Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ sore kara... ❯ sagasu ( Chapter 11 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: awwaw 
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 02.18.2003 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.0K | Visits: 195 | Status: Completed
Non Anime: Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 02.18.2003 | Pages: 3 | Words: 3.0K | Visits: 195 | Status: Completed
Standard disclaimers apply.
-------------------------------
sore kara...
-------------------------------
sagasu
They woke up.
They had breakfast.
They fished.
They had lunch.
They fished.
They had dinner.
Zidane started acting weirdly (claiming all the fish was making him woozy).
Kuja didn't buy it (and knocked the monkey out before he could protest).
Cloud sweatdropped.
Squall fished.
They started a fire.
They were silent.
"...................................."
"What, Squall. You gotta speak up, coz I can't read minds." Cloud was visibly irritated. One entire day of boredom. Perpetuated by bad scenary. Boy, was his mood rotten or was his mood rotten.
Squall raised a gloved hand. "Where are the monsters?" He wondered aloud. "One or two should at least be here by now. The silence is scaring me."
To this, Cloud folded his arms and closed his eyes. "I know. I'm trying to figure that out, too."
From a distance, Kuja could be heard walking towards them. He had a weird glow in his eye when they could see him.
"Let's go." He said tersely, turning to another direction.
"Go?" Cloud raised an eyebrow. He stood up, followed by Squall. Zidane was beginning to show signs of recovery after that blow in the evening and was already sitting up, holding his head. "Where?"
"Find the monsters, where else?" Kuja said, his back against them. "We're not going to be able to progress, you do realize, until monsters come and help us drop to Terra." He said, now back at where the Mist were. Surprisingly, the Mist hadn't disappeared from since their appearance last night. They hung around heavily, like permanent fog. Kuja had already began chanting a spell.
Zidane stood up and asked for water. Cloud rummaged around the inventory and found a hi-potion. They continued to observe the ex-villian perform his deeds. Scan magic shot out from his hands and mixed around nicely with the thick Mist. A small phoenix-like creature soon materialized and perched on Kuja's hand obediently, squealing uncomfortably.
"Scan magic plus Mist..." Cloud stroked his chin. "... lemme guess, we're going to use that monste... er, creature to find the monsters?"
Kuja turned around and nodded.
"Yeah, yeah... should've guessed..." Cloud held his forehead with his hand for a while. "... ARE YOU KIDDING??" He suddenly asked. "How many monsters do you think there are in the world? If we *do* start finding them now, how many do you think we can find? It's not like monsters hang out in a group and are having their annual general meeting now, you know."
Everybody remained silent.
"But Cloud," Zidane spoke up, having recovered from the knock in the head and was now beside the blond mercenary, "I suppose it might sound bizarre if I say this, but... from since we walked here from Midgar, not a single monster has been seen... don't you find it weird? It can't be that all of them are hibernating, could it?
"Have you... ever thought if it's possible that all of them have been captured and locked up... somewhere... ?"
The thief then quickly shook his head and hands. "It's bizarre, I know, but it also is a possibility... Monsters are rather resilient and have really hard lifes. If the Lunar Cry is an important event programmed into their instincts, what would stop them from carrying it out? I can think of no other reason than the possibility of them being rendered immobile, most likely behind bars..."
"It's far-fetched," Squall agreed, "but still possible."
"So what're we waiting for?" Kuja's irritated voice began to prob. "Let's find this out before tomorrow, so we can at least do something about it. I don't want to miss our only chance to travel to Terra in centuries."
Before anybody could reply, Kuja had already sauntered off in his slow and steady pace. They only had time to briefly glance at each other.
And everything else was history.
-------------------------------
The creature took them only a few minutes north, before coming to rest atop a small hill jutting out of the waters. The four of them circled the hill, causing the water to completely recede from the large stump of soil. It wasn't a very tall hill, considering how it towered over them more than loomed over them. Kuja poked the hill, then turned to look at Cloud.
Noticing that soon, everybody had turned to look at him, Cloud shook his head and backed a few steps. "What?? What is it?"
"What place is this?" Squall asked. Then, more specifically, he continued, "I mean, what place in geography, that is."
The spikey-headed mercenary dipped his head down and thought for a while. "Wutai... I think." He said when his head rose up. "We should be around the Wutai region as of now."
