Curious Things At first it sounded like a cry, like some small animal or perhaps even a child. It was hard to tell if it was even real, while trapped in the muddled, halfway realm between wakefulness and sleep. Fujin stirred slightly and sat up, drawing the blankets to her. She felt to her side reflexively for Quistis, only to remember that she’d returned to her room. The sound echoed again, this time is was clearly inhuman. A steady, far away bleating, similar to a sheep but deeper, more throaty. The darkness was as all encompassing as the silence. The calming thrum of the engines and the cool indigo glow that gave her quarters a peaceful otherworldly feel were gone. She frowned and quietly slipped out of bed; sorely wishing she’d taken Quistis’ offer to stay the night. Though accustomed and fully comfortable in the darkness, she had to admit she felt an uneasy chill in the air. It was hot, and humid, a drastic change to the normal cool breeze that filtered through the chamber. Her nightshirt clung uncomfortably to her as she fumbled around in the darkness for a candle. Finding one, she quickly lit it, wincing as the light invaded her vision. Again, the sound echoed somewhere in the darkness, deep in the bowels of the ship. Grabbing her chakram she felt a bit more at easy, the weapon feeling solid and formidable in her hand. She had no desire to play the fool and go searching the depths of Balamb’s core, much less alone, in the darkness and in the middle of the night. Even if all the creatures roaming around in the depths were gone, the place was still dangerous, full of pits and rusting walkways. Making her way towards the elevator, she went past and to a small alcove that served as a closet of sorts. Reaching up she pushed aside a panel in the ceiling of the alcove and a metal ladder slid down with an audible clang. Putting the candle away and strapping her weapon to her back she started to climb, thankful for the dim emergency lights that lit the way. *********************** Blurry eyed and sluggish Squall staggered to the door still not fully awake. He’d already decided to beat who ever was banging on his door with his flashlight as soon as he saw them. "What..." He said with a growl then blinked in surprise. Fujin stood in the hall, ruffled, in her nightclothes and armed. "Problem?" He asked dully. "POSSIBLE." "What?" "TRAINING CENTER?" She asked, vaguely. "What about is?" "Who is it." Rinoa yawned, staggering to the door and leaning on Squall’s shoulder. "Fujin." He answered, still waiting for a proper explanation. "GATES WORKING?" Fujin asked. "Yes." Squall answered with a half-truth, not wanting to start rumors. "NOISES, CREATURES, BELOW." "Below?" Rinoa frowned, completely lost. "She means the old sections, the core." He explained. "Oh.." Rinoa nodded. "You heard noises and you come all the way up here to tell me... call security to look into it. That’s why I assigned SEED members to key areas." "POWER OUT." "Walk then." "YOU ARE CLOSER." "Whatever..." He groaned, heading back to the living room to sit down. "Come in." Rinoa said sleepily. "Are you sure you weren’t dreaming or something?" Squall asked with a yawn. "NOT DREAMING." Fujin grumbled. "YOU IN CHARGE. SO TELL." "Calm down." He waved defensively. "Why were you down in the core anyway!?" Rinoa balked. "It’s three in the morning." "She stays in Norg’s old chamber." Squall explained, picking up his communicator from the nearby table. "Ew, why would you want that place?" Rinoa asked disdainfully. "THANKS." Fujin growled at Squall in annoyance. "Celest?" He called into the Comm. "I’m here sugar. What are you doing up?" She said silkily. Squall shifted awkwardly, unnerved by the sultry tone she used whenever she talked to him. Quickly ignoring it and the glare Rinoa was giving him, he continued. "Everything been quiet?" "Quiet as a mouse hon, something wake you up?" "Someone..." He grumbled, glancing at Fujin who stood listening. "Need help?" She asked worriedly. "No, but I do need someone to check the gates at the Training Center. Make sure the seals are all in the green. We think something may have gotten loose in the core." "Want us to check the core too then?" "Not now, it’s to dangerous, wait until you check the seals. If there is a problem give me a call. We’ll round up a team and go down in the morning with the proper gear." "You’re the boss, if anything is amiss, I’ll give a holler." Celest said eagerly then