Final Fantasy VIII: The Fallen Six

[Caije]

Isken’s eyes followed a cloud as he lay daydreaming on the soft grass. The many students began to walk to their next classes. He lifted himself up from the ground and sat for a while, too lazy to attempt to stand.

He nodded his head approvingly as three girls walked by him. He scanned their bodies, starting with their legs, stopping briefly at the short skirts and finally to their faces. He stood and began to follow them smugly, his hands in his pockets as he strutted with pride.

“Well, hey there, pretty thangs.” He stopped in front of them smiling gently. “Now, here I was looking for a pretty flower to give to a girl, and here I am, in front of the most gorgeous women I’ve ever seen, totally with out anything but my fragile body.”

His sad attempts at flirting seemed to impress the girls enough to allow him to put his arm around two of them. They giggled with joy as they all walked indoors.

“Isken, isn’t your SeeD exam today?” One of the girls asked softly. “I hope you don’t get hurt…”

“Baybeh!?” Isken paused with his mouth open wide. “You have absolutely nothing to fear. Whatever I’m up against should be scared. I once killed a T-Rexaur with one swoop to the heart!”

“Oh, you’re so great Isken!!!” One of the girls jumped on her feet embracing him with a hug.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Allison.” He balanced her on her feet after breaking away from the long hug and turned to her with a cheeky grin. “I only hope they don’t have enemies like you… cutie.”

“Um, Why not Isken?” She asked quickly.

“You’re just so gosh, damn, frikkin’ sexy I wouldn’t be able to participate in battle, I‘d be too busy trying to win you over with my sword skills…,” He said coolly.

“Oh! You‘re the best Isken!!!” She smiled stood on her toes and leant for a kiss which he without a single doubt accepted. “Tell me more about your childhood tales.”

“Oh, uh…” He thought quickly to himself. “There was one time I was in the cruel deserts of Centra, my father, Hyne rest his soul, was positioned on cactaur Island. I was 7 at the time, but out of nowhere, this cactaur up the size of my stomach spat loads of needles at me. Now… these barbs weren’t like your everyday cactaur needle… they were poisonous.”

“Oh my!” Allison’s said clutching his shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, Baybeh.” He paused. “So anyways, while I was dying in the cruel deserts of Centra, I wouldn’t go without a fight… so I plucked every single needle off his body after casting Ultima on him. The little bugger ended up hating me…”

“So how did you survive--” The teenage girl asked, her eyes full of sadness.

“Well…, my daddy found me. He carried me back to land and I was okay.” he smiled cheerfully.

“Can you teach me how to use Ultima one day!?” The girl begged as she shook with excitement.

“Sorry Baybeh.” Isken lowered his head gently. “The Garden is too near, if I used it near here… well, loads of people could get injured.”

“Oh… That‘s so kind, you‘re so brilliant and smart Isken.”One of the girls smiled as she stroked his ego. “Well, we better get to class… see you later Isken.”

The girls giggled as they left the smug teenager, who rested himself on a bench, he put his arms behind his head and smiled with pride. “There’s not a woman in this school I can’t get…”

[Juss]

It had been already a while after the Garden had been destroyed and by now, it was without a doubt a fine Garden, if not the finest. Not because the population or the number of completed jobs, but because of nice economy and good company. Yeah, there are totally different persons, but they never say no to helping others and enjoying the life by making it better for everyone, themselves too, besides some jerks.
This was/ is probably only possible, because the Garden had been rebuilt only some time ago, so that it wasn't yet a tradition to join the academy just for the reason that parents want or that everyone always joined it. So mostly only the young people, who joined really wanted to join. Also, a reason for it was, that the northern areas aren't very populated, at least when compared with other regions, so that the school got many of their students from areas quite far away from the Garden and if one is ready to take such a long journey, it's pretty sure he really wants to become a Seed. ( The bastards for most time are too lazy to travel long distances).
A year after the events with the sorcerer, the Garden was built up with the support of a rich bankers family, who lived near the location of Garden and saw that as a way to get their business going once again.

--------------------------

The courtyard was a popular spot to hang out, because the aura it had. It was really homely and beautiful and the air felt really fresh, tho at winter, it was pretty cold. Because of that, when Richard walked around the courtyard, he was almost always stopped here and there to have a chat or two. So it was now.
Richard just passed in front of two girls, when one of them, a young looking woman with shiny golden hair waved to him and shouted Richard. Richard looked back and walked next to the girls.

'' Hello Jessica!'' Richard told with his noble, but a bit too cold voice.

'' So... did you pass the exam?'' Jessica asked eagerly. It seemed as they were good friends. Richard smiled back to Jessica and told:

'' Will see, they should announce the results soon. No idea why they are taking so long ...'' Richard told slowly, so that the girls had a feeling that Richard just tries to pass the time quicker.

The other girl, one with long curly red hairs and with many heatspots on her face, then smiled.
'' Don't worry Richard, there is no way you could fail and even if you did, you are still better than your rank tells!'' The voice of the girl was really positive so that Richard got a huge smile to his face:

'' Sure thing!'' He then nodded to the girls and started walking again. He was just in front of a young and strong tree filled with life, when a old and tired voice told from speakers:

'' The results of tests are now known! Robert Task got 97 % of the test, which is the best result today and got rank 13. Markus Stell got 95% and got to rank 11, Richard Black got 94% and got to rank 10. Congratulations for you! Other 3 test takers also passed, but please come to my office. Enjoy your time!''

The voice was so old and tired, that it was almost a wonder that he was able to wish you good luck. Anyway, Richard's face got really happy. Tho, after a second, he pushed the emotions back and started walking back to Jessica. A huge applause sounded, while Richard was passing trough a group of 7 or 8 students. They knew Richard well, as did almost everyone in school. He was a well respected guy, but he didn't communicate with everyone, just around 10 people, who he could call friends.
It was extremely rare and astonishing, that a Seed could progress from rank 1 to 10 in half year or so. Tho, without the support and aid of Gardenmaster, it would have been pretty much impossible, but the Gardenmaster owned Richard his life, so he helped him as much as possible.

'' So you did it! 94%, that is pretty darn good you know ...'' A white skinned boy with soft face told. He had blond straight, but pretty short hair. His body wasn't muscular at all, more likely he felt like a skinny guy. But besides it, he had a positive energy around him.

'' You did well too Markus ...'' Richard said and shaked hands with Markus.

'' So, 10th rank, finally huh?'' Markus said, his voice wasn't a bit serious and because of that, Richard didn't need to feel offended, as some guys were a bit angry because Richard had got rank 10 so fast.

'' Yeah, and you only got 11 ...'' Richard told back and walked next to Jessica and her friend. Jessica gave Richard a huge hug, so did the other girl. After that Jessica gave hug to Markus too, but not the red haired girl. She seemed to be a bit uncomfortable when Markus was around.

'' You did it! I am so happy!'' Jessica then told. It seemed as she had a tear on her eye.

'' Not a big deal I would say.'' Richard told with his usual emotionless voice. The girl smiled, swiped of the tear and told:

'' You know, I am only rank 2, so for me it is a big deal! Besides you have helped me a lot, why shouldn't I help you? After all, you gave me the hint against snowlizard, who I needed to beat to complete the field exam. Without the hint, I would have lost, maybe not only the test, but also my life.'' The voice of the girl was really thankful and filled with emotions. Richard, cold as always smiled to him and started walking away.

'' That was no big deal... anyway enjoy your time, I got to go to talk with Headmaster.'' Richard told on his way towards the door to Academy.

OOC: Hope you like the garden I pretty much created. Did it, because I knew that I was only one in Trabia Garden after all and because I would like it that way. Mention me, if it will have any conflict with the storyline you wish to create or anything else Will change if necessary, but would prefer if it could stay like that You know, every little change from the story you had last time may be more fun and variety!

EDIT: Used double spaces in Dialouges Hope it fits.

[Storm]

“Notepad… check
Pen… check
Pencil… check
Spare pen and pencil… check
Sunglasses… check
Town guide… check
2x Potion… check
Bottle of water… check
Claw… check.”

He looked at his wrist.

“Watch… check.”

His pockets.

“Wallet… check
Phone… check
Lens cloth… check.”

A small, quick grin touched his thin lips as he reached for his Kama. The strong, cool chain wrapped up in his left hand, the dark metallic scythe in his right as he stroked the blade’s engraving with his thumb.

“Good old Kamaitachi,” he said as he placed the weapon into his bag along with the other miscellaneous items he had prepared last night ‘just incase'.

He slowly raised himself fro his crouched position on the floor of his dormitory, pulling the bag onto his fairly narrow shoulders as the fabric of his black shirt made way for the strap. Although his body was lean it was also very sturdy- so the slight weight of the bag would not interfere with natural movement.

It was still fairly early, however Balamb Garden was still rather busy. Many students filled with vibrant energy, others tired and shuffling around the grounds like hung-over zombies. The cafeteria queue was no exception. Although it was always busy, to a rather impatient young man like Flynn this was an exceptionally long queue. The dinner ladies were invisible amongst the crowds of students making constant, annoying noise. Although not as much of a giant as to tower over everybody, at 6’1” he was still quite tall, so feeling claustrophobic and insignificant was not a usual feeling. An especially boisterous group were just in front of him, immaturely knocking each other around and laughing. One knocked into Flynn, an arm brushing his glasses almost completely off his nose. He groaned- his impatience building up even more profusely as he readjusted the rectangular frames onto his nose and around his ears. Normally one to keep a cool head- two of the biggest things to irk him were immaturity and not being able to get something done quickly and efficiently. He brushed the front of his dark brown hair back with his hand to hide his rather evident frown- a rather pointless act considering his hair was always held in place with hairspray and a little liquid gel. As the queue slowly inched forward, Flynn eventually found himself at the front.

“What would it be today?” asked the friendlier one of the women.

Flynn looked upon the breakfast choices. Plain cereal, greasy breakfasts, hotdogs, burgers, sandwiches, salad… His nose scrunched a little looking at some of the unhealthier options.

“I’ll have a salad please, and do you mind toasting one of those cheese baguettes? I need something rather substantial… without being too slimy and sickly.”

The woman winced. Flynn wasn’t always the easiest customer- unlike many of the other students he refused to eat anything that looked unhealthy, yet wouldn’t eat anything too plain. Although he personally didn’t find an issue with his use of language, the older and more temperamental of the dinner ladies lowered her eyebrows and gave a cold glare, as if to say “mind your mouth” but was too busy with serving another student. Flynn had never found it easy to make friends. People either found his solitary lifestyle odd, his well-educated-sounding voice and body language irritating, or found his personality to be rude and arrogant. Luckily his antisocial nature never really bothered him. He took his Panini and salad and found a corner in the cafeteria, next to a plant and by a window- and slightly away from the constant racket of other students.

[Victoria]

The sound of the bell chimed throughout the area that signified the end of the written exam. It would only be a matter of time until I receive the results of my task. The bell also signified the end of the class session, so everyone was required to leave the room for their lunch break.

I let out a relieved sigh and slouched my head back. The hood of my robe fell as my green hair flowed downward. As I basked in the end of the exam, I heard someone call my nick name.

“Hey Cuvie, it's lunch time, so get up and come with me or else I'll leave you behind.”

My eyes shifted to the person who projected that sarcastic, yet homely voice. It belonged to a girl who had short lime green hair. I slouched forward and grabbed my notebook and slowly pulled it away from the desk. My arms slumped as I walked toward this girl that was slightly shorter than I.

Whenever I walked past her, she smelled like lemons, and I never understood why. My feet shuffled there way to her, and as I crept toward her figure, I slowly wrote down a phrase on a notebook page.

“Why do you smell like lemons?”