"Why did you bring us here, Kuja?" Zidane wondered aloud to his silver-haired companion, who was busy looking at the creature on his hand with a chagrined expression painted across his features. Zidane cocked his head to a side, unable to guess what in the world Kuja was up to now.
The ex-villian circled the tiny hill in a semi-arc, then traced his way back to where he had started circling the stump. His secrecy got on Squall's nerves to no end, but the young SeeD kept his mouth respectfully shut for fear of death by Flare Star. Just when things were starting to get interesting, they'd seemingly hit another dead end. Great. Squall sighed inwardly, muttering incessantly about having had too much fish.
When Kuja knocked on the hill, Cloud decided that enough was enough. He slowly made his way towards the former and asked, "Excuse me, Kuja, but... have you found ANY monsters with the little creature of yours yet?"
His reply was in the form of a noisy sound. Kuja spun around.
"Hey guys, would you believe it? This thing is hollow!" Zidane was the one who spoke up instead of Kuja. The silver-haired man was irritated to no end, obviously at the for young thief snatching away his words. Cloud merely calmed himself down and strolled over to where Squall and Zidane were knelt. When all were gathered, Zidane demostrated his previous claim by banging on a part of the hill. True to his words, an empty, hollow sound echoed forth from within the hill-like structure.
"I don't know how much of this is plausible," Kuja stroked his chin lightly, with the silly creature still perched on his other hand, "but from how the creature has been behaving since bringing us here, I'd say there's a mighty lot of chance there are some... no, make that, ALOT of monsters underground... from which, this hill thing here, could be the entrance..."
"What, a secret tunnel?" Cloud was half-amused. "What would monsters be doing, hiding in a place like that?"
"Oh, that's hard to say." Kuja shrugged. "There's more a high chance of them being captured than hiding, I'd really say. Monsters aren't known to be instinctively afraid of anything, are they? Besides, the Lunar Cry is tomorrow... why would, why SHOULD they hide away?"
A loud sound disturbed their discussion, followed by volumes of smoke and soil.
"Woah." Squall's voice came next. "I think I found the entrance, guys."
Everybody else sweatdropped.
"In any case," Kuja was the first to stand up. "I think our schedule for the night has just been confirmed."
-------------------------------
The inside of the hill was a long, winding tunnel, lit on both sides of the walls with a fire torch every 100 steps or so. Cloud volunteered to lead them, since he could see better in the dark than most of them could, even without the torches. Squall volunteered to bring up the rear, for lack of a better thing to do, or so he claimed. They stayed tight as a group and kept a lookout for exits from the tunnel in case they should miss it in the darkness.
"Is it just me, or is this tunnel going downwards?" Zidane whispered, as softly as he could while staying audible. Kuja turned around and grinned.
"It's not just you, Zidane."
"Dang. I thought so." The monkey swung his tail more vigorously from side to side; not that anybody could notice in the dark anyway. "This is definitely eerie. The sooner we get out, the better."
"Eerie? I'd say this is an irritating maze." Squall's voice came from behind all of them, with his usual careless tone. "But I do agree. The sooner we get out, the better. I'm getting tired of swatting bugs out of my face."
Cloud was heard laughing. But otherwise, all was quiet.
"Is that a light up there?" Zidane was heard again, after a long, uncomfortable silence had settled over.
Everybody strained to see further ahead. True enough, there was a light unlike the fire torches pouring into the tunnel from a entrance-like hole nearing 50 steps away. Cloud slowed down and signalled for everybody to do the same. They began to endear themselves to the tunnel walls as closely as possible, all the time trying to pick up bits and pieces of the conversation that was happening within the room.
It was a well-engineered room, which had several doors probably leading to other rooms of similar origins. From where they stood, they could make out a plump, middle-aged man bringing a beverage of some sort to a small, round table situated in the middle of the room. A man with a long, sweeping, torn and tattered cape sat there.
"It is rare that we get visitors, I must admit..." the older man spoke first, playing with the right end of his moustache, after he had settled the cup on the table, "... so please don't mind me for being to the point. What may the purpose of this visit perhaps be? From whence do you bring tidings?"
The stranger finished the drink he was brought quickly enough, standing up as soon as he placed the cup back down. With a funny little smile that was visible even with his hood, he said, "I do not bring good tidings," startling the other man with his words, "I am here to request that you release all the monsters you have caged."