signed off. "There we go." Squall shrugged. "You need a place to spend rest of the night?" Rinoa asked, not wishing to be rude. "NO THANK YOU." Fujin said graciously as she headed to the door. Squall saw her out and shut the door behind her then turned to Rinoa. "That was weird." She blinked curiously. "Used to it." Squall mumbled before heading back to bed. ************************** Using the key Quistis had given her, she quietly slipped inside. Moving carefully in the darkness she crept to Quistis’ room and knelt by her side. Smiled softly, she rested her chin on the bed next to the sleeping woman. Gently she reached out to stroke the Quistis’ hair. Stirring slightly at the touch, Quistis murmured quietly as her eyes fluttered open. "Fu?" She whispered in a cute, half-awake tone. Fujin nodded, not wanting to jar her awake by talking aloud. "You okay hon?" Quistis mumbled, starting to sit up but Fujin gently pressed back and slipped under the blankets. Quistis wasn’t sure what was going on as Fujin curled close against her. But she welcomed her regardless tucking the blankets around them before drifting back to sleep. ******************** "Are you going to tell me." Zell asked as he and Celest walked warily towards the Training Center. "Tell you what?" "Oh come on." He laughed, dancing in front of her. "Please." She chuckled, moving around him. "Did you ask Kevin out or what?" "No." "What? Why not?" He blinked in a stupor. "I dunno." She sighed. "You gotta move fast woman! While he’s loopy from being shot down by Miss Trepe." Zell said eagerly, slamming his hand into his fist. "Since when are you an expert of dating." She laughed. "I’m not, I’m just tired of seeing you mope about. You’re getting to be as bad as Quistis, no offense to her of course." "I’m sure she appreciates that." Nicole droned, dissaprovingly. "Bah..." "What are you a sheep now?" "Cute...seriously, you all baffle me." "We all?" Who?" "Women." "Oh women..." She laughed heartily. "Yeah, you all do this song a dance. If you like someone just say so." "HA! You’re full of it!" "Huh? What, why do you say that?" He frowned in confusion. "I’ve talked to Nicole about you." "Great that’s another thing...you all gossip." He groaned. "She told me how you pranced around for months before finally getting up the nerve to ask her out." "Well I was younger, and there was a lot going on. I’ve um grown..." "Please... Look, I just get the impression that I’m not his type." "You’re everyone’s type." He snickered. "Shut up!" She snapped sourly then frowned. "Look, the status light on the seals are red. That’s not good." She said darkly looking at the door leading into the training center. "Shit..." He mumbled. "What should we do?" "Oh, hell I dunno. Lets poke our head in, see how bad it is." "Seems a little foolish, and risky." She frowned then opened the hatch. "Let’s go have a look see." "Heh, I like you’re style." Zell laughed patting her back. "Thanks, too bad you’re single." She sighed dreamily, pinching his rear. "Hey, s-stop that, its weird." He yelped, scooting out of goosing range. "Oh calm down, I’m teasing." She grinned, looking around the darkened, man made forest. "Odd." Zell frowned, putting his hands on his hips as he scanned around, like some sort of legendary explorer. "What?" "There’s no noise." "Huh?" Celest noted, making a face. "That’s odd, you’re right. That’s just creepy." "Think they all escaped?" "Nah, some are too big to get out unless the cargo hatch is opened at that would flood us." A noise caught his attention and he shone the light ahead. "Aw hell..." He mouthed as a shallow stream of water began to flow into the clearing. "Wonderful." Celest groaned as the water began to increase at an alarming rate. "BRIDGE!" Zell shouted into his Comm. "Yeah." The nightshift pilot answered dully. "Nida wouldn’t happen to be up there would he?" "Nope, he’s at home asleep." The man yawned. "Do you know how to close the cargo doors in the training hall?" Zell asked hopefully. "Cargo doors...hmm..." The man said groggily. "Tell him to hurry." Celest shouted, grabbing Zell by the arm and pulling him back towards the entrance as water raced up to their feet, bodies of several dead creatures began to appear, carried by the rising water. "Yeah cargo doors, were taking on water, bad!" Zell shouted, getting worried. "OH!" The pilot yelled in horror then started slapping wildly at buttons and switches. Somewhere in the distance, Zell heard a metallic groan and a loud splash. About a minute later, it was followed by a loud clang and the water began to settle. "Did that work!?" The pilot shouted worriedly. "Yeah, I think so, thanks man." Zell sighed in relief as he waded out into the water. It was well past his ankles and nearly to his knees. "Careful hon, no telling what’s swimming around in there, you cant see squat." "We have to get the seals back on line and make sure that cargo door stays shut." Zell sighed. "We’re gonna get wet." "Wonderful." Celest groaned and sloshed out to him, as she readied her rifle, making sure to switch it to automatic. "Just don’t shot me." Zell frowned as he took point, shining the flashlight into the distance. "You have Leviathan?" She asked curiously. "Nope, Quisty claims him. Why?" "He could get rid of all this water for us, if it gets out of here the salt water might cause some serious damage. "This place is sealed pretty good except towards the ceiling, there is some vents and such but the waters not anywhere near them." "If you say so." "Hey now, I’m the residence mechanical genius." Zell proclaimed proudly. "Well then genius, what is that?" Celest quipped, pointing her rifle towards a large mound of what appeared to be a grotesque mix of manure, mechanical parts and the bones of several creatures. "OH NASTY!" Zell blurted, stumbling to a halt. "Ew, I’m going to be sick." Celest whined, scampering backwards. "Gross, that has to be from a Rex..." Zell mumbled, moving around the mass cautiously and well out of range. "What did it eat, one of the air conditioners?" Celest mumbled, having pulled her collar up to cover her nose and mouth. "Probably, they’ll eat anything when they’re hungry enough." "Think we should wake Squall up?" Celest wondered aloud. "What, because of a pile of poop!?" "No you goon, the flood." "Not yet, lets see how bad things are." "Lead on then. How much farther?" "Not much, just around the bend." Zell pointed, jogging forward a bit. As they made their way deeper into the underbrush, they became aware that the majority of the plants had wilted and grayed. "What do you make of that?" Zell asked, poking on of the trees. "Lack of light, saltwater?" "I don’t thin either would kill them this fast. I don’t know though, I’m not a botanist." "And where the hell are the creatures at? Except for the dead ones earlier this place is empty." "Beats me hon." "Well here we are." Zell sighed, looking up at the massive bay doors. The doors were battered and bent slightly but seemed solid enough. The manual control panel was also damaged. "That’s our culprit." He pointed to the smashed box. "It would take something big to smash it up like that." "Who knows, the creatures here can get nasty sometimes. Give me hand with this crank, so we can lockdown this gate. That should keep any glitches from opening it again." Slinging her rifle, Celest moved to help. Together they gripped the large metal wheel and began the arduous task of turning it. After several long minutes the emergency locks slid into place with a loud heavy thud. "That should do it." Zell said while stretching. "It’s to late to be doing this." Celest groaned, rubbing her shoulders. "Welcome to the club kid." Zell teased playfully. "Oh, please." She scowled slightly before sloshing through the underbrush. "Let’s get out of here, I need a shower." "Yeah really. It looks like the status lights are green again so I guess this was the only gate open." "Thank goodness." By the time they returned to their posts their replacement shift had already arrived. The two newly indoctrinated SEEDs looked at them with disdain. "Whoa what’s that smell." One youth proclaimed, backing up. "I’m going home now." Celest sighed, walking past them. "Hey guys, we’ve been playing in the Training Center, keep an eye out for anything out of sorts down there. See you around." Zell explained heading home also. ****************** Quistis and Fujin awoke simultaneously and the lights came on abruptly and the entire room shuttered. The sound of thankful cheering echoed up the halls and Fujin looked at Quistis blearily. "Hey there." Quistis grinned, ruffling Fujin’s hair playfully. "Imagine meeting you here." Fujin smirked and rolled her eye then slipped out of bed with a yawn. "I guess they fixed the problem early." Quistis said lazily then fell back onto the bed, pulling the covers over her head. "AFFIRMATIVE." Fujin nodded, making her way to the living room, being sure to drag the blanket with her. Quistis squeaked in indignation and clawed to recover the valued shroud of comfy warmth. Fujin tottered backwards on one foot slightly as Quistis tugged harder. Grinning, she let go and continued onto the kitchen. Moments later, Quistis joined her, wrapped in the blanket and eyeing her suspiciously. "Brat." Quistis scowled, sticking her tongue out playfully as Fujin poured a glass of water. Fujin reached out to grab it but wasn’t fast enough and Quistis giggled and spun away laughing. "JUVENILE." Fujin scoffed. Quistis made a face at her. "HUMPF." "Oh your no fun." Quistis pouted, folding her arms. Fujin glanced at her out of the corner of her eye with disinterest as she sipped her water. Without a word she paused and promptly poured the water over Quistis’ head. An ear splitting screech erupted from the instructor as she tried to flee. Fujin deftly stepped on the blanket, halting her escape as she grabbed the spray hose from the sink and aimed it threateningly. "You wouldn’t dare!" Quistis shrieked laughingly, trying to pull lose. Fujin arched a brow and smiled. ******************* "Hot food, finally!" Rinoa moaned in anticipation. Selphie voiced her agreement by ordering double helping of scrambled eggs. "I’m just glad to be able to take a warm shower." Nicole commented as the group made their way to the table where Quistis and Fujin waited. "You two are here early." Selphie noted, sitting down opposite Quistis. "I’m surprised you’re up, you were up late." Rinoa said to Fujin, causing Quistis to look at the two curiously. "Did I miss something?" "Fujin here came knocking on our door in the wee hours of the morning." Rinoa said chattily. "There was something creeping around her quarters last night or something." "Oh? That explains things." Quistis chuckled. "Bump in the night spook you Fujin?" Nicole grinned. Shifting in her seat uncomfortable Fujin gave everyone a sour look before digging into her meal. "Okay..." Nicole whistled lightly. "Where’s the boys? Irvine left early this morning. Something about clean up." Selphie asked, breaking the growing silence. "The training center flood last night." Nicole explained. "Zell told me about when he came home." "Flooded? How bad?" Quistis balked. "Not to bad, but the weird part is the creatures are gone." Nicole continued. "Gone? All of them?" Rinoa blinked. "How’s that possible. Squall didn’t say anything to me about it before he left." "That’s just was Zell told me, other than that, I have no clue." "I take it the cargo doors opened somehow?" Selphie asked. "Apparently, but its all fixed now." Nicole explained. "The training center is near the water line, that could have been a disaster if it were still storming." Quistis said gravely. Fujin listened to the chatter with passing interest. Glancing up she frowned slightly as Kevin, Watts and Zone approached. "Ladies." Kevin smiled in greeting. "Hey Kev." Quistis waved as the group of men walked past. "Hey Kevin! You talking Quistis to the dance?" Rinoa asked abruptly. "You guys didn’t tell her?" Kevin whispered to Zone and Watts." "Why would we, that’s between you and Quistis Sir." Watts smiled. "Great, um well." Kevin stammered. All eyes were on Quistis now who looked about in confusion with a spoon hanging from her mouth. "Muft!?" She mumbled. "Well?" Nicole grinned. "Come on Quistis." Selphie whispered hopefully. "Oh Hyne I err...He hasn’t even asked." Quistis stammered, glancing at Fujin, who was busily eating and appeared to care less. All eyes were now back on Kevin who was slightly annoyed by Quistis putting the ball back in his court. "Well I haven’t asked." Kevin babbled. Silence ensued and everyone waited expectantly, even Fujin was glancing over her shoulder curiously. Zone sat down and convulsed as his ulcer seized him. Kevin however had no such fall back and he was working himself into a fit trying to think what to do. "ASK." Fujin barked, growing bored with the tension in the air. "Quistis would you go to the dance with me!" Kevin blurted and exhaled at the same time. Quistis looked at Fujin horrified, as the other girls cheered her bravado. "Great! What am I supposed to say now!" Quistis hissed at her under her breath. Fujin looked her over as if the answer was obvious then shrugged. "YES." Fujin guessed then went back to eating, rolling her eye. Quistis’ mouth hung agape as Nicole and Selphie prodded her eagerly. Stammering and glaring a Fujin in confusion she glanced up at Kevin. "S-sure." She stammered. "Congratulations Sir!" Watts cheered, clapping Kevin on the back. Kevin meanwhile smiled apologetically at the still stunned Quistis. ***************** "Well this takes care of the relocation problem." Xu sighed, looking out over the ruined training center. "I guess." Squall frowned, leaning down to examine littering of bones. "What do you reckon happened?" Irvine asked, wading towards them. "Some must have gotten into the water, others may have gotten outside then made their way into the core." Squall shrugged, tossing the bone away in annoyance. Cid stood talking to a Squad of SEED’s and maintenance men, preparing to flush the entire chamber out into the ocean. "Dr Kawdowki." He called to the Garden’s resident physician. Sloshing through the briny water, she made her way to him. "What do you think killed the plants?" Cid asked worriedly. "Tell me its not some kind of viral outbreak, do I need to be worried." "It’s not viral, the plants died from dehydration." She noted, holding up a slime cover twig. "The pumps were turned off to conserve power but only for a few days. Surely that’s not enough to kill them all." Cid frowned. "It’s not natural, something did it to them fairly quickly by the looks of it." "What did...?" Squall asked, walking towards them. "I don’t know, we’re pretty far out in the ocean. Some creature probably got in when the cargo gate was open then escaped back into the water." The doctor shrugged. "This isn’t my field of expertise, but I’d say that’s what happened to most of the creatures too. "Great, that’s a scary thought." Irvine frowned, drawing his rifle, just in case. "Do you think it could have gotten inside?" Squall asked, growing concerned. "Highly unlikely, anything big enough to do this would never fit in any of the service hatches, it’d have to go through another cargo door." "And all of them are in the green." Cid noted. "That’s good, so it’s gone then." Squall sighed. "That just leaves any of the smaller critters that may have gotten in through the vents." Irvine smiled, thankfully. "Fujin said she heard some sounds around the core area, I’ll send a few teams to clear it out." Squall said motioning to the nearby squad leaders. "Okay then, I’ll stay here and work with maintenance to flush the chamber." Cid smiled, thankful to be rid of the mess. Xu nodded and sighed. "And I have to finish arrangements for the damned dance. I need get to Deling with Selphie to work with the caterers. Is the Ragnarok flyable?" "Zell and Fujin has had it in pieces but I think it’s running, somewhat." Irvine chuckled. "I’ll ask him to call you when he I see him." "Thanks." Xu smiled, before rushing off to find Selphie. ********************************************* "I can’t believe you did that." Quistis hissed as she and Fujin walked up the hall. "How can I take him to the dance, it’ll start all kind of rumors!" "JUST STUPID DANCE." Fujin sighed. "Oh how did I know you would say that." Quistis groaned. "IS TRUE." Fujin noted. "Are you going?" Quistis sighed in exasperation then frowned at the stupidity of the question. "No of course not." "CORRECT." Fujin nodded. "Ugh..okay." Quistis sighed and paused. "I have to go talk to Cid, I’ll see you later this afternoon." She smiled. "LATER." Fujin smirked as Quistis waved good bye. The smirk faded as soon as Quistis rounded the corner and Fujin hissed in annoyance before storming up the hall. ***************************** "Give it a rest already!!" Celest screamed as the door pounded again. Still not unpacked from the move from the dorms to her own apartment she stumbled over boxes on the way to the door. "WHAT!?" She barked, annoyed at having been awakened in such a rude manner. She jumped with a start at who was waiting when she pulled the door open. Fujin was standing, arms folded and a glaring hotly. "Um." Celest mumbled, poking her head into the hall to see if anyone else was there. "I worked the skeleton shift left night, can this wait?" "NEGATIVE." Fujin grumbled, then made her way inside. Celest was to taken aback to protest and shut the door behind her. "What’s going on..." She sighed sadly. Fujin took a strained breath and her posture tightened visibly as if struggling. "NEED ASSISTANCE..." She asked stiffly.
Back to Frozen Index - Back to Final Fantasy 8 Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction