his hand for Squall to shake. Squall merely crossed his arms and looked away. “You don't get along with Seifer Almasy, do you?” Zell said, “I heard he whooped you pretty good this morning.”

“We weren't fighting, we were training.” Squall explained.

“I bet you he doesn't think so,” Zell argued back “Look, Seifer's just being a pain in the ass. All you really have to do is ignore him.”

“That's none of your business…”

“Ahem…” Quistis interrupted, “Excuse me…but, that Seifer Almasy you're talking about…he's you're squad leader”

Squall and Zell were shocked, “SAY WHAT!?” Zell screamed.

Quistis sighed “It can't be changed…Seifer, are you here?”

Seifer, Fujin, and Raijin walked up to the trio.

`Fujin and Raijin tagging along, as usual…' Squall thought, `I guess those three make up the whole disciplinary committee.'

“You're the squad leader,” Quistis said, “good luck to you.”

“Instructor…” Seifer groaned, “I hate it when people wish me luck. Save those words for a bad student that needs em' eh?”

“Okay then.” Quistis was silent, then repeated, “Good luck Seifer.”

Seifer threw his hands in the air, frustrated, then demanded to Fujin and Raijin, “Add Instructor Trepe to the list.”

`The list?' Squall thought, `What is it?'

“Well then,” Quistis said, “You're all assigned to Squad B. I'll be the instructor in charge. Teamwork is of the utmost importance. Let's get through this exam, everyone!”

“Listen up, everyone!” Seifer yelled, “Teamwork means staying out of my way! It's a Squad B rule. Don't you forget it.”

Zell clenched his fists, “Is everyone here?” Everyone turned around to see a portly, elderly man with brown hair and small round spectacles: Headmaster Cid. The gang began to calm down.

Headmaster Cid faced them all, “It's been a while,” he said, “How are you all doing?” Clearing his throat, he began his speech, “This exam will involve twelve members from squads A through D. You will be proceeding to a real battlefield. Obviously, the battles are for real. Life and death…victory and defeat, honor and disgrace… each of these go hand in hand. There's only one way or the other” Headmaster leered down at them, “How `bout it? Are you still up for it?” he then stood up straight, “You will be accompanied by nine SeeD members. Should you fail, these members shall get the job done. They always do. Well, that's one less worry on your mind. The pride of Balamb Garden! The elite mercenary force, SeeD! Learn from them, obey their commands, and accomplish the mission. Prove yourself worthy of becoming a SeeD. Best of luck.”

Seifer, Zell, and Quistis left for the parking lot, Squall stared Cid straight in the eye. Headmaster Cid smiled, “We've yet to have a gunblade specialist in SeeD,” he said, “That is why I am hoping you and Seifer will join us in SeeD,”

“I'll try not to let you down, sir.”

“Now go.”

“Yes sir.” Squall turned and left for the parking lot , where Quistis, Zell, and Seifer were waiting. He entered the car, he didn't know who was driving it, but it was a large car: an army car, Squall and Zell sat opposite from Quistis and Seifer. Squall felt it begin to move, then the scenery of Balamb country passed by.

“Yo, Squall.” Zell said, `Will you show me your gunblade?”

Squall was silent, ignoring Zell.

“Come on!” Zell whined, But Squall proceeded to ignore him, Zell put his hands together, “Just a peek!”

Squall still ignored Zell.

“Tch...fine. Yeah, yeah…why you being so selfish? Scroooge!”

Squall still ignored Zell

“Say something, will ya? W-what's on your mind?”

“…Nothing.”

“Tch…” Zell got up and began to practice his martial arts moves.

“Stop that,” Seifer said, “It's annoying…” Zell clenched his fist; satisfied, Seifer added one last touch, “…Chicken-wuss.”

“WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!?”

Seifer snickered, then Quistis stood up,

“Knock it off!”

Zell sat down, and Seifer stayed quiet.

“…Instructor…” Squall said, Zell was startled to hear him speak on free will, “Who was the girl in the infirmary this morning?”

“Was some one there? I didn't notice any body. Is there a problem?”

“No…not really.”

“This is great,” Seifer said, “I've got Chicken-wuss and a guy who just reached puberty in my squad.”