Outside, the four eavesdroppers exchanged knowing looks. So monsters *were* being captured and locked up, ridiculous as it may have seemed.
The older man in the room took a few steps back in disbelief, pointing an accusing finger at the caped man. "That's ridiculous! Why would anyone want anything like that to happen? Have you any idea how long it took us to restrain those beasts?! Releasing them now will not only cause distress amongst the-"
"Yeah yeah! I get the point already!" The caped man impatiently whipped around and held a firm hand up to stop the meaningless chatter. "One question at a time, okay?" He waited for a while before continuing, "But since you can't seem to get your enquiries in place, I think I will proceed with my interrogation instead."
He advanced, danger spreading out from his steps. A large, metallic sword appeared suddenly from beneath the long cape when the man threw half of it open. As if in demonstration of his ease in using the large weapon, the man effortlessly held it out, so that the tip of the blade went near the other man, who stood a few feet away in shock and terror.
Cloud's eyes widened at seeing the Buster Sword in another person's possession. His mind quickly went into overtime. SOLDIERs carried swords that size, but it was to his remembrance that only Zack held the Buster Sword, which he later inherited. The sword wasn't currently in his inventory, and come to think of it, he didn't see it at the Chocobo Sage's house when they set off either. Did someone steal it? Did someone pick it up? It wasn't possible to lose such a big sword, though, so how... ?
Breaking him out of his thoughts was the voice of the stranger, recognized by the four of them as none other than Mr. Ipsen, walk-on-water-and-will-not-sink himself. He spoke, saying, "My questions for you are very simple. Why is the underwater community so hell-bent on keeping the monsters immobile? It is to my knowledge that there are lesser monsters underwater than those on land and above ground. Why does the underwater community want to keep so many monsters underground if truly the peace of the community is at stake here?"
The brooding teenager we know as Squall frowned deeply. His expert judgment told him something was wrong... or rather, something was *right* about this Ipsen. He couldn't explain it just yet, but maybe the answer would show itself to him soon. He continued observing the happenings quietly.
"Hah!" The older man shrieked, trying to stay brave despite trembling like a leaf. "What do YOU understand?! If the monsters... if they DROP down to that who-knows-what planet again... it'll... it'll be the end of all of us! Our water, our livelihood... they'll all drop down together with those cursed things!! This time... this time... there won't be enough people left to put the pieces back together! No, there won't EVEN be people left at all!!" The tone of his voice screamed to the world that he was in a desperate attempt to justify himself and his community's decision. The stranger stayed silent for a while more.
"You're lying." He said calmly, after the other man had managed to calm his breathing.
"I'm not!" The man made an action resembling that of pretentious hair-tearing. "Why else would we want to have those cursed beasts in our territory?!"
His voice was cut short by the sudden stabbing of the large Buster Sword into the wall beside his head. If his eyes got any wider, it would definitely have dropped out.
Outside, the four of them exchanged looks again, wondering if it was necessary to interfere.
"Monster tournament... I believe that's what you and your people called it." His cold voice generated an interesting response from the other man in a series of snorts and mini protests. "When a community stays isolated in peace, events are needed to satisfy the void that keeps them dull and uninteresting. Some of the events eventually thought up of reflect wise judgment and good consideration; but others..." Ipsen's frown could be heard, "show that there's nothing more than uncaring peeps underneath those gentlemanly hides of yours...
"You are going to make the monsters fight against one another, aren't you?" He demanded an answer that was aleady known before the question was said. "To satisfy your so-called need for entertainment, an indefinite greed for money... money you won't even be able to spend... things you won't even be able to use... !!" Ipsen finally grabbed the hilt of his sword and removed it from the wall, laughing angrily. "Are you sure you've got ALL the monsters in the cages already? Haven't you missed out one... ?"
"What do you mean!" The man was by now, enraged. Ipsen merely threw his sword backwards against his shoulder and stood in a pose that was intrinsically Cloud. Zidane tugged at Kuja's sleeve, as if to indicate his desire to interfere. Before Kuja could reply, the doors in the room burst open to reveal armed men, obviously already in ambush since the beginning of the conversation. Instinctively the four of them ducked closer towards the wall, not wishing to be caught between a rock and a hard place. They could spot the mysterious smile on Ipsen, once again.
"Get the intruder!" The plump man with a moustache pointed. "He wants to release the monster so they can terrorize the community!!"
The throng of people closed in on Ipsen. It was now that the foursome outside actually realized how spacious the room really was.
Seemingly entirely unaffected by the surge of people, and the fact that he was grossly outnumbered, Ipsen merely swung the large sword in an arc, in the event scaring anybody who was intending to strike him at close range. With unbelievable strength and speed, he dove into the throngs and began cutting down the startled people one by one.
Chaos immediately ensued. Commands were shouted above the heavy breathing of soldiers out for blood and revenge of fallen comrades. More and more kept pouring in from the doors, making all of the four wonder just what were they keeping inside those rooms. Surprisingly - or maybe not, Cloud was the first to move.
"What do you think you're doing?" Kuja calmly stopped the mercenary and questioned. Cloud turned around, complexity all over his features. With Kuja, he had a brief, silent conversation, which ended with the silver-haired man nodding, smiling and waving his hand in a cheery fashion. "Count me in, then." Kuja began his slow trudge to the room as well. "I need to let off some steam too..."
Squall and Zidane sweatdropped in the background. Shrugging, Squall followed in the footsteps of the previous two, who had already dived into fray and was nowhere to be seen. Zidane shouted, "YOU'RE going too??!"
"............... why not?" Squall turned around and smiled slightly. "Ipsen wants to release the monsters; so do we. If we work together, we'll most probably get things done faster. As for questions..." The SeeD stroked his chin gently and frowned. Quickly, however, he looked right back up.
"... Whatever." The dark teenager grinned stupidly. He disappeared into the light and chaos of the room.
Zidane slapped his forehead and groaned in disbelief. Trying out some breathing exercises, he soon found himself calmed down enough to think properly.
*Fighting with no purpose... journeying without a destination... hadn't I sworn against doing those things already?* He was greatly bothered, ruffling through his own hair in confusion. *It -IS- at times like these that I wished I could be as one-track-minded as Cloud... or as 'Whatever' as Squall... maybe even as understanding as Kuja...* He sighed, lazily lifting his Orihalcon from their sheaths.
"Oh, what the heck!!!" He shook his head, and without warning dashed into the room to take on the first person he decided was an enemy.
Nobody noticed the man with the moustache disappear into a small door at the extreme right of the room.
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sagashita
12/7/ 2001
http://cloud-is.ourfamily.com/
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sore kara...
-------------------------------
sagasu
They woke up.
They had breakfast.
They fished.
They had lunch.
They fished.
They had dinner.
Zidane started acting weirdly (claiming all the fish was making him woozy).
Kuja didn't buy it (and knocked the monkey out before he could protest).
Cloud sweatdropped.
Squall fished.
They started a fire.
They were silent.
"...................................."
"What, Squall. You gotta speak up, coz I can't read minds." Cloud was visibly irritated. One entire day of boredom. Perpetuated by bad scenary. Boy, was his mood rotten or was his mood rotten.
Squall raised a gloved hand. "Where are the monsters?" He wondered aloud. "One or two should at least be here by now. The silence is scaring me."
To this, Cloud folded his arms and closed his eyes. "I know. I'm trying to figure that out, too."
From a distance, Kuja could be heard walking towards them. He had a weird glow in his eye when they could see him.
"Let's go." He said tersely, turning to another direction.
"Go?" Cloud raised an eyebrow. He stood up, followed by Squall. Zidane was beginning to show signs of recovery after that blow in the evening and was already sitting up, holding his head. "Where?"
"Find the monsters, where else?" Kuja said, his back against them. "We're not going to be able to progress, you do realize, until monsters come and help us drop to Terra." He said, now back at where the Mist were. Surprisingly, the Mist hadn't disappeared from since their appearance last night. They hung around heavily, like permanent fog. Kuja had already began chanting a spell.
Zidane stood up and asked for water. Cloud rummaged around the inventory and found a hi-potion. They continued to observe the ex-villian perform his deeds. Scan magic shot out from his hands and mixed around nicely with the thick Mist. A small phoenix-like creature soon materialized and perched on Kuja's hand obediently, squealing uncomfortably.
"Scan magic plus Mist..." Cloud stroked his chin. "... lemme guess, we're going to use that monste... er, creature to find the monsters?"
Kuja turned around and nodded.
"Yeah, yeah... should've guessed..." Cloud held his forehead with his hand for a while. "... ARE YOU KIDDING??" He suddenly asked. "How many monsters do you think there are in the world? If we *do* start finding them now, how many do you think we can find? It's not like monsters hang out in a group and are having their annual general meeting now, you know."
Everybody remained silent.
"But Cloud," Zidane spoke up, having recovered from the knock in the head and was now beside the blond mercenary, "I suppose it might sound bizarre if I say this, but... from since we walked here from Midgar, not a single monster has been seen... don't you find it weird? It can't be that all of them are hibernating, could it?
"Have you... ever thought if it's possible that all of them have been captured and locked up... somewhere... ?"
The thief then quickly shook his head and hands. "It's bizarre, I know, but it also is a possibility... Monsters are rather resilient and have really hard lifes. If the Lunar Cry is an important event programmed into their instincts, what would stop them from carrying it out? I can think of no other reason than the possibility of them being rendered immobile, most likely behind bars..."
"It's far-fetched," Squall agreed, "but still possible."
"So what're we waiting for?" Kuja's irritated voice began to prob. "Let's find this out before tomorrow, so we can at least do something about it. I don't want to miss our only chance to travel to Terra in centuries."
Before anybody could reply, Kuja had already sauntered off in his slow and steady pace. They only had time to briefly glance at each other.
And everything else was history.
-------------------------------
The creature took them only a few minutes north, before coming to rest atop a small hill jutting out of the waters. The four of them circled the hill, causing the water to completely recede from the large stump of soil. It wasn't a very tall hill, considering how it towered over them more than loomed over them. Kuja poked the hill, then turned to look at Cloud.
Noticing that soon, everybody had turned to look at him, Cloud shook his head and backed a few steps. "What?? What is it?"
"What place is this?" Squall asked. Then, more specifically, he continued, "I mean, what place in geography, that is."
The spikey-headed mercenary dipped his head down and thought for a while. "Wutai... I think." He said when his head rose up. "We should be around the Wutai region as of now."
"Why did you bring us here, Kuja?" Zidane wondered aloud to his silver-haired companion, who was busy looking at the creature on his hand with a chagrined expression painted across his features. Zidane cocked his head to a side, unable to guess what in the world Kuja was up to now.
The ex-villian circled the tiny hill in a semi-arc, then traced his way back to where he had started circling the stump. His secrecy got on Squall's nerves to no end, but the young SeeD kept his mouth respectfully shut for fear of death by Flare Star. Just when things were starting to get interesting, they'd seemingly hit another dead end. Great. Squall sighed inwardly, muttering incessantly about having had too much fish.
When Kuja knocked on the hill, Cloud decided that enough was enough. He slowly made his way towards the former and asked, "Excuse me, Kuja, but... have you found ANY monsters with the little creature of yours yet?"
His reply was in the form of a noisy sound. Kuja spun around.
"Hey guys, would you believe it? This thing is hollow!" Zidane was the one who spoke up instead of Kuja. The silver-haired man was irritated to no end, obviously at the for young thief snatching away his words. Cloud merely calmed himself down and strolled over to where Squall and Zidane were knelt. When all were gathered, Zidane demostrated his previous claim by banging on a part of the hill. True to his words, an empty, hollow sound echoed forth from within the hill-like structure.
"I don't know how much of this is plausible," Kuja stroked his chin lightly, with the silly creature still perched on his other hand, "but from how the creature has been behaving since bringing us here, I'd say there's a mighty lot of chance there are some... no, make that, ALOT of monsters underground... from which, this hill thing here, could be the entrance..."
"What, a secret tunnel?" Cloud was half-amused. "What would monsters be doing, hiding in a place like that?"
"Oh, that's hard to say." Kuja shrugged. "There's more a high chance of them being captured than hiding, I'd really say. Monsters aren't known to be instinctively afraid of anything, are they? Besides, the Lunar Cry is tomorrow... why would, why SHOULD they hide away?"
A loud sound disturbed their discussion, followed by volumes of smoke and soil.
"Woah." Squall's voice came next. "I think I found the entrance, guys."
Everybody else sweatdropped.
"In any case," Kuja was the first to stand up. "I think our schedule for the night has just been confirmed."