She giggled softly and smiled as she wrapped her arm around me as she escorted me to the cafeteria.

“Silly Cuvie. It's called perfume. It's used to give off a nice smell, instead of smelling like nothing. Some girls use it to attract people or to get attention. I just like the smell of lemons.”

I nodded at her and smiled as I flipped a page of the notebook and wrote another phrase.

“I like lemonade. It tastes good.”

We arrived at the que line for the cafeteria. I overheard a rather blunt man insult the lunch ladies. I don't think he meant to insult them, though. I wonder why he talks like that? I think I'll go ask him after I get my helping of lunch.

The line slimmed down and I grabbed my helping of a sandwich and a salad. I smiled to my lime haired friend and pointed to that guy I saw earlier. She had an interesting smirk on her face and shifty eyes. I don't know why, but I think she got the wrong message from me. She poked my ribs and said for me to go. So I nervously smiled and followed him to the secluded area that he sat in.

As I walked up to his table, I noticed the frantic chattering and noise dropped down to tolerable levels for me. Maybe that's why he sat here. Maybe he doesn't like noise, just like I don't.

I poked him on the shoulder and pointed to the empty chair across from him, signaling the question if it was available.

I placed my tray on the other end of the table and brought out my notebook to write something.

“I saw you earlier, and I became curious about you. If you don't mind, I have some questions I'd like to ask you.”

I awaited his response as I held my notebook with one hand and took a bite out of my sandwich with another.

[Fehrant]

Leaning next to a payphone, John talked to his mother.

"Son, I'm so proud you made it this far, today's the day! I... bought a couple of steaks to celebrate."

"Meat? Mom! You know how much that costs. We can't afford that!" Answered John.

"I know, son, I know. Don't worry, they were on sale. It's your special day. I want to celebrate it. You've been working on this so hard, and only to help your family. I feel bad my job doesn't gets us much, and you have to do all the work. Without you, son..."

John's face hardened with resolution. "Don't worry. You have to take care of Tasha and Maia. I will take care of the expenses, so that you won't have to work anymore. Soon, hopefully soon."

John's mother was on the verge of tears. "Oh, Johnny. You're a wonderful son. I wish things would've been better and you wouldn't have neglected your life... I wish you would've made friends and played freely like a normal child."

"I haven't neglected my life. You guys are my life," replied John.

His mother broke to tears. John became more resolute. "Don't cry, mom. I will better for us. All of us. Tasha and Maia won't have to go through as many hardships. I have to go now, it's my lunch and I'm going prepare a bit for the exam. See you tonight after work."

"Good luck, Johnny. See you."

John Smith hanged up the phone and walked towards the cafeteria. It was a good thing for him that the meals were free. He usually asked for takeout, ate a bit, and took the rest home for Tasha and Maia. Plus, because of his cleaning job at the Garden and his studies, he had little time available for studies and homework, so he destined the lunch period for this purpose.

Today was no exception.

The SeeD exam was going to be soon. He had prepared, but still felt nervous. While the exam could be retaken, and actually many people did, he refused to wait another year. The betterment of his family's status quo hinged on this test. It couldn't be delayed. It wouldn't be delayed. He tightened his fist. He would pass it. He would. He kept telling himself in his mind that he would.

His tour through the cafeteria was quick. He looked at all the students, laughing, eating, not a visible care. Even the loud group standing in front of him, who had by accident knocked the tall student behind them. It made him feel a bit miserable. But it made him feel even worse that his mother blamed herself for it. Before he realized, he had ordered a couple of sandwiches, and left to his dorm.

Once in the dorm, he checked the weapons the faculty had provided him because he obviously couldn't afford his. Actually, most of his possessions were provided by them. His notebooks, his pens and pencils, his uniform, meals, toothbrush, even a pair of his socks. The backpack was actually his, and the distinction was clear. The obvious wear of the pack was as visible as his "normal" clothes. Ragged, torn at some parts, and discolored.

He sat on his bed, rubbing his temples, and looking at the wrapped up food without appetite. His life was about to change. It was all up to him, and no one was there to help him. The pressure was eating him away.

[Caije]

A short girl sat on the steps watching the girls approach her. They stepped past her, without noticing her. They spoke in hushed tones and giggled about the boy they had just left. The girl held her shotgun in her hand and was also a candidate for the SeeD exam. She stepped up and balanced the gun on her shoulder. She walked forward, past the womanizer, her eyes flickering on him for a moment.

She caught his eye and immediately fixed her eyes on the path ahead.

“Hey sweetness, you knew around here.” He got up and approached the short girl, offering his hand. “I’m Isken.”

“Yes, I know. We’ve been in the same class for 4 years.” She replied, continuing to walking.

“Are you sure!?” He rubbed his chin symbolising his deep thought, he still pursued her. “I never forget a pretty face.”

“Pretty?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Sure!” He smiled warmly. “Now, I know, I know you from somewhere…”

She waited as he continued to follow him, her mind too concerned about the SeeD exam to be focused on the likes of her follower.

“I know!” He raised his index finger. “You’re Tammy, man you’ve lost weight, did you get plastic surgery… wow, it’s been a while, Tammy, remember that time at you 16th birthday part we kinda--”

“Wrong.” She sighed, slightly annoyed with his words.

“Oh, you’re Balamb’s Mayors daughter…, Tsunade, was it?” Isken said, stepping in front of the pretty girl.

“No, My Dad’s dead.” She said, the gun placed on her shoulder becoming more tempting to use.

“The Mayor died?” He said, seeming kind of torn from the news.

“No. I’m Kiyuri.” She finished. “Don’t expect you to remember that name.”

He smiled suggestively. “So, Kimmy, do you want to go to the backseat of my car and…” He saw the disgusted look on her face and paused. “Baybeh, I was kidding, lighten up. I never put out on the first date, especially to someone who just had surgery--”

THWACK!!!

“Ouch!” He cried in pain, hitting the floor. Kiyuri stood over him with her shotgun held like a baseball bat.

“To all SeeD candidates this year, please go to the front gate at 5pm this evening wearing your uniform. I repeat, would all SeeD--”

“W-w-what a dyke, damn that bitch hits hard. What'd I do???” Isken panted, managing to balance on both of his feet. He watched her walk out the front gates and rubbed his head, hoping no one saw a figure such as himself being knocked around. “Oh, well. Better get prepared for this exam. Ladies going to love me when I really save the day. Man I’m awesome!"

With that he headed to the cafeteria gracefully. He entered the cafeteria, embracing the room around him as he walked to the top of the cafeteria line, skipping many in the process.

[Juss]

Richard had entered the academy round hall, the one from where you could enter all other parts of the Garden. It was really well crafted and had beautiful paintings and sculptors here and there. Also a meter away from the middle elevator, there was a monument of Squall, made from gold and silver, but covered with many different kind of materials, to make it stronger and also look more beautiful.
It really was populated spot like courtyard was but with one big difference. When people in courtyard where relaxing than here everyone were running around and dealing with their own business. That's why Richard was able to straightly move to the elevator, from where he could go to headmister room.
Richard entered the elevator, it seemed as he was all alone in it. He pressed the 5th button, which brings him to teachers quarter.

'' Password please!'' A mechanical voice told. The password was known for every Seed, who was rank 5 or higher, just if they needed something from teacher and as well, rank 5-s were already a lot more trustful than cadets.

'' Pompei Ultimus!'' Richard said with straight and loud voice, just in case if the machine wouldn't hear.

'' That's right! Welcome to teachers quarter!'' The machine-like voice told once again, when the elevator had made up to 5th floor.
Richard slowly stepped out of the elevator and then started walking towards headmaster's room, which was in the end of corridor. The teachers quarter itself was pretty beautiful. The architecture was fine, and the corridor was well decorated.

'' Mister Richard! Congratulations on the 10th rank. You know that you may complete jobs in different continents as well now. Hope you will be fine!'' A brown-haired woman with soft and gentle voice told. The woman had just came out from his room and smiled to Richard.

'' Thank you Mrs.'' Richard told with his usual cold, but powerful voice. He then walked next to the headmasters door, knocked and entered it. A fighter-like mercenary was sitting on a chair, talking with headmaster. The merchant had messy brown hair. His face was covered with scars, but his gaze was filled with something evil.

'' Oh, mr. Richard ... Congratulations for the exam.'' Headmaster said. He then looked to the face of the mercenary with a questioning face.

'' Yeah, let him be here ... there's nothing I need to hide from the young man. Especially, as all I wish to talk is about him ...'' The merchant said. His voice was strong, somewhat mean too.

'' About me?'' Richard wondered and then looked at the clothes on the mercenary. He saw a logo of a sword going straight trough a heart. Richard unseated his big sword and walked next to a wall and leaned on it.

'' As I see, you know who I am right ... no need to unseat your sword tho, you are totally helpless against me!'' The man said with irritating and offending voice.

'' Richard, you don't have to lower the sword... '' Headmaster told and then watched the middle-aged mercenary, as he was getting up.

'' I thought you had something to tell me that Richard may want to know?'' Headmaster eagerly said, as he was worried about Richard.

'' Nah, don't you see, he knows from where I am exactly. And I bet he knows why I am here as well.'' The man told with a voice that reflected some boredom. He nodded to Richard so that he would follow him. Richard gave a quick look on headmaster to see, if headmaster wants to give some resistance. Headmaster didn't nod.

'' He has 10 men before the gates ... safety of others first Richard. I am sorry ...'' The headmaster told quietly, so that only Richard could hear.

'' I understand!'' Richard answered quietly, with a bit worried tone. He turned around and started following the man. When they made their way to elevator, the merchant started to laugh.

'' Really, I thought you will give us a fight, but no... How boring.'' He told and then punched Richard to face. The hit was quite powerful, so that Richard had to step back a bit.

'' That wasn't necessary mister ...'' Richard told with his cold tone and watched the face of the mercenary. It really seemed as the man was bored and so Richard thought to give him some fun, but not just yet. First he needed to move a bit further away from other students.

[Storm]

Flynn gazed into away from the crowds and into the light reflecting through the rich green leaves of the plant, focussing his calm into a daydream-like state as he held the panini to his mouth. No sooner than the first bite of toasted bread and melted cheese had entered Flynn’s mouth, he felt his shoulder being poked. He glanced up to see who had intruded his personal space and saw a woman of a similar age to him with striking coloured hair and eyes. She pointed to the chair. A bemused expression had become fixed upon his face- not only by her eccentric appearance, but also by how she was using actions to communicate. He guessed she may be a foreign student, and replied with a nod. She had placed her tray on the table and began to write something down in a notebook. Flynn took a few mouthfuls of salad. Few people approached him, and he wondered why she chose to speak to him. Was she a journalist?

She revealed the message on the notepad while she bit into her sandwich.
“I saw you earlier, and I became curious about you. If you don't mind, I have some questions I'd like to ask you.”

Flynn nodded, still looking rather perplexed. She began to write something else down in her notebook. Unsure on how to communicate with this unusual woman, he rummaged through his bag to find his notebook and a pen. When he retrieved these, she was holding another message to him.

“Why is it that you are unaware of how blunt you are?”

Flynn bit his lip as he pondered on an answer. Was he blunt? Is this why he had terrible social skills? He wrote the first answer which came into his head. For one as difficult as he, his handwriting was unusually delicate and somewhat feminine.

“How am I blunt? I don’t know where you’ve got that idea from but you shouldn’t always believe what others tell you when you don’t even know the person.”

The woman gave a somewhat dumbfounded expression as she ran her hand down her face. This was retaliated from an equally sarcastic expression from Flynn, who cocked an eyebrow and tilted his head, tucking his right knee up to his chest.

