Not So Simple Missions Chapter 4
Demon Huntin'
By Holly Clarke
Paige half-smiled. She thought Selphie would be a tough nut to crack, she seemed like the type of person who was inwardly secure. But she was clearly getting to Selphie, who was starting to look like she was stuck between a rock and a hard place.
"What exactly do you mean by 'maybe my turn is over?'" Selphie asked, eyes narrowed, mouth pressed in a straight, grim line.
Paige raised her eyebrows and opened her violet eyes just wide enough to portray the picture of innocence. She'd done the innocent routine many times before and by now she was a pro. "Nothing, I just meant that you should look out... because lots of other girls have their eye on Irvine. I'm just giving you a word of advice. You really should thank me."
Selphie snorted. "Yeah, thanks, Paige, I'm sure that came from the bottom of your heart."
Paige didn't answer, for she saw eight figures walking toward them. She did a mental role call. There was Irvine, Rinoa, Zell, Quistis, Logan, Paiten, and Riley. And then there's Squall... they must've found him. But Squall wasn't who she was interested in.
"Hey, Irvine!" Paige yelled before Selphie could see them coming. She saw Irvine wave back and then waited for them to get there. She watched Selphie with her periphical vision, seeing her sit up a little straighter and comb through her hair with her hands.
"Hey, guys," Zell said enthusiastically when they got to the site. What's up?"
"Nothing," Selphie answered quickly. Paige almost laughed but caught herself. Selphie was a horrible actress.
Paige twirled her dark purple hair around her finger. "So, you found Squall," she said, directing the statement at all of them but looking directly at Irvine, "What's next?"
"Well, we stay here for the night," Quistis replied. "Not much else we can do. It's starting to get dark and it would be dangerous to try to make our way back to Garden now. Tomorrow morning, we'll file a report to Headmaster Cid and await his next command."
Everyone took a seat, worn out from the search. Paige stood up and moved over to where Irvine was sitting, and gracefully sat beside him, tucking her legs in under of her. "I take it the search was successful."
She was granted Irvine's easy grin. He folded his arms together on the back of his head. "Yeah, so now we can finally take it easy."
Paige carried on casual conversation with Irvine for a few minutes, sneaking glances at Selphie in between. Perhaps she was being too obvious. But Selphie seemed pretty oblivious to the world at most times, and so if Paige wasn't blatant about this, Selphie probably wouldn't catch on. It was time to turn on the charm to its full capacity.
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Quistis sighed. She hated sitting around. She liked to be either giving orders, or involved in something with a lot of action, or at least talking to someone. And she felt as if she should be doing something here. It was then she decided to go demon hunting.
She had told the rest of her party that it was for the safety of Garden and for Balamb. That if there was anything out there she didn't want it to get a hold of innocent civilians. She convinced herself this was true and she really wasn't organizing this activity for her own selfish reasons, to escape insanity through boredom.
"So who wants to come with me?" she asked hopefully, looking straight at Zell. She knew how passionately he felt about protecting his hometown, especially his ma, and threw in the safety of Balamb for his benefit. As expected, he agreed.
"I'm goin, Quistis. If there's anything out there that's gonna hurt my territory...? He slapped his fist into his palm.
"I'll go, too," Logan said. Quistis then remembered he was from Balamb too. Of course he would want to go.
"I'll come, too," said Paiten with a smile. She threw her sheathed dagger in the air and caught it. "I'm in desperate need of something to do." Quistis smiled at her. It was same reason she brought it up in the first place. Boredom and anxiousness.
"Anyone else?" Quistis asked, looking around. Nobody jumped in.
"Rinoa, maybe you should go," suggested Squall, whose head was in Rinoa's lap. His eyes were half closed and his voice scratched. He was obviously worn out.
Rinoa looked at Quistis and then down at him. "No... you look way too comfortable. I think I'll stay here with you."
"I don't need - " Squall started to object.
"My help," Rinoa finished. "Yeah, yeah, I know. You're Mister Independent and Tough Guy who Always Has to Be the Hero. Well, I'm staying whether you like it or not!" She bent down her head to give him a quick kiss.
Quistis smiled and looked away. "How about you guys? Selphie, Irvine, Paige, Riley? Any more takers?"