-------------------------------
The inside of the hill was a long, winding tunnel, lit on both sides of the walls with a fire torch every 100 steps or so. Cloud volunteered to lead them, since he could see better in the dark than most of them could, even without the torches. Squall volunteered to bring up the rear, for lack of a better thing to do, or so he claimed. They stayed tight as a group and kept a lookout for exits from the tunnel in case they should miss it in the darkness.
"Is it just me, or is this tunnel going downwards?" Zidane whispered, as softly as he could while staying audible. Kuja turned around and grinned.
"It's not just you, Zidane."
"Dang. I thought so." The monkey swung his tail more vigorously from side to side; not that anybody could notice in the dark anyway. "This is definitely eerie. The sooner we get out, the better."
"Eerie? I'd say this is an irritating maze." Squall's voice came from behind all of them, with his usual careless tone. "But I do agree. The sooner we get out, the better. I'm getting tired of swatting bugs out of my face."
Cloud was heard laughing. But otherwise, all was quiet.
"Is that a light up there?" Zidane was heard again, after a long, uncomfortable silence had settled over.
Everybody strained to see further ahead. True enough, there was a light unlike the fire torches pouring into the tunnel from a entrance-like hole nearing 50 steps away. Cloud slowed down and signalled for everybody to do the same. They began to endear themselves to the tunnel walls as closely as possible, all the time trying to pick up bits and pieces of the conversation that was happening within the room.
It was a well-engineered room, which had several doors probably leading to other rooms of similar origins. From where they stood, they could make out a plump, middle-aged man bringing a beverage of some sort to a small, round table situated in the middle of the room. A man with a long, sweeping, torn and tattered cape sat there.
"It is rare that we get visitors, I must admit..." the older man spoke first, playing with the right end of his moustache, after he had settled the cup on the table, "... so please don't mind me for being to the point. What may the purpose of this visit perhaps be? From whence do you bring tidings?"
The stranger finished the drink he was brought quickly enough, standing up as soon as he placed the cup back down. With a funny little smile that was visible even with his hood, he said, "I do not bring good tidings," startling the other man with his words, "I am here to request that you release all the monsters you have caged."
Outside, the four eavesdroppers exchanged knowing looks. So monsters *were* being captured and locked up, ridiculous as it may have seemed.
The older man in the room took a few steps back in disbelief, pointing an accusing finger at the caped man. "That's ridiculous! Why would anyone want anything like that to happen? Have you any idea how long it took us to restrain those beasts?! Releasing them now will not only cause distress amongst the-"
"Yeah yeah! I get the point already!" The caped man impatiently whipped around and held a firm hand up to stop the meaningless chatter. "One question at a time, okay?" He waited for a while before continuing, "But since you can't seem to get your enquiries in place, I think I will proceed with my interrogation instead."
He advanced, danger spreading out from his steps. A large, metallic sword appeared suddenly from beneath the long cape when the man threw half of it open. As if in demonstration of his ease in using the large weapon, the man effortlessly held it out, so that the tip of the blade went near the other man, who stood a few feet away in shock and terror.
Cloud's eyes widened at seeing the Buster Sword in another person's possession. His mind quickly went into overtime. SOLDIERs carried swords that size, but it was to his remembrance that only Zack held the Buster Sword, which he later inherited. The sword wasn't currently in his inventory, and come to think of it, he didn't see it at the Chocobo Sage's house when they set off either. Did someone steal it? Did someone pick it up? It wasn't possible to lose such a big sword, though, so how... ?
Breaking him out of his thoughts was the voice of the stranger, recognized by the four of them as none other than Mr. Ipsen, walk-on-water-and-will-not-sink himself. He spoke, saying, "My questions for you are very simple. Why is the underwater community so hell-bent on keeping the monsters immobile? It is to my knowledge that there are lesser monsters underwater than those on land and above ground. Why does the underwater community want to keep so many monsters underground if truly the peace of the community is at stake here?"
The brooding teenager we know as Squall frowned deeply. His expert judgment told him something was wrong... or rather, something was *right* about this Ipsen. He couldn't explain it just yet, but maybe the answer would show itself to him soon. He continued observing the happenings quietly.
"Hah!" The older man shrieked, trying to stay brave despite trembling like a leaf. "What do YOU understand?! If the monsters... if they DROP down to that who-knows-what planet again... it'll... it'll be the end of all of us! Our water, our livelihood... they'll all drop down together with those cursed things!! This time... this time... there won't be enough people left to put the pieces back together! No, there won't EVEN be people left at all!!" The tone of his voice screamed to the world that he was in a desperate attempt to justify himself and his community's decision. The stranger stayed silent for a while more.