“I overhead your… requests… to the lunch ladies.”

Flynn lowered his leg and adjusted his glasses. He again began to ponder an answer as she watched with the same ‘facepalmed’ expression.

“What do you mean by me being blunt? I merely stated that I would like something to keep my hunger at bay that wasn’t oily. I find greasy food so hard to digest- it really makes me feel ill.”

She nodded somewhat sympathetically.

"Then you should have told them that greasy food makes you ill, and therefore, if they please could cook some food in a way that it won't be greasy.”

Flynn’s face dropped a little, his skin turning a little pale as he raised his knees and hunched his body over more. Reading what she had written had indeed made his comments sound a little bit obnoxious. Noticing the rather dramatic change in attitude, the woman quickly began to scrawl out another question to raise the mood.

“Ok, next question!!! Why do you smell like mint ice cream?”

“Mint ice cream?” Flynn asked, confused about the sudden topic change, then realised he was now talking rather than writing so he grabbed his pen and pad again. “Uh… well, my shampoo, my conditioner and my styling gel all smell of mint. I like it to be honest. I do like mint ice cream too”

“I like lemonade and mint ice cream. They taste good.”

While she held up this message, the girl looked around suspiciously, as if to check if anybody was listening in. Once she knew it was safe she began to write something else.

“If I promise to help you be more tactful with your speech, will you.... teach me the native tongue?”

Her weird behaviour seemed to click into place. She could use written vocabulary but not spoken. The written speech was astonishingly accurate; however it must be hard to not be able to speak the language of everyone around. He could empathise with this- although his communication skills were high, he was alienated from others. If what this woman was saying is correct, the way he says things gives people the wrong idea. He gave a small smile and nodded.

“May I ask you your name?”

"My name is Cuv'ielfyx, but everyone calls me Cuvie."

Flynn held a hand out.

“Flynn. Flynn Avontyne. I’ll happily help you scratch your back, Cuvie.”

He thought for a moment.

“I mean… I’ll be happy to help you out!”

[Fehrant]

John had heard the announcement. He still had time, but he had to tell the cleaning janitor he wasn't going to be working today because of the exam. He got up, and left his dorm.

A guy and two girls were talking idly in the hallway next to a vending machine.

"So, I was fighting this regular bunch of adamtoises with my party when all of the sudden we heard a roar... it freaked me out so much I dropped my weapon!" A blond girl with SeeD uniform explained.

The guy burst out laughing. "Hahaha, oh, that's hilarious. Be careful not to drop your can of Chocobo Cola there because there's one coming in the hallway right now. It's dead, though."

"What?" The blonde girl turned. The guy shook her to try to scare her when she turned. The girl didn't get scared, but dropped the soda can. It was closed, but when it hit the ground, soda burst and sprayed all over as it span pretty much like a sprinkler.

"Ew, Joss!" Complained the girl who had got sprayed with the sticky soda. "It was my SeeD uniform! Not I gotta wash it. You're such a jerk!"

"Better call the cleaning staff," pointed out the other girl. "I don't want to get blamed because you two guys are idiots."

"Hey, hey, she was the one that dropped the soda," said Joss. "It's not my fault she drops everything."

As the guys kept arguing, John passed by. He looked at the soda puddle on the ground. Today, he wouldn't have to be the one cleaning that. He turned, realizing since he was already going there, he could tell the cleaning staff himself.

"Excuse me..." John called out shyly.

"What?" Turned Joss already heated by the debate about who's blame it was that the soda fell.

"I'm going to the see the cleaning janitor. I could tell him if you want," offered John.

"You part of the cleaning staff?" Asked a girl, curious.

"Yeah, I am," he explained.

"Well, that's great!" Declared Joss outloud. "You can then go ahead and clean it up."

John didn't like his attitude. "Sorry, I'm off duty at this hour, and probably for the rest of the day as well."

"Oh, come on," insisted Joss. "Just grab a mop, a bucket, and that's it. Besides, what's so important you have to do now?"

John was starting to get uncomfortable. He didn't have time to waste on this. "Sorry, again, I'm off duty, and I have the SeeD exam to take on later today. I'll let the cleaning staff know."

Joss grinned widely. "That's golden. A member of the cleaning staff taking the SeeD exam? What's your GF? A broom?" He laughed loudly.

The blond girl slapped his back, and called him 'an asshole'. John looked down. He didn't have anything to say, and poor people like him were often ridiculed.

John turned and went towards where he intended in the first place, but Joss' hand in his shoulder stopped him. "Hey, man, I'm sorry. It was a bad joke. Just please, clean this up, will ya? Pretty please?"

John sighed. "As I said before, I'm..."

A second hand grabbed Joss by the collar and slammed him against the vending machine.

"What's going..." Joss had intended to say, but before he could finish he was roughed up against the machine again. As his eyes adjusted, a girl with black hair was standing next to him.

"He's off duty today, you bloody arsehole," she said. "Clean up your own bloody mess, muppet."

"Woah, woah, missy. Calm down..." Josh requested. "He part of the cleaning staff so I..."

The girl slammed him against the machine again. "You don't listen very well, do you, berk? He said he's off duty. Now bugger off." He tossed him sideways, but he didn't fall. He fixed the collar of his shirt, raising his hands in a "I'm innocent" position.

"Very well, I will leave. Let's go," Joss called to the other girls. They both apologized to John before they left. He simply nodded.

"Bloody morons," she said when they were out of range. Rayne turned to face John. "Hey, mate, you can't take the piss like that, especially not from a sodding wanker like him. You're off-duty, so that means you're bloody off-duty. Say it like you mean it," she poked his chest with her index finger.

John was a bit taken aback, but thankful nevertheless. "Uh, thanks. If you'll excuse me I got thing to tend to."

"Off you go," Rayne replied.

[Caije]

Kiyuri sighed as she reached Balamb town, which had become more and more popular after the sorceress war. She dragged her feet through the busy town and looked at the many SeeD ships that had gathered along the docks. She sat on the empty bench, just staring out at the ocean, cleaning her gun to make it look like she had something to do.

She was truly a loner. The only family she had didn’t want her, she had no friends, and today had made her realise just how invisible she was. The only hope she had was that she could become a SeeD. That way, people would be forced to be around with her. It gave her a weird sense of security.

----

“What about Galbadia Garden?” A young Kiyuri spoke excitedly as she handed an older woman a brochure. “That way, I can get the train back every day! I read it’s much bigger as well, mum.”

“No, Kiyuri.” Her mother took the booklet and threw it aside. “Balamb is much safer. Much more affordable.”

“But that way, I’ll never get to see you!” Kiyuri seemed hurt, just a child, she slouched against the brick wall and rubbed her elbow while staring at the laces on her shoe.

“Balamb also have a great learning process, and great dorms. They have loads of little girls your age and you’ll have loads of friends!” Her mother smiled warmly.

----

Kiyuri swore under her breath. In frustration she got up and walked towards the shops, ready to buy ammo for her gun and any possible supplies she may need for the field exam. She carried a small bag full of potions and antidotes. She also bought many boxes of ammo, not knowing what to expect on the mission.

It was almost 4pm and Kiyuri walked slowly back towards the Garden.

---

Isken laughed forced a wild laugh as the girl he sat beside made a lame joke. He took a bit of her food and ate it without question. “In ten minutes, ladies, I’ll be going on a--”

The room spun quickly from where he was sitting. The area in front of him began to change, everyone fading away behind shadows. In the distance was a red dot. Two red dots. They got larger and larger as Isken stood slowly, reaching for his blade.

The red dots formed into two large sinister eyes. He swung his sword wildly in the shadows, as the creature gained a body. The snake retreated as the room began to light up. He was surrounded by screams and a panicked elderly instructor in front of him.

“Isken! What the hell is wrong with you!?” The Instructor yelled, pushing him back. The entire cafeteria was watching the scene in silence as Isken’s eyes adjusted to the incident.

“The Snake!” He said. “Didn’t you see it?”

“What… what snake? If this is a stupid prank you took it too--”

Isken’s eyes carried him to the wounded girl he sat beside moments ago, blood trailed down her face as she sat on the ground, an overturned cafeteria table beside her, and the remains of his meal drained on the floor.

“What happened to you?” Isken asked.

“… You went mad, yelling vulgar words, swinging that sword, knocking over the table… you tried to kill Elena!” the instructor yelled.

“Can all SeeD candidates please report to the front gate for your field exam…” The intercom interrupted the long silence, nobody dared move.

“The… the snake. Didn’t you see it?” Isken asked the girl.

“Get to the exam, you will deal with your consequences when you come back, boy! I‘m notifying the Headmaster of this…” The instructor spat as he focused his attention on the girl, whose cheek was just mildly scratched.

Isken did as he was told, in an utter state of confusion he stepped backwards, banging into another girl. This one with green hair. “I… I’m sorry.” His feet now carried him into a quick pace towards the gate. His thoughts carried the results of his actions, not just on his reputation, but on his sanity.

He reached the gate, the girl from earlier scoffed as she saw him, he didn’t quite acknowledge her presence. He began to breathe heavily, his hand shaking slightly.

“Are you alright?” Kiyuri asked him.

“Just…” He swallowed and paused as he looked at her. “You…, you gave me a bang on my noggin‘!!!” he yelled. “That’s why I was disoriented! I was confused by your stupid impatience! You stupid bitch!”

Kiyuri’s eyes widened in fear as she stepped back. “What?”

“I could be expelled because of that concussion! I probably shouldn’t even be taking the exam because of you! You stupid little whore!” He hissed madly.

“Listen, calm down, alright?” Kiyuri said, her gun held tightly, fearing Isken may lunge at her at any second.

“Isken!” The Headmaster approached the scene. “What’s the problem? I heard what happened, are you sure you're okay?”

“I-It’s nothing.” Isken panted. “I’m alright. I’m alright Headmaster Weldon, I got a bang in the head from training earlier… that‘s all.”

[Zerobanshee]

Raziel stood up, hearing the announcement for the field exam. He softly tossed his paper plate away, than shouldered his bag. Making sure his favorite lance was attached to his belt, retracted to it's carry form, he started his way out of the cafeteria.
As he reached the front gates, he heard yelling and swearing. Seeing a young man, about Raziel's age, yelling at a girl, Raziel slowly shook his head. He reached what was becoming a single file line in front of the headmaster, and he cast his eyes downward. Carefully going over his practise sessions in mind, Raziel again touched his lance, touched the talisman attached to the shaft.

"I must do this..." He thought to himself. Reaching up to his face, his fingers traced the burns around his eye. His thoughts drifting in and out of focus, he heard only parts of the conversations between the guy, girl and the headmaster beside him.

"Mr. Haven..." When he heard his voice, Raziel looked up to see that the headmaster was standing in front of him. Raziel glanced over the headmasters face, a face wrinkled in thought, age and wisdom.

"Yes, Headmaster?" Raziel lowered his hand, and stood in a near-perfect stance of attention. Raziel never spoken with the headmaster personally, and wondered what kind of man he would be.

The headmaster gazed at Raziel for a moment, the two making eye contact. "I always wondered, Raziel. A mind like yours, you should have gone into a more Intelligence Opted field, not SeeD. Why exactly have you decided to become a SeeD?"

Raziel was taken back by this comment. Having expected a more formal conversation, Raziel immediately looked downward, to think. "Sir, I wish to become a SeeD to protect others...and", Raziel then looked back up, to make eye contact with the Headmaster, "and to find out who i am, and who I can be."

"Good comments, Mr. Haven." The headmaster nodded in approval, and smiled, which removed many of his worry creases. "I am looking forward to your evaluations when you arrive."

[Fehrant]

Rayne was talking on her cellphone while walking down the hallway.