She saw Paige glance at Irvine and half-smile. "Nope. I'm staying right here." Selphie narrowed her eyes at Paige and nodded her head in agreement. Irvine was leaned back, his hands behind his head, and Quistis doubted he even heard a word she was saying. Riley was staring at the fire, and Quistis decided to leave him be as well.
"Alright, then. Come on guys."
"Lets go demon huntin'!" Paiten said enthusiastically.
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Paiten was as enthusiast. She always was, and probably always would be. As long as she knew that nobody was in trouble at that moment, and when she was surrounded by people, she could manage to get excited about anything. Therefore, she felt it to be her duty to keep up the spirits of Zell, Logan, Quistis... and herself as well.
The four of them had been walking for roughly half an hour with nothing interesting in sight. It would be too dangerous, Quistis had said, to go to close to the station in case there was an aftershock of some kind. So they patrolled the area safely far enough away.
The sun was just beginning to set. There would be a campfire waiting for them when they got back. For that Paiten was glad, for she was starting to get a little cold.
"Anybody see anything?" she asked uselessly, knowing the answer, asking just to create conversation.
"No," Logan answered pointlessly, but suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks. "But..." he paused and put his finger to his lips. "I think I hear something."
The four fell silent, and Paiten concentrated on listening. She heard nothing. "Logan - "
"Shhh! Dammit, Paiten... just listen!"
Then she heard it. A faint cry from the distance. She looked up excitedly. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"
"But maybe it's too close to..." Quistis started to object.
Paiten shrugged. "Come on... let's just go. I really want to do something exciting! I bet its just a Bite Bug or something, anyway."
"I don't know," Zell protested. "It sounds... bigger. Although it's hard to tell from this distance. I think we should go check it out, too!"
Paiten could practically see the conflicting emotions that played just beneath Quistis' eyes; one part desperate to see what the sound was, and the other paranoid that something would happen that could get blamed on her, or, even worse, seriously harm someone. "...Okay, fine," she finally said. "Let's go check it out."
Paiten pumped her fist in the air. "Yes! Let's go!"
They half-walked, half ran for awhile before Logan convinced them to stop and listen again. It took five minutes before they heard a cry, but it sounded like it was in very close proximity. They stopped and looked around.
"Where is it?" Zell whispered. Although when Zell whispered, he still made it sound as if he were yelling. "It sounds so close... but I don't see anything!"
"Zell! Look out!" Paiten yelled. A large monster with wings had attacked him from behind.
"Augh!" Zell struggled to turn around and hit the beast squarely in its snout. It shook its head madly and surged forward to attack again. Zell ran sideways, in his best awareness stance, ignoring the medium-sized slash on the back of his left arm.
Quistis took out her Save the Queen whip and struck the beast near the left wing. "It's a Wyvern!" she shouted. "It's one of the monsters being created with the interference from the station. Be careful, guys, these suckers are tough!"
"Oh... shit!" Paiten cried out. The Wyvern cast an Aero spell on her and she was knocked back. Slightly winded, she got back up and unsheathed her dagger, herer trusty Orichalon, one of the finest thieves' daggers on the market. She took it and slashed the Wyvern in its right wing. Blood fell from the gash and it struggled to fly. "Hey - it's halfway dead!"
She saw Logan shoot towards the Wyvern coming almost out of nowhere. Logan was known for his amazing speed. He jumped up and back kicked the Wyvern solidly between its huge eyes. "Taaa!" He landed slightly off balance but got up quickly, avoiding the Wyvern's fall to the ground. It nearly landed of top of him.
"Ohhhhhh yeah!" Zell exclaimed. Paiten got caught up in his excitement and jumped up to slap him a high five. She felt rejuvenated; a good fight always did that to her. Also, it was her first time fighting alongside these people. It made her feel powerful and accepted to be keeping up with them in battle.
"Zell... let me see your arm," she suggested.
"It's nothin'," Zell protested. "Just a scratch."
"No... it's a gash. Let me see it," Paiten insisted. "I'd like to cast a simple Cure spell on it. We may run into more of these guys and you got to have your stamina up to keep in the game!"