"You're lying." He said calmly, after the other man had managed to calm his breathing.
"I'm not!" The man made an action resembling that of pretentious hair-tearing. "Why else would we want to have those cursed beasts in our territory?!"
His voice was cut short by the sudden stabbing of the large Buster Sword into the wall beside his head. If his eyes got any wider, it would definitely have dropped out.
Outside, the four of them exchanged looks again, wondering if it was necessary to interfere.
"Monster tournament... I believe that's what you and your people called it." His cold voice generated an interesting response from the other man in a series of snorts and mini protests. "When a community stays isolated in peace, events are needed to satisfy the void that keeps them dull and uninteresting. Some of the events eventually thought up of reflect wise judgment and good consideration; but others..." Ipsen's frown could be heard, "show that there's nothing more than uncaring peeps underneath those gentlemanly hides of yours...
"You are going to make the monsters fight against one another, aren't you?" He demanded an answer that was aleady known before the question was said. "To satisfy your so-called need for entertainment, an indefinite greed for money... money you won't even be able to spend... things you won't even be able to use... !!" Ipsen finally grabbed the hilt of his sword and removed it from the wall, laughing angrily. "Are you sure you've got ALL the monsters in the cages already? Haven't you missed out one... ?"
"What do you mean!" The man was by now, enraged. Ipsen merely threw his sword backwards against his shoulder and stood in a pose that was intrinsically Cloud. Zidane tugged at Kuja's sleeve, as if to indicate his desire to interfere. Before Kuja could reply, the doors in the room burst open to reveal armed men, obviously already in ambush since the beginning of the conversation. Instinctively the four of them ducked closer towards the wall, not wishing to be caught between a rock and a hard place. They could spot the mysterious smile on Ipsen, once again.
"Get the intruder!" The plump man with a moustache pointed. "He wants to release the monster so they can terrorize the community!!"
The throng of people closed in on Ipsen. It was now that the foursome outside actually realized how spacious the room really was.
Seemingly entirely unaffected by the surge of people, and the fact that he was grossly outnumbered, Ipsen merely swung the large sword in an arc, in the event scaring anybody who was intending to strike him at close range. With unbelievable strength and speed, he dove into the throngs and began cutting down the startled people one by one.
Chaos immediately ensued. Commands were shouted above the heavy breathing of soldiers out for blood and revenge of fallen comrades. More and more kept pouring in from the doors, making all of the four wonder just what were they keeping inside those rooms. Surprisingly - or maybe not, Cloud was the first to move.
"What do you think you're doing?" Kuja calmly stopped the mercenary and questioned. Cloud turned around, complexity all over his features. With Kuja, he had a brief, silent conversation, which ended with the silver-haired man nodding, smiling and waving his hand in a cheery fashion. "Count me in, then." Kuja began his slow trudge to the room as well. "I need to let off some steam too..."
Squall and Zidane sweatdropped in the background. Shrugging, Squall followed in the footsteps of the previous two, who had already dived into fray and was nowhere to be seen. Zidane shouted, "YOU'RE going too??!"
"............... why not?" Squall turned around and smiled slightly. "Ipsen wants to release the monsters; so do we. If we work together, we'll most probably get things done faster. As for questions..." The SeeD stroked his chin gently and frowned. Quickly, however, he looked right back up.
"... Whatever." The dark teenager grinned stupidly. He disappeared into the light and chaos of the room.
Zidane slapped his forehead and groaned in disbelief. Trying out some breathing exercises, he soon found himself calmed down enough to think properly.
*Fighting with no purpose... journeying without a destination... hadn't I sworn against doing those things already?* He was greatly bothered, ruffling through his own hair in confusion. *It -IS- at times like these that I wished I could be as one-track-minded as Cloud... or as 'Whatever' as Squall... maybe even as understanding as Kuja...* He sighed, lazily lifting his Orihalcon from their sheaths.
"Oh, what the heck!!!" He shook his head, and without warning dashed into the room to take on the first person he decided was an enemy.
Nobody noticed the man with the moustache disappear into a small door at the extreme right of the room.
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sagashita
12/7/ 2001
http://cloud-is.ourfamily.com/