"Sorry, mate. I can't go practice with the band today. What's that? Aye, aye. Well... there was this arshole over the speakerphones saying we had the exam today. I completely forgot about the bloody thing."

A passing instructor who had heard everything looked appalled at Rayne, and told her to mind her language, even though she wasn't paying attention and kept talking on the cellphone. The instructor shook her head, and kept walking.

"No, Zeth doesn't have to take the exam, I think," she continued. "He'll go to today's practice, but I don't bloody know. Ask him yourself, damn it. I'm not his sodding manager." By now she had reached her dorm. She unlocked the door and entered.

Inside the room her roommate, a female and a male student were having a conversation. They made a slight pause as Rayne slammed the door behind her, still not ending the call.

"Everyone bugger off. I got to change," she said. "Wanker," Rayne told the person in the phone right before hanging up. Everyone blinked a few times, not accustomed at the level of hostility of this woman.

"Oi, you muppets, I said off," she repeated signaling the door behind her with her thumb finger.

Her dorm mate and her friends left without a word.

She glanced at the clock: 16:30. She quickly removed her casual set of clothes tossing them on the bed and donned the SeeD uniform. It felt lame and uncomfortable, but that was one rule she had to follow and couldn't get around. She washed the little makeup she had on her face, and tied her hair in a knot.

Closing the tap, she glanced at the mirror appreciating her completely different persona. Even with the red streaks running across her hair, she looked more composed, proper, and... boring. Rolling her eyes, she opened the bathroom's small ventilation window, and took out a cigarette. After she was done with it, she left the dorm, passing by the group from before who quickly went silent as she paced towards the exam's location.

When coming around a corner, she passed a group of three students talking casually. One of them particularly stood out for her, and it irked her so because she was unsure why. Rayne felt she had seen this person before. Shrugging mentally, her thoughts switched to her band. She'd much rather be practicing or playing live than do a lame test. Not that she had anything against hitting things.

Suddenly, it dawned on her. The student he had seen before had been at a particularly shoddy bar the band had played in, and while the student and a couple of his mates were getting drunk, they tossed and empty beer can when the band was leaving the stage. The can didn't hit anyone, but she would've gotten off the stage, and punched him senseless nevertheless. However, the band members stopped her stating they had to care a bit about appearances and couldn't cause a ruckus in places they were invited.

She turned around, and backtracked trying to find the student again. He still hadn't moved from that spot. Rayne walked straight to him.

"Hey, wanker," she called in her usual rude tone.

The three students stopped their conversation and one of them pointed a finger at himself trying to figure out if this boisterous girl was referring to him.

"Yeah, you," Rayne declared. "The other day at the bar you got away with giving me shit, but we're not at the bar anymore, arsewipe."

The student glanced perplexed seemingly not understanding what was going on. "Do I know you...?" He asked annoyed.

"Bar. Between 2nd and 44th. You and your sodding mates. Drinking. Band playing. Can flying." Rayne burst out in short intervals.

"Oh..." He said evidently not remembering. He paused for a moment. "Oh!!" He repeated this time in recognition with a hint of delight. "You were the sing..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he had been kissed by one of of Rayne's punches. It made a loud sound, and sent to boy tumbling sideways, stopped by one of the other boys.

The student rubbed the side of his red cheek, gritted his teeth and charged, trying to tackle her. She moved slightly sideways and kicked him in the lower leg, sending him to the ground. He glared at the two other students, carefully measuring whether they were going to join the fight or not.

"Someone hold her," requested the student on the ground to his two other mates. That was the cue.

One of them darted forward. She ducked in, elbowed his stomach, and backhanded his face with a closed fist. The other one, bigger of the three, rammed his shoulder into Rayne. She toughed up, and tried to held her ground, but the physical strength of her attacker was superior. She waited for the wall to land on her shoulder, but instead a red fire extinguisher box bit her lip, leaving it bloody. Ignoring the pain, she placed one leg on the wall, jumped into the air, and performed a devastating kick on the torso of the last student, sending him hard against the other wall.

The original student was getting up, but Rayne closed in, punched his twice in the face in a rapid combo, sending him to the ground.

The three students remained on the ground now moaning. She spat of the blood. By then someone had seen the end of the fight, and called an instructor while approaching.

"Bollocks," she said, while fleeing the other way to the exam's location. As she spoted the rest of the exam candidates, she wiped off the blood, but the wound was still evident. She stood with the rest awaiting instructions, having arrived a few moments after Headmaster Weldon had talked to Isken.

John was already there too.

[Zerobanshee]

Raziel noticed the young woman running to catch up to the group, and as his eyes surveyed her face, she seemed out of breath. She also sported a slight gash in her lip, which was bleeding slightly. Raziel quietly shifted his pack from his left shoulder onto the ground, unclasped the clip, and pulled out a thin roll of bandages, used for minor scrapes, cuts, and injuries to sensitive places, such as the lips. As he straightened, he turned to face the new girl.

\"For you...\" He stated, holding the bandages out for her, seeing if she would accept. \"for the wound.\"

[Juss]

Richard had followed the mercenary for quite a while now. They were walking trough the coutryard when his friend Markus noticed him:

'' Richard!'' He shouted with confident voice and started eagerly walking towards them. But for his surprise, the man leading Richard, the mercenary, raised his gunblade in a mere moment and pointed it at Markus.

'' So so... what we got here? A friend of Richard huh.... Want to come closer? If that's the case, you can say goodbye to Richard before you try!'' The man said with mean and irritating voice, but his face was still cold and emotionless as it had been before. The face of Richard's turned worried and he said quickly.

'' You darn bastard, watch your words!'' Richard's voice was powerful and quite loud so it took more attention to the event. Two girls from the main hall had came to watch what is going on.

'' Whoaa ... Rich, what's going on?'' Markus asked while he had come a step or two closer to Richard. His face reflected astonishment and fear.
Then a bang.

'' Told ya not to come any closer!'' The mercenary shouted and continued walking. He had shot to Markus leg. Markus was lying down holding his leg and screaming. His eyes were filled with sorrow and pain, body reflecting the pain caused by the bullet in his leg. Blood was slowly spilling out from the wound and spreading on the ground.

'' You ..'' But he couldn't finish the sentence because Richard interrupted him.

'' Wasn't this a lesson for you? Just stay out of it!'' The voice of Richard's was unusually fearful and weak. A tone of sorrow was hidden in it. His face was still calm, it seemed as Richard knew a way to save himself and his friends.

'' Wow, Richard you really are a smart boy!'' The man continued and headed towards the gate while giving a glance or two to behind to make sure if no-one is following them.
The moment when they made their way to the gate and mercenary started unlocking the door, Richard had unseated his blade and had hit mercenary with the flat side of the sword. The mercenary lost consciousness and Richard knew that that's his only opportunity.

'' Now or never!'' He thought and smashed the door down with his bare hands. The door fell down to outside.

'' Shi..'' He mumbled. The door had been quite strong and big so he had sprained his elbow quite badly. Even his armor didn't defend it enough.
Without a moment of thinking he started running towards the way trough canyon to a forest. He once had thought that it would be the best point to hide.

[Storm]

After some small talk about preparing for the exam the conversation drew a little quiet. Flynn had finished his meal and was waiting on Cuvie to finish hers. When she realised that he had finished she began to speed up.

“Take your time,” he said slowly as he gazed over to the other end of the cafeteria where a commotion had begun to stir up. “The last thing you need is indigestion.”

From what Flynn could make out, a male student had attacked a female student in a fit of madness. A table was knocked over, the male student was being pushed to one side by an instructor and the girl was being comforted on the floor as her blood streamed down her clothes and onto the food. Flynn got up off his seat and removed his blazer from around his hips, pulling it onto his shoulders. Cuvie got up and followed him as he put her tray onto his and placed it onto the metal trolley. As they walked past the scene, Flynn recognised the male student as someone in his class- a fellow whose “playboy” attitude he found rather irritating. The student was panicking, repetitively mentioning a snake. Flynn groaned.

The intercom announcement sound interrupted the silence. “Can all SeeD candidates please report to the front gate for your field exam…”

“The… the snake. Didn’t you see it?” the boy asked the girl.

“Get to the exam, you will deal with your consequences when you come back, boy! I‘m notifying the Headmaster of this…” The instructor interuppted.

The boy got up, looking rather dazed and confused, banging into Cuvie as he did so.

“I… I’m sorry,” he said as he quickly walked off towards the gate.

“Pathetic,” he grunted under his breath, placing his hand on the side of his head as the gold serpentine claw glistened under the lights. He turned to Cuvie. “He didn’t hurt you did he?”

Cuvie looked deep in thought. When Flynn’s words finally hit her she shook her head. He cocked his head slightly at the delayed response, and that she had now gone back into a slightly dazed state. Maybe she could see something further into what happened than he could? There was no time to think about it anyway.

“Just pretend it never happened, we need to get to the gate,” he said as he took her hand and led her out the canteen. When the small congregation of people were barely visible, he removed his hand from hers and strode a little further, before stopping and looking back. He made a gesture at his blazer. Cuvie thought briefly, then pulled the collar of hers visible from under the robe. Flynn nodded as they walked over to join the rest of the gathering. Although they were not the first there, they also weren’t the last. This gave some relief for Flynn, who always had to be well-prepared and early. He gazed around at the people around him. The boy from the canteen (whose name he still couldn’t remember) was already there. Next to him was a blonde girl, who to Flynn looked too innocent to fight, and further on another girl who already looked like she had been in a fight. A few other students looked rather apprehensive, and a boy who was talking to the Headmaster gave such a cliché comment that he couldn’t help but cringe. Before the exam brief had even started, Flynn was already beginning to dread some of the possible outcomes of the squad he was going to be assigned to!

[Fehrant]

Among the many things Rayne hated, waiting was one ranking in the top of her list. Admittedly, patience was not one of her virtues.

With arms crossed, and a bored face, she tapped her foot on the ground. More students kept coming in, all with their fancy uniforms, but the exam for some reason would not start. Just looking at them made her realize she was probably going to have to team up.

As far as teamwork was concerned, that also ranked high on her hate list. Working with other SeeDs was something she found annoying and rather inconvenient. Trying to understand how they felt, their needs, and what they wanted was something Rayne was just not willing to do. The person behind the uniform did not interest her at all. On a practical level, it was hard figuring out what the other person considered best.

She wasn't completely antisocial, however. She had her friends, one of them was even a SeeD. Zeth was his name, and he had known him since she joined. They both shared similar musical tastes, and now they both played on the same band, Efreet's Rage. Zeth was the bassist, and Rayne was the lead guitar, and lead singer.

Her tongue went to feel her sore lip. "That sod got a lucky hit," she thought, even though she was content with the battle's outcome. Fighting and playing with the band were two things she liked to do very much. She didn't know why she had chosen to fight with her barehands, and sometimes carelessness caused her hands to get hurt, and it would get in the way of playing her instrument. Still, she didn't think about things too much; she just did things, and thought about them afterwards.

A boy with brown hair and glasses approached. "For you," he said while holding out bandages. "For the wound."

She took the bandages and dabbed the wound with it. The pure white fabric absorbed the blood of her wound, at least for now. "Thanks," she simply said.

[Caije]

The Headmaster smiled as the students greeted him with the basic SeeD salute. His arms pressed behind his back as he scanned through the eager, nervous and brave faces.

“At ease.” He said calmly as they tried to relax. “Seeing as you’re all here…, I’ll brief you myself.”

Isken was half paying attention, ignoring the salute towards the headmaster. He stared at his feet, rubbing his head, feeling the bruise from Kiyuri’s gun earlier. His eyes moved towards her, she now ignored him. He really hoped they weren’t on the same squad.

“There will be two teams.” Weldon paused. “For two separate objectives, but revolving around the same Mission. You’re to report to the Centra area. A few days ago we lost contact with a SeeD member who was working as a undercover agent in a terrorist cell. We have reasons to believe she is dead, but also we learnt many things from her presence in the facility.”

There was a long pause. “Squad A will infiltrate a weapons base in Centra. You will discover what happened to the missing SeeD member, and destroy the weapons facility after uploading all information about the new weapons being developed, use force as a last resort. This mission is based on complete stealth, so for it, there can be no guns used in Squad A.”

“While our agent was there, she informed us of a deal being made on the mountains, west of the weapons facility, on the silverside cliff Squad B is to intercept the deal. You must take the buyer hostage, and seize the weapons being sold at all costs. You must do it quickly and disrupt any attempts to warn the facility that there are hostiles nearby. Squad B will also be working on stealth. There will be two enemy factions here. The terrorists or weapon makers, and the buyers. We do not know how many enemies will be here, so be on alert.”

The headmaster smiled as he took a long pause, reaching for a crumpled paper in his pockets. He straightened the paper. “Your team members, as of now, are… Squad A, team leader is Rayne Melrose, her comrades will be Isken Sharptip, Flynn Avontyne, and Cu-- I’ll get it… Cuv'ielfux… no, Cuv’ellflux… ah, what the hell, “Cuvie“.”
.

“Squad B, Kiyuri will be the Squad leader. Her comrades will be Raziel Haven and John Smith.” He smiled as the teams were formed. “Your captains word is law. If she tells you to jump into gun fire, you should do it.”

Kiyuri’s eyes widened. There must have been some mistake, she had no influence in other peoples decisions. “Sir-- I…”

He ignored her. “Confidence everyone. Nerves and doubt are your true enemy. Form at the Docks, you should reach your destination early tomorrow morning. While on the ship, I sugest you get to know your comrades if you don't already. Good luck!” He saluted them. "Dismissed."

Isken sighed. He knew he wouldn't ever be leader again, not after last years fiasco. He sort of pitied Kiyuri's and Rayne's situation. Two women, who weren't exactly qualified for the role of leaders would be impacting the mission. He stood besides his comrades, as he rubbed his head. "So Team Leader... what do we do?"

Kiyuri stayed silence in confusion. "Um... uh, I guess we go to the docks." She informed squad B. "Lets get going, I guess."

[Zerobanshee]

Raziel, after hearing the draft finalized, stuffed the now crimson-colored bandages into his backpack, then reshouldered it. Falling into step behind Kiyuri, he silently followed her towards the docks.
Her as Squad Leader? He thought. His original assumption of her was a people person, not a leader. Headmaster knows best, though... As she gave the order to head to the docks, he ran through a personal list of the items kept in his pack. Notebook, pen, potions, bandages. After ensuring himself that he had what was necessary, he nodded towards Kiyuri's direction.
As for getting to know his comrades, Raziel was interested in what the others were like, yet was uncomfortable with spending an entire afternoon with them. After going through the mission parameters again, to ensure that there would be no mistakes, Raziel allowed a slight grin to grace his face.
This will be interesting...

[Juss]

Richard was running with everything he got, he was pushing himself to his limit, running almost faster then a normal sized Seed... somehow it seemed amazing that he was able to pull so much out from his body, not even thinking about the heavy armor or his gauche body. But it all paid a high price, his face, sweat was dropping form every cell it had, pain, tiredness and affliction, everything hidden in his face together with sorrow caused by the mercenary who had shot his friend.

''How he dears!'' He wondered, but there wasn't much time for wondering, he needed to move fast, as fast as possible as it was damn sure that the mercenaries are coming after him and not by foot , without a doubt with car or something. That way, the forest was only place to hide or move on. But first he had make his way trough the canyon. It was a beautiful passageway between two big mountains. The air was so fresh and invigorating that if one would come to the passageway, he would sit down and just enjoy the cold fresh air of mountains filled with the smell of winter or snow. Then, Richard heard something. Without a moment of thinking, he jumped to his left, in to a big bush. By reflect, he spruced up the bush a bit so it wouldn't seem too suspicious. Then, something happened.
A motorcycle had stopped in front of Richard. Slowly, the man shut the engine down and stepped down from the bike.

'' Mr. Richy Rich, come out where ever you are...'' The man said while revealing his face. He took his helmet off and dropped it on to ground. His face was filled with bloodlust and happiness, his eyes reflected the hunger for killing.

'' Afraid of me huh? You know... your footsteps end around here... being as huge you are you should know that you leave so many tracks behind you.. or what ya think?'' The man said with his powerful voice fused with the tone of darkness. Richard wasn't breathing at all... he was quiet as quietness itself. That could be why the man turned away and picked helmet up.

'' Shit... He played with me... jumped to the bush for a moment while knowing that I will waste time here.. He is smarter than I thought!'' The man mumbled, put his helmet on and jumped on his bike. Next thing Richard saw was the guy driving further away from him. He knew he had to move on, but to where? He couldn't follow the man with bike or could he? While thinking these things, he jumped up and started running, maybe even faster than before. At least it seemed that way to him.

The legs, they wanted to stop at all cost, but Richard only raised tempo when he felt he needs to rest. That way, he was able to get to the forest edge before he understood that he was there. A ref bike of the man before was standing still next to a tree. For a second, Richard thought that it would be best to steal the bike, but then when he just made himself to the bike, he turned away and started running inside the forest. A voice or two had appeared somewhere near his location.

'' Who the hell. ...'' He wondered while gave a glance to back. It was headmister together with the mercenary. Richard quickly jumped to a bush and started listening. He knew that it was a wrong thing to do, but his body had already reached it's limit if not crossed it. That was the reason he needed to rest even if it could had been dangerous for him.

'' I repeat... I am sorry mister Douglas! I do everything I can to help you to find the boy... I swear it. Should this repay my loan from you?'' Headmaster told with quite sad voice. But those words, they shocked Richard more than one could presume. Headmaster had always supported him, after all he saved headmasters life. He always talked about being honest and being just, but now look at him... Richard would have been alright if the headmaster hadn't interrupted himself in the conflict, but why he betrayed him now? It was like a child who doesn't have a single coin losing his candy.

[Fehrant]

(OOC: Permission granted from Caije to do some things with his character in this post)

Rayne's eye twitched. Her teeth cringed. Her fist curled into a ball of anger. She was in charge of an entire group, and she wanted nothing to do with it. Was this a joke? Is this some kind of bloody joke? She pondered. Right as the headmaster was announcing her name, the shock completely took her aback, and left her dumbfounded. She didn't say anything; she couldn't say anything.

"So Team Leader... what do we do?"

Rayne glared up, meeting Isken's eyes. Sarcasm. She cringed, then glanced to see whether or not the Headmaster was watching. He wasn't, but he was nearby. I'm going to take the bloody ponytail of yours, ram it up your arse, and take it out of your bloody throat, you miserable sod. Let's see if you make any jokes after that, arsewipe. Inside her mind, she was seething with anger. Under different circumstances, that would've been as far as dialogue would've gone. She would've socked him one, no questions, no insults, no nothing. But right now, it was different.

She grabbed Isken by the collar, even though he was taller than her. In a quiet voice between her teeth she said, "You don't bloody like me being the leader? Guess what, you wanker? I don't either. Now, let's get over it, and be done with this piece of utter shit before I puke my lungs out in your sodding face at the notion of having to work with someone like you."

Isken pulled his head backwards away from the grip of his shirt. "Hey, I didn't know you were a dominatrix. That's a total turn on..." He countered with a cocky grin.

Rayne's face twisted half in anger, half in disgust. "You think you're a pretty smart wanker, aren't you?" She tightened the grip. "If you pull off a retarded attitude like that and **** up the mission, I swear to you I'll take someone's gun, and shoot you repeatedly in the balls until your puny wank turns blue and you can't even take a sodding piss from it for the rest of your life." Rayne released her grip. "Got that?"

Turning her face, she searched for the other team members. "Squad A, come closer," she called.

Rayne thought for a moment, closing her eyes. "Our mission relies heavily on stealth," she explained to the rest. "We aren't just waltz in like a bunch of muppets with our dorky SeeD uniforms. Get changed. Considering we're arriving late at night, early morning, we should take mostly black clothes. Nothing too dodgy, though, like a bloody ninja suit; at least plain clothes might make a couple hesitate to see who we are before attacking us."

"Be here in 20 bloody minutes, no more."

With those orders, she left the group.

She quickly reached her dorm, all the while shaking her head internally at the situation that had placed her as the leader of the squad. Even before barking out orders, she already had issues with some of the squad members. "After the mission is done, if that wanker makes it out alive, I'll have him talk to my fists for a bit," she contemplated.

Rayne took off her uniform, and got a black tank top, and green camo pants. She removed her "formal" hairstyle, letting it loose, pulled it back, and used a long black headband to hold most of it in place. She got a couple of fingerless, leather gloves, and quickly returned to the rendezvous point.

[Storm]

Flynn’s nose twitched as he observed the team he had been put into. From first glance the team leader, with a slightly swollen lip, hardly seemed capable of leading a stealth operation. There must have been a reason why she was picked as leader… maybe she wasn’t quite as reckless as her general appearance and posture imposed? He then looked at Isken and winced… though not as much as he’d wince after what happened next…

"So Team Leader... what do we do?"

‘If looks could kill, Rayne’s certainly would have melted Isken into a jam-like pulp,’ Flynn thought, as Rayne struck a thunderous glare. She grabbed Isken by the collar and hissed violently. Although he could not hear the words, he knew that it was something threatening. Flynn tried to minimise eye-contact but couldn’t help but notice that Isken had his famous cocky grin spread along his face.

"Hey, I didn't know you were a dominatrix. That's a total turn on..."

Flynn palmed himself in the face, bashing the bridge of his glasses into his nose. He’d pressed the red button.

"You think you're a pretty smart wanker, aren't you? If you pull off a retarded attitude like that and **** up the mission, I swear to you I'll take someone's gun, and shoot you repeatedly in the balls until your puny wank turns blue and you can't even take a sodding piss from it for the rest of your life.. Got that?”

Although Isken acted out of order, and to Flynn, got what he deserved, he started to think that it was a blessing that Cuvie was on the squad. That way it was hopefully less likely for him to ignite Rayne’s anger fuse.

"Squad A, come closer,"

Everybody did so, not wanting to push the boundaries any further.

"Our mission relies heavily on stealth," she explained to the rest. "We aren't just waltz in like a bunch of muppets with our dorky SeeD uniforms. Get changed. Considering we're arriving late at night, early morning, we should take mostly black clothes. Nothing too dodgy, though, like a bloody ninja suit; at least plain clothes might make a couple hesitate to see who we are before attacking us. Be here in 20 bloody minutes, no more."

Once Rayne was out of sight, Flynn turned to Isken, adjusting his glasses, smirking.

“Dear me, Isken. First you freak out in the cafeteria, attacking an innocent girl. Now your playboy charm is offending women… things aren’t going to well for you are they?”

He paused, straightening his posture to the flatness of an ironing board, tilting his head up slightly.

“Please don’t screw up at the exam, ok?”

As he turned, ready to make a cool exit from the squad, Isken intercepted him and looked into his eyes.

“For someone who can’t make a single friend you’re getting a bit too big for your boots aren’t you?”

Flynn turned back to Isken and raised an eyebrow.

“Care to elaborate?”

“You said that I have a ‘playboy’ charm. Is that what you’re jealous of? That I can get any girl I want yet you’ve never been able to attract a single woman in your entire life?” Isken grinned.

Flynn was slightly dumbstruck at the surprising accuracy of what Isken had said. He quickly gathered his composure and gave an odd dissatisfied smile- trying to hide his disgust at the previous comment.

“Do you really think I care? I’ve been alone all my life, so why should I need anybody now?”

He began to walk off again, making sure he had the last word at about 10 meters away.

“Or are YOU just jealous that I can keep mine in my pants?”

Without a change of beat in his step, Flynn made his way to the dormitory. He already had a black shirt on underneath his uniform blazer; however he needed to change his attire to something more useful for a stealth operative. He opened his wardrobe and removed a skin-fit black jumper. He thought for a moment before rummaging around the bottom drawer to pull out a black tank top and tracksuit bottoms. Flynn hated wearing these; however for this exam they were the most practical things to wear. The worst thing that could happen would be the snapping of the elastic band that keeps the trousers up- but the scenario of that happening was ridiculously low. He rather hastily got changed, and from the same drawer he also pulled out a black beanie hat and some fingerless black leather gloves. He used his hands to stretch the hat out to place it on his head, using the mirror as a guide. Realising that the hat wasn’t going on easily with the volume of his minty-scented style, he threw it onto the bed as he went to rinse it all out from the bathroom tap. Once this had been done, and his hair had been dried and placed under the hat, he swapped his normal glasses for the pair with black-tinted lenses from his bag. He looked into the mirror and raised an eyebrow at what had once been an image of himself, and now resembled a rather camp-looking burglar. He shrugged as he put his normal glasses into the case in his bag. Now wasn’t the time to act vain, as he made his way back to the meeting place.

[Zerobanshee]

OOC: Had permission from Caije and Fehrant to do minor acts with their characters.


Raziel, slowly following the others, is lead down to the loading area. He sees a single, large ship docked at the shores, and the doors were open, with a single loading crossing bridge connected to the dock. Slowly following Kiyuri, Raziel gazes around, to better situate himself as the other SeeD candidates were looking around, trying to grasp the situation.

As Raziel stepped onto the crossing bridge, he had to duck to avoid hitting his head. Low ceiling... he thought to himself. As he entered the ship, he noticed a small tubing on the ceiling. This tubing was colored green, and had a faint glow to it. As he stepped deeper into the ship, he seen different tubes stretching across the ceiling, one colored red, the other blue. Must be a color-coding system to find your way around... he thought. Provocative, simple, yet efficient.

Raziel followed Kiyuri deeper into the ship, where the path split into three. The path to the left led down some stairs, where the red light followed, and towards the right, where the green light followed. The hall facing him had the blue light trailing down the hall. Almost as if commanded, Kiyuri took the right, and headed into what seemed like a small conference room. There were two seperate couches, nailed to the floor, facing each other, and in the center was a small table, also nailed to the floor. On the wall furthest from Raziel, there was a small digital screen, currently flashing the image "SeeD! The Mercenary Elite!"

As Raziel followed Kiyuri, she quietly turned to face him, then shrugged. Raziel tilted his head, then crashed into the couch closest to him. He slouched down, stretched out his legs, and kicked them up onto the table. Kiyuri quietly sat next to him, and gently folded her hands into her lap. John then sat at the end of the couch, and looked around, waiting on the others.
As time passed, each one was becoming more and more nervous, as none of them spoke. As they looked towards the screen, now flashing "We are the Elite! SeeD!",Raziel couldn't help but grin. Elite... as he was thinking of that statement, he had an idea.

"So..." He started, just as Kiyuri and John both said "So." Raziel and Kiyuri started laughing,, all three of them even more nervous at the fact that all three had interupted each other. John pointed towards Raziel and Kiyuri, indicating either of them to go first. Raziel shook his head, so Kiyuri decided to go first.

"Alright, are both of you ready? Do you have your weapons well prepared? Enough potions? Do either of you have what you need?"

"Yeah..." Raziel grabbed his bag from his feet, and unzipped it. "usual stuff."

"I have what I need, to..." John stated. "Checked earlier, that way I wasn't missing anything."

"Alright. That's good." Kiyuri again fell into silence, and soon they could hear the sounds of the others nearby.

"Looks like the party's gettin started..." Raziel said. He couldn't help but grin. Zipping his backpack back up, he simply stated, "Booya."

[Caije]

Isken smiled smugly as he separated from Flynn. He put his hands behind his neck allowing his elbows stick up in the air as he approached his dorm room. Quickly he threw on a black jumper over his shirt. After making himself comfortable, he fixed his hair and looked in the mirror. He winked at himself and smiled, trying to put his mind at ease about the past events in the cafeteria.

He strapped his trusty blade at his side, checking himself out one final time before he became an epic war hero. “Man, am I hot?” He pondered to himself and put on a cheeky grin. “Hey Bianca, yeah, yeah girl. I’m a SeeD now! Naw, don’t mind me, you can sit down… was the mission hard? Well, emotionally, it was hard. But physically, not a chance. I can never be brought down to my… you’re what? Single? Well, is it my lucky day or what? I was just put on the market for the most attractive specimen on the planet.”

He finished stroking his ego and winked at himself a final time, finally leaving his room. He had spent a little too much time admiring himself in the mirror, and had most likely held the other squad mates up. Slowly he reached the gates, his hands in his pockets, pretending he didn’t notice he was late.

“Hey, arsehole. If you’re done making love to your blow up doll can we be on our way?” Rayne spat from the gates. Flynn, and Cuvie had already assembled at rendezvous point.

“Yes madam leader.” He forced a pleasant smile. “Allow me to lead the way as an apology for my indecent timing.”

The cocky young man lead the way towards the Balamb town with his squad directly behind him. “So, anyways, one time,…” He paused as he quickly thought of one of his rehearsed stories to share while walking. “…When I was twelve, my Father, one of the most famous explorers in the world, Darsken. You all know him, right? Killed the ruby dragon and saved a convoy from death?”

This was one of the most true fables that Isken shared. His father was a legend, and a well renowned fighter. He as well, was once a SeeD but retired when Isken was little because of a leg injury that prevented him from walking without the use of a cane. His son decided to follow in his footsteps, seeing all the attention his father had gotten for his heroic deeds. He wished to be admired in the same way.

“…well anyways, my father and I were travelling the mountains of the Dollet area. You all know Dollet, right? Well anyways, we made camp after dark. Soon after though, a huge massive amount of Wendigo’s decide to ambush us. It took four hours to escape their wrath--”

The story continued on about Isken’s valiant efforts to save the day. He got so carried away in the depths of his epic tale that by the time he was finished they were at the docks.

“Well, what do you guys--” He paused looking at the ship that was just feet in front of him. “I guess we’re here.” He smiled as he bent his head as he stepped across the small wooden plank. He raised his eyebrow as he saw the message on the TV.

He suddenly noticed the other squad all sitting in front of him. He raised an eyebrow as he stared awestruck, as the school janitor was present. “Hey, are we starting a wild party? Is that why Loo the janitor is here?”

Kiyuri scowled. “Hey,… do you mind not talking to him like that?”

“Oh, it’s the dyke!” Isken smiled as he turned to Flynn. “She’s cute, right? Too bad she’s a--”

“Shut it.” Kiyuri spat, standing up.

“Alright, zip it.” A SeeD entered the room as the two squads sat. His rough exterior was enough to make the room silent. “I’m guessing this is everyone. Squad A sure took its sweet time.” He said, staring at Squad A‘s choice of clothing. “There’s two other crew members on board, we’re all SeeD briefed on your mission, and also your superiors, you report to us. If you have any questions, we’ll answer them. We should reach our destination after midnight. Rest up.” The engine of the ship started, and the ship quickly began to depart from the Balamb dock.

Some time passed and the Captain of the ship returned to the quiet students. “Squad leaders, stand.”
Kiyuri and Rayne stood and approached the Captain. The Captain looked at all of the students holding out two radios, and several lay on a table behind him. “Alright, we’re issuing each of you these standard communication devices. They have a large radio distance, so if you need to you will be able to communicate with each other as well as us. This ship can intercept radio waves, so if the enemy detects you, we will know. If you need our call on anything report to us in case of dire situations. You and your squad will be going by your GF names. As to not arouse suspicion once in the facility. We will be leaving before 7am, so make sure you‘re back.”

He handed the radios to the team captains. “Remember, GF names, not your real names. We don’t want a bounty on your heads yet.” He smiled lightly leaving the room again. “We’ll be hitting the Centra continent within the hour.”

[Juss]

The headmaster a betrayer, it was something he never would have thought about headmaster. He always thought only the best about headmaster and the deeds of headmasters reflected his good willing heart. But now when Richard was in deep shit, his own friend who was like a father to him betrayed him. He knew that he jeopardized the life of other Seeds and attacking the mercenary could bring a lot of trouble to Garden, but still, he couldn't believe a single thing he saw and heard.

'' No, this cannot be right... there must be a trick somewhere!'' Richard thought as a tear slowly dropped down from his eye. His face, it seemed as whole his world collapsed. When normally he was a cold and calm personality almost never getting emotional, not even laughing, than now a tear dropped from his eye, a tear that was filled with chaos from the body of Richard. His mind, calm as it always had been was thinking about a logical explanation while his heart was totally working against mind.
The friendship, or more likely his beliefs about honor where smashed, destroyed totally without a single memory remaining. For a moment, he continued like that, wondering around his mind without any logic, thinking about it and how could that be. Searching for answers that didn't exist, at least for him.
But soon he wiped a dropping tear away and locked all those feelings in his heart. His mind had won over his heart, for some time at least. His face got even more serious than it was normally and the pain he felt gave place to anger. Slowly he readied his sword for battle and got in to attack position. He knew he had an advantage over the mercenary who was talking with headmaster. He could have been able to jump out from the bushes straightly on the man and his size surely would kick that man unconscious. That would win him time to escape. But now, in his mind, once again the headmaster ruined his plans. Richard could surprise attack the mercenary and take him down but he wouldn't last a second against headmaster. He was divided between two opportunities, between two feelings, between the fight of calm mind and child's heart. Anger or more-likely disappointment what he felt against headmaster of Trabia Garden and his safety while holding low profile in the bushes. But both choices would hurt his honor. How could a noble knight stay and hide in bushes, but how could a knight charge on his master. He had to choose because one of those opportunities was going to die sooner or later and then only frustration would be left. But then, something he wasn't imagined happened what ruined everything he had thought. This stole the cold mind of Richard.

'' Richard, you shouldn't hide yourself there! Come out ... Mr. Douglas wishes to talk a word or two with you!'' Headmaster said. His voice, it was as soft and helpful as always, but this time he didn't use it to do good, no, he wanted to cause pain to Richard. But for what? After all, Richard had saved his life. This was devastating for Richard as he was sure that if he gets the mercenary down, headmaster won't attack him and let him get away. But now, the man revealed his true identity. A greedy bastard. Richard's heart won this battle and chaos took over the mind of Richard's. But then, Richard suddenly charged at the mercenary. Even if Richard wasn't able to move and didn't wish to move, something inside him pushed his body towards the mercenary with amazing speed, especially when the body was fagged a lot.

When Richard finally got his conscious back, he was standing over the mercenary, his sword pointing at headmaster. He had jumped more than three meters long and landed on the mercenary who had collapsed under the weight of Richard's. This was something he didn't understand. He was sure it wasn't the reflects of him neither it was his mind. He had lost control of body, but who was in charge?

'' Drop your weapon!'' A voice coming from Richard's body told. It was strong, loud and dreadful. In same time it had a tone of nobility in it.
Without a doubt it was the voice that Richard had heard many times before, mostly when he had been in trouble. It had helped him out many times before, but this time it was different. It was controlling Richard.
Normally, one would think it was a GF but in this case it couldn't have been a GF. How could GF take control over his master and residence in his body. Was it something inside his mind? Something that was left there by his grandfather. Richard wasn't sure, there wasn't anything he could believe now. His body was frustrated, his mind was in chaos, his faith wasn't designated by him anymore. But then when Richard's body suddenly, without a warning charged at headmaster, who was able to raise his gunblade, Richard collapsed. His body just didn't hold on any more.

'' Dear boy ...'' Those were the last words that Richard heard headmaster mumbling.

---------------------------------------

He was back in his body, or at least his mind was back. It was white all around and there wasn't a single thing what could remind him that he was still alive. It was like in heaven, everything was unreal but still you existed. But then first thing that told that he was alive came - it was pain, deadly pain. He felt as it slowly moved up from his legs to his body. Then chest, something was pressuring it like a hammer smashing on it. But pain attacked his mind with the fiercest force.
It was enough to make him open his eyes. It was blurry everywhere around and no matter how much he tried to blink, it was still like it was. Then, a shadow came over to his face.

'' Grandpa?'' Richard mumbled. His voice was frustrated and weak, almost fragile. Then it went dark all over. Richard fell asleep.

----------------------------------------

'' Douglas... you think they will find us?'' A familiar voice told.

'' Hmm.. they will. It shouldn't take more than 3 hours, at worst 2 hours. But let the boy rest, he is still tired.'' A worried voice said.

'' I will, he needs all the power he has. It won't be easy journey.''

'' Definitely not... But I am sorry that I can't accompany him. I have to go soon as I told at first ... and as he ruined our plan ...'' The sound was getting quieter and less understandable.

'' Don't you .... a thin... It's my .... I should ... told him... first'' Then it got all quiet again. Richard was too tired to listen any more and fell asleep.

-----------------------------------------

'' Richard, get up you big one .... Geez!'' A voice filled with positive energy but containing a worried tone in it, told. Slowly, Richard tried to open his eyes as he seemed to know the voice from somewhere. The picture was still blurry as it had been before, but now a more familiar figure was standing next to the bed he was laying on. He tried to blink his eyes and move his body. It was still causing pain.

'' Ehh ...'' Richard mumbled. The figure started laughing and Richard recognized it now. It was pure laughter coming from the mouth of his friend, Markus. But how did Markus got here... or where was he, Richard wondered.

'' Haha... they beat you up pretty bad huh? I heard that you attacked Douglas...'' Markus said quite loudly. The picture of Richard's got more brighter and clearer as a result of blinking, so he saw that the face of Markus . It really reflected happiness and the gaze was full of joy. After giving a glance or two to Markus, he started looking around. Somehow, the place seemed familiar. After some seconds of thinking he knew where he was. It was a hut for hunters. It belonged to headmaster and here he had stopped twice during some Seed jobs. But what was he doing in headmaster's hut. After a minute of thinking, he finally seemed to come up with something. Richard asked with astonished voice.

'' They... they didn't give me up?'' Markus started laughing, then when he understood that Richard was serious, he got more serious too. He answered:

'' You didn't know that Douglas is my uncle huh?... You dumb one. This was all meant as a safe play to get you out from the Garden, while not making the bounty hunter suspicious ... but then you used your muscular brains and smashed Douglas down'' Markus than sat down and watched as the face of Richard's turned cold and calm as it had been usually. Markus knew that for Richard, emotionless face means only good.

'' I hoped so ...'' He told and started slowly raising his huge body. It was still clunky and painful, but at least he could move it.

'' So, those two here before were Douglas and Headmaster right? And your leg, how is it?'' Richard asked eagerly while finally was able to stood up and walk towards his armor, which was standing still on a armor holder.

'' Yeah, they were here. Headmaster needs to do some explaining and cleaning in Garden while Douglas needs to get as far as possible from here because the Bounty hunters enjoy killing the interrupters. And my leg? He never shot it... I had a fake-blood bag tied on my leg ... Pretty cool trick huh?'' Markus told and stood up quickly. Without a second of waiting, he jumped next to the dinner table and started eating a pie on it.

'' I didn't want to start eating before you wake up ...'' Markus told with funny voice and continued eating. Richard put his armor on, walked next to the table, sat down and took a pie as well.

'' So, when do we head out?'' Richard asked and took another pie. It seemed as he hadn't eaten for a while.

'' Hmm... I think we can stay here safely around 5 minutes. Then we have to get away from this forest as fast as possible as everyone know you are inside it ... and there are only around 10 or so ... '' The voice of Markus got more worried and serious while he was telling it. Richard smiled back to him and told:

'' Then we have enough time to drink some tea.'' That made both of the guys laugh. Richard stood up and took a cup of tea from the oven and offered another to Markus.

EDIT: Added some stuff

[Fehrant]

OOC: Italics are my character's thoughts.

This was their first taste of a real mission. Everything up to this point had been drills, fake scenarios, and nothing more. No consequences. They could die. Failure could mean death, not just a insignificant grade on some report. Rayne felt it. She felt the pressure building up. Even worse, she had three students in her charge. She wasn't a deep thinker; she was a doer.

That's why reading the reports was such an ordeal for her. Each leader had been given a brief with the information about each soldier in her small unit. Isken Sharptip, Flynn Avontyne, and Cuv'ielfyx.

Cuv'ielfyx? What kind of name is that?

Rayne eyes briefly scanned a sheet of paper. "The subject has difficulty to communicate verbally."

Bloody hell! Why would SeeD take in a person like that? That will mess up the mission. We are already handicapped, she thought while glancing at the shy girl.

Her eyes returned to the paper. She flipped to the next profile. Flynn. "Solitary by nature, the subject..." Bollocks. Is everyone some type of lone samurai here? As long as he follows orders, it should be fine. I'm not leader material, bloody moronic instructors, but I wonder if these people are material worth a shit. I know I can hold my own in a fight, but I'm not sure about this lot. And then, there's the other arsehole. She took the last page in the brief.

Isken. She started reading. "A social individual, the subject..." Well, no shit, Sherlock. I hope mouthing off isn't the only thing he can do.

She closed the brief and rested her head on the metallic wall for a moment, staring at the boat's ceiling. I'm pretty sure the instructors have a brief on me too, but my unit won't get to see it. Lucky for them, else they would realize I'm not cut out to be a leader. They won't have to realize how deep in shit we are. We are not cut out for this.

I don't want to be here. I want to play with the band. I like fighting, but not like this. This has a different taste to it. People will die tonight. I have to make it home. To the band. My friends.

Rayne closed her eyes and pressed with two fingers the upper bridge of her nose, right between her eyes. She slowly gathered willpower, and sat straight, opening her eyes, and facing the rest of the squad.

"Listen up, Squad A," she called, though in the sheer silence she must've gotten everyone's attention. She pointed with thumb finger at her chest. "Diablos," she called out. Rayne opened the brief, and searched for the next GF. She pointed an index finger at Cuvie without taking her eyes of the sheet. "Tonberry," her finger moved to Flynn, "Tezcacoatl," and last to Isken, "and Plague."

"Dark Plague," corrected Isken.

Rayne glared at him. She opened her mouth, but the boat suddenly took a turn. They were at their destination.

"Move out, go go go," ordered the SeeD instructor.

Squad A got on their feet, and marched to the deck. Outside, the boat was close to the ridge of a high rocky shore. Rayne was the first to jump off the boat onto the rocks. Squad A soon followed.

It was still night. The facility's western wing was spotted higher at the distance, but the rest was covered by the huge rocky structure composed of several set of boulders, laying deeper inland. This was an ideal place to infiltrate, as they had several spots to be shielded from possible watchmen. Conversely, this was the perfect place for an ambush.

Rayne had not realized. She had not thought about it properly, but luckily for her, there was no ambush awaiting. The short staff of the terrorists was busy as it was, not expecting to be interrupted in the dead of night.

The climb, while not steep, took effort. Squad A's leader however was fit, and she jumped between boulders skillfully slowly making her way up, every now and then stopping to make sure her squad was keeping up. By the time they had reached the top, some of them had to stop to regain their breath.

The facility came into view. It was a fairly big building, four stories up, and an unknown amount underground. Most of the place however, probably lay vacant now. The walls were corroded by the typical near-sea wear, but even so, the place was rigged with cameras. Not on every possible entrance, Rayne noted, but enough for the squad to take a long way around the building to find one.

"Let's move out," Rayne ordered.

Squad A left the last boulder of concealment and reached the outer wall of the building, pressing their backs against it. They moved following Rayne as their lead as she searched for a possible entrance. She glanced up, and realized that was probably their best bet.

Using the natural inlaid ridges of the facility, and the climbing equipment provided by SeeD, they made it to one of the second story windows that was easily opened, avoiding camera detection so far.

Rayne signaled the group to turn the volume down of their radios once inside, and proceeded to scout the place. It didn't take long before they heard voices.

"Everything normal here," came the voice.

The group pressed their backs against the wall. Rayne took a peek from the edge.

A man wearing a face mask and a military uniform patrolled the area. He had a loaded automatic machine gun in his hands. Rayne noticed he had come from a door leading to stairs below. She turned to face Squad A and with a motioned of her thumb finger indicated they would need to go downstairs. Then, she held her open palm, ordering them to hold their position.

With the man giving their backs to them, it was a relatively easy target. She crept closer leaving their hiding spot and approached the unsuspecting patrol. By the time the man had become aware of her presence it was too late. He tried to fight against the choker hold, but he finally succumbed.

One kill, Rayne thought as she dragged the limp body towards a room. Aye, a completely different feeling, she noted grimly.

Squad A headed downstairs not knowing what they would find below. For now, their first objective was to find the missing SeeD.

[Caije]

Isken’s heart beat like a wild jackhammer as he entered the facility. Each floor was well lit, and if a single guard on patrol saw them, they could all be killed on sight. The thrill of the mission was like an adrenaline rush. The unknown future kept his blood pumped. It felt like a drug.

“Wait until I tell the girls back home about this.” his face lit up with an excited grin.

They paused at a long room, filled with cameras. They remained in the shadows. His leader was intent on figuring out a way to get down the corridor without being seen. Isken slowly crept behind her and tapped her on the shoulder, whispering in her ear.

“I think I may know a way to get us out of this mess.” He winked at her and put on a boastful smile, sticking his thumb at her. “Leave it to me, baybeh.”

Rayne looked at him mixed with confusion and frustration. She decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. "If you **** up, I'll use you as a sodding shield." She frowned.

His comrades watched as he knelt on the ground, focusing on the camera as he pulled his purple bandana past his mouth. They all glanced over their shoulders as a bundle of black dots approached them. They stood at unease as the buzzing creatures flew past them swiftly, approaching the cameras. The swarm of bugs flew towards the small devices, splitting up and covering the camera lenses. Allowing the squad of four easy acces through the long corridor.

Isken smiled lowering his bandana. “Nothing to it.” He whispered.

They crept quickly down the corridor, down another flight of stairs as the bugs followed them silently. They came to a large room, full of old rusted machinery and some fairly new computer technology. The room was well lit, but Isken could see no activity in the room. Beside the computers were many books and files spread out on the desks.

Rayne halted and nodded at the others. “Tezcacoatl, search the computers for anything to do with the objective. Tonberry, help me search through this mess of files. Plague--”

“Dark Plague.” He corrected her.

“Don’t **** anything up, stay alert.” She warned him. Her fist colliding with her other hand.

----
Kiyuri sighed, an hour had passed since they left the ship and the just came upon the mountains. Their conversation consisted of small talk to do with their current well being. Kiyuri was nervous. She wasn’t a leader. Her palms were sweaty as she clutched her gun, half expecting her squad to step into an ambush.

“Stay on alert. We’re almost there.” She said warmly, trying to hide the faint scent of fear from her body language. She failed.

They crept up towards the cliff, stopping every second as they approached the large cliff side. Slowly, they crept closer and closer towards the scene. She took out a pair of hi-tech binoculars and observed the are through night vision mode. She saw two cars. She assumed they all belonged to the sellers. She scanned the area for troops. At the cars, there were three men, one holding a briefcase tightly, the other two talking amongst themselves. On a higher ledge, Kiyuri saw another soldier, armed with a rifle staring off to the distance. He was most likely on watch for the buyer.

“T-That’s four visible, 500 yards away.” She stammered in a hushed whisper. She zoomed the binoculars out a little more and saw one soldier walking through the grass. She scanned his attire, he had two handguns both gripped in his hands, he was heavily armoured at his chest. “One scout, 100 yards away.”

John tapped her on the shoulder and pointed into the distance. She looked towards from where his finger was pointed at.

“One more, 200 yards away. Armed with a shotgun…” She sighed in frustration. One gun shot would be enough to alert the sellers and buyers and corrupt their mission.

“What do we do?” Raziel asked.

Kiyuri thought to herself for a few seconds. She handed Raziel the night vision binoculars. “We’re going to split up.” She bit down on her lip tightly. “It’s careful that we don’t make a noise, such as a gunshot. You knock out those two guards, Seton, you will go to the one 200 yards away. Athenea, I’m going to need you to take down the scout 100 yards away.”

“What about you?” Raziel asked.

She managed to swallow, her heart beat pumping like a jackhammer. “I’m going to the upper ledge where the lookout guard is. When the buyers arrive and the deal initiates , I will shoot him. He’ll fall down and alert the others, who will hopefully be off guard. I’m going to pray they focus their attention on me. Then, you guys swoop in after rendezvousing. You take out the sellers, and knock out the buyer. Kill anyone else. Be careful, we don’t know how many soldiers are with the buyer. Use GF’s if necessary but no explosives. We need to get this on our first try, which means no gunfire until my signal… oh, god.” She shut her eyes tightly hoping she would wake from this nightmare. “Lets go.”

“Wait, what if the buyer tries to escape?” John asked in a hushed whisper.

“I’ll have that covered. Don’t worry. Now, turn off your walkie-talkies... ” She smiled warmly. The three comrades separated into the shadows, creeping slowly, careful not to alert the enemy.

[Zerobanshee]

Raziel, after hearing the orders from Kiyuri, started heading away from the group, slowly catching up to the scout he was designated to take out. Remembering that he was armed with a shotgun, Raziel knew he'd have to be fast, and effective. 200 yards... he thought to himself. Counting each step, pacing himself, Raziel kept a watchful eye on the scout, ensuring that the target wouldn't see him.

As he walked through the grass, gaining on the scout, he started taking low, deep breaths, slowing his breathing and heartbeat to the desirable level. Taking each step with care, he continued the breathing process, pumping blood throughout his body, moving oxygen to his brain. He was doing this to keep his concentration to the max, as he tried to keep his mind on the scout, his footsteps, and his allies in the distance. If anyone of them messed up in their act, the other two would have to take over.

As Raziel reached a good distance from the scout, he quickly looked over his shoulder, to see if John had incapacitated his guard yet. It seems that he didn't, but he was a short distance away, and able to execute the procedure. Raziel, timing his movements to John's, snuck up to the Scout, and quickly struck him in the back of the head, in the small base of the skull. Raziel struck him hard enough as to knock the scout out, and as the scout started to fall, Raziel caught onto him, and gently lowerd him onto the ground, to prevent any sounds that could alert the others.

Searching the scout's unconsious body, Raziel came up with a small, structured map, and the man's walkie-talkie: a small, headset of a walkie, with mouthpiece to communicate. The headset had small button on the ear, and if pushed, one could speak with the others. Raziel also emptied the shotgun of it's shells, as well as removing the extra rounds from the scout's pockets. These he simply stuffed into his bookbag. Raziel couldn't find anything of use on the guard, so he made sure that the guard couldn't be seen.

Raziel slowly set the headset into place, and broke off the mouthpiece, to remove any chance of them hearing him. So far, no one was squawking in, so Raziel simply ignored the walkie. Pulling out the map, the ledge that Kiyuri was advancing on was facing the camp, and he was walking east around the camp. There was an entrance to the far west, where John was heading, and another in the south-east, close to where Raziel was standing.

Raziel continued his way towards the base, keeping a constant lookout for anything suspicious. He stopped a good distance away from the base, and knelt down, providing less of an opportunity to be seen. He pulled from his backpack a pair of binoculars, a personal pair of his, and tried to figure out where the others are. The mist was gathering so thickly, he could hardly manage to see his hand across his face. I wonder if the other two are having troubles with this mist... Raziel thought to himself. Could this interfere with Kiyuri's shot?

Raziel waited for it seems like forever. As he wore no watch, he could only keep track of the time by the digital clock on his cell phone, which was currently turned off, inside of his bookbag. Not daring to take it out to turn it on, Raziel only had the ability to guess the time, and hope that something happens soon.

"Here he comes..." The radio in his ear squawked. Where the volume was low, Raziel had to focus to hear what the others were saying. "He should be here in about 10 minutes, where he'll rendezvous with us." Raziel heard what he wanted, and turned the headset off. He tossed it away, and slowly gripped the handle of his lance. Playing his fingers across the shaft of the lance, he couldn't help but feeling slightly excited, yet scared at the same time. Hope the others are ready...he thought. This will be one heck of a night.

[Fehrant]

John nodded grimly at the final orders, and melted in the shadows. He cocked the silencer into his pistol very slowly while he approached his objective. He also had an semi-automatic submachine gun, a couple of grenades, clips for weapons, and a short knife, which he hoped didn't have to use, but it was standard fare to carry something for close combat.

Squad B was wearing SeeD uniforms. The uniform was composed of a black upper piece, trimmed golden at the chest where it closed, and red at the end of the sleeves. A set of black shoulder pads trimmed golden as well, with an intrinsic white and black pattern on the front and plain black on the back were placed on top. Both were fastened by a loose chain. A belt was used for the waist, and along the torso connecting with the left shoulder pad. A pair of black pants matched the upper piece, and short boots for the feet. John additionally had a body harness used for holding all the weapons he was carrying.

Now at a perfect distance to complete his objective, John simply pointed his gun carefully at the back of the man's head and pulled the trigger, the noise coming out muffled. He caught the man before he could fall flat on the ground, alerting others. Still, John glanced nervously everyone to see if anyone had noticed. Just then he saw Raziel taking out of the other guard. The timing had been perfect.

They waited for Kiyuri, who had to act before anyone became aware of the two missing guards. That wouldn't take long, for sure. She had to act fast.

Taking a man's life felt so simple, it didn't feel like much at all. John however felt little remorse: his head was only occupied with his family, and he was going to do whatever it took to grant them a better life.

[Caije]

Isken looked over Flynn’s shoulder as he typed codes into the old computer. Rayne and Cuvie were scanning through files and , Isken got the impression that any of his comrades trusted him well enough. To let him help, so he did as Rayne instructed and stayed at the door.

Minutes passed and Isken began to tap impatiently at the door as his GF circled the room from above, making little noise. “You know, this could be the wrong room-”

“Keep quiet you piece of shit.” Rayne hissed and turned her head back to Cuvie who was now putting files back in correctly with the.

“Pssst” Flynn motioned the group nearer as he kept in his hushed voice. “I found files,… a diary account more like it, it’s from a guy called Fisher Glasco, describing how they discovered her, and what they did to her, long story short… they buried ‘Elisa Durazno’ at sea.”

There was a harsh moment of silence in which only the quiet buzzing of bugs wings could be heard. Isken sighed loudly. “Well, four eyes, well done.”

“Wait.” Rayne’s eyes focused on the computer. “How did they discover that there was a mole in here?”

“She slipped up?” Isken suggested.

“Well, it only says that … “-A contact has informed me of which a mole has been working for me undercover. The evidence is solid.” … A spy in Balamb Garden? But only a few people probably knew about the mission…” Flynn paused.

“Well I’ll be damned.” Rayne raised her eyebrow contemplating on what options she had next. “Upload this information and we’ll bring it--”

“We should --” Isken began but his words were interrupted by another flash of darkness which covered the room. The others watched as he dropped to his knees at the doorway. They were caught off guard by his sudden shrieks of terror as he now clutched his stomach.

Isken drew his sword and dashed quickly at the computer, Flynn moved his head just in time as Isken impaled the screen. Several sparks emerged from the system as it was destroyed. Flynn was shoved off the chair he was sitting on by his now mental comrade.

“FIENDSSSS!!!” Isken hissed loudly. “I WILL ****ING DESSSSTROY YOU ALL!”

[Fehrant]

OOC: Got Caije's approval for some things in my post.

Isken shouted insults and threats almost incoherently as he swung his short sword viciously. Flynn was on the ground, Rayne simply stared dumbfounded unable to grasp the situation, and Cuvie was at the farthest end, closest to the door. Rayne noticed a malice almost foreign in Isken's eyes that were totally unlike his cocky persona. Something was going on, and this had been taken too far to be a mere prank. Whether this was some for of mind control or simply magic she didn't know.

She was the leader however. Even if she didn't want to. And right now, Isken was compromising the success of the mission. Even more, he was a threat to everyone else in the party.

He charged Flynn who was still trying to regain his footing. Rayne propelled herself, one leg forward, kicked the chair, and shoved it right at their attacking ex-comrade. As Rayne landed on the ground, the chair hit Isken in the legs, almost sending him to the ground, and effectively hindering him temporarily.

Rayne quickly got up, and pulled Flynn to his feet. Before they could decide what to do next, a metal box flew right at them. Rayne quickly shoved Flynn and herself aside, dodging it. It wouldn't not killed them, but it might have knocked one senseless for a bit, and give enough time for Isken to make a kill.

The metal box hit a hollow metal device hanging on the wall. It made a surprisingly loud sound that was even more noticeable in the silence that had shrouded the facility up to this point. The huge clank and the echoes in the hallway caused by it had clearly alerted someone--footsteps were approaching, even if there were no voices to accompany them.

Rayne turned her head brusquely alerted by the approaching steps, ignoring Isken for a moment. He tossed the chair aside, and shortened the distance. His loud screams and constant threats were enough to give Rayne some time to react, but it was a close call. The tip of the dan dao grazed her right cheek. With no time to even wince from the pain, she performed a counterattack, raising a quick uppercut that connected with Isken's gut, sending him backwards gasping for air.

"Quickly! Go deal with whoever's coming," Rayne ordered the other two. "This space is too small for more battles. Go!"

Without turning, she ground her teeth ready for her next attack, feeling for the first time the itch and tug of the skin surrounding the wound. Blood started to flow from it, but she had no time to address it.

Not wasting another second, she lunged towards Isken who was still out of breath. He attempted to defend himself regardless but all he could do was a weak downwards swing. Rayne dodged aside easily, and was directly facing her undefended enemy. First was a brutal kick at his right ankle, collapsing his legs together, and making him lose his balance. A quick set of jabs followed, first a right thrust to his face, and immediately flowed a left one with equal power. She coiled both arms backwards, opened her palms, and thrust them forward. When the hit was about to connect, her hands flashed a blackish blue.

"Demi," she called.

Casting a quick gravity spell on both palms as they were about to hit, the sudden force made a brusque impact and sent Isken flying towards the wall, landing hard on his back and falling to the floor, losing consciousness in the process.

The battle was over, but there was a new problem: an alarm resounded throughout the facility.