Final Fantasy VIII: The Twilight Hour

Ben nodded as she replied, hopping aboard to stand beside her. Elizabeth called orders to start heading for Trabia, at top speed. She then pulled out her blade and a whetstone and began sharpening, calling that everyone should be getting ready. Ben nodded. "I'm participating?"

Ben generally didn't participate. As one of the more powerful White SeeDs by physical skill alone, they deemed that he only participate in missions if something had gone wrong. Ben would be participating either way, due to his orders to protect Elizabeth, but now he had an excuse and didn't have to explain why he was there. "What do we know of the situation?" Ben asked, sitting cross-legged and drawing his massive blade, inspecting it for any signs of dullness, rust, or blood stains.
 
Christiane just finished putting on her Metal Knuckle glove when the announcement came in. She decided, albeit last minute, to bring her staff altogether, at least to further impress the proctors and SeeDs.

She quickly rushed out to the Lobby. Her friends Augustina and Luminara were also heading in that direction.

"Do you still have the comm device?"

Christiane pulled out the device from her pocket.

"Good, we're ready to go."

The three stood in with the rest of the SeeD's and field exam students heading in to take the exam. They knew that this was going to be the most important exam ever taken, so this may come to be very difficult.
 
Afte the annoucement Selphie had givin up on her team completely. She knew they would be fine and catch up to her later so she ran to Trabia garden's entrance after Seifer. "Alright! Our team should go in after your team Seifer!" Selphie smiled.

She stood waiting outside Trabia gardens entrance. She had not worked hard to rebuild this school just to let it fall into ruin again. Rinoa and the other cadet would be there soon and Selphie couldn't wait for battle...
 
After Crimson Wolf had arrived at the gate to find some others there, he spoke out to them, but they proceeded to act like he wasn't even there.

It bothered him, it was like he didn't exist for his time around them, he headed back further into the Balamb Gardens, walking at not a very fast pace at all.

"That was a bit rude of them, I know they clearly must have set out with some job to do, but what am I some inanimate object to them, did they even notice I was there?" he said quietly to himself as he walked away from the small group of people that still remained at the gate, who would soon be outside of the gardens entirely.

He headed back for the Training Center to do what he usually does; train against monsters to strengthen himself. But for the moment his mood grew sour, he entered in this time