Zell smiled at her. "Y'know, Paiten, you're alright. Here, cast away." He held out his arm, twisting it so that she could get a good look at the gash.
Paiten looked at it. It really wasn?t a really big deal, but it was a gash. Still, Paiten was famous for being a group healer and knew that everything that could be taken care of with a Cure spell should be taken care of after battle. Of course, major things didn't take to any curative spell. In fact, even a Curaga could make certain things even worse, such as excessive bleeding, any bleeding in the major organs, major head sickness, or various serious medical conditions. Fortunately, this could be taken care of easily.
"Draw ..... Cure!"
The gash slowly healed up. Not quite as good as new, but would be with rest. "Thanks," Zell said, nodded his head, and started to walk. Paiten walked alongside him, following Quistis and Logan. For the first time in a while, she felt like she belonged.
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Logan walked alongside Quistis. He ran a hand through his slightly spiked back hair, which was starting to fall flat. Not that he cared much. His Garden uniform was also starting to look somewhat disheveled. It was wrinkled and there was a rip in the seam of the left leg.
"Where are we going now?" he asked, no nobody in particular.
"I thought we'd head back," Quistis answered him. "It's getting a little late. And it's very dangerous to engage in battle after the sun sets."
"Yeah... I know," Logan said, mainly to himself, remembering a few times he'd left Garden after hours. There was one particular time when he'd met up with a Behemoth, which had somehow gotten to the Balamb area. He was found the next day... though he made it fine, it didn't look like he would at the time. The Behemoth was caught the next day and was slaughtered. Logan spent two weeks in the infirmary and then went back to his normal life, never mentioning the attack again.
He looked at the sky. It was dim now, the sun barely still in the sky. They wouldn't be able to make it back before dark, but they'd probably be able to avoid battle. After they got to Garden in the morning they were going to have to take fast action to try to get rid of whatever this interference was. Logan had a feeling they were going to call on their most experienced SeeDs to handle the mission. But he had silently vowed to himself that he would he part of this. He had started the mission and intended to finish it. So what if he wasn't a SeeD? He could have been! Logan had deep confidence that he would have done exceedingly well with this test. After all, he was managing to hold his own among Garden legends like Quistis and Zell, wasn't he?
"So what are the plans for after we reach Garden tomorrow morning?" Logan asked Quistis as casually as possible.
Quistis raised her eyebrows. "Well, I guess that's kind of up to Headmaster Cid... and Squall will probably have some.... look out!!!"
Logan looked behind him. Another Wyvern! It was diving to slice him with one of its two sharp claws. Logan barely avoided the attack and stumbled backwards. "Dammit... there's no way we can avoid him!"
The words were barely out of his mouth when he saw the end of Quistis' Save the Queen strike the Wyvern squarely on its snout. It cried out and shook its head quickly. Before it could recover from the blow, Logan ran up to try knock it out as he did earlier, but it shook itself, sending Logan flying and landing hard on his back on the dirt, sending dust flying all around him.
"Logan, be careful!" Quistis exclaimed. "Don't try to out-do yourself!"
Feeling incredibly stupid, Logan stood up as he watched Zell plant the same hit that he himself tried, although unlike Logan's, Zell's was successful. The Wyvern's huge eyes rolled back into his head and he fell unto the ground with a loud thump. One huge red wing covered its small head and the other sprawled out in the dirt.
"Is it dead?" Paiten asked cautiously, her voice barely above a whisper.
"I don't know," Logan replied softly, trying to sound professional, "but I don't think that we should stick around to find out."
To his relief, Quistis nodded in agreement. "We should soon be at camp, so lets get back as quickly as possible. Two of those things are enough for me. But I must admit I'm a little worried. If we saw two in this small area there must be so many of them, they are probably being mass-produced every day."
They walked in silence back to camp, not wanting to attract anything unwanted, like another Wyvern or something worse. When they finally saw the flickering campfire ahead illuminating six figures, he wasn't sure if he was disappointed or relieved. He wanted a chance to prove himself to Zell and Quistis. He wanted to be taken to finish this mission. If they ran into another Wyvern he could probably have his chance. But he was also exhausted and, in his heart, knew he just wanted rest. But he would make sure when they got back to Garden that he was included in this mission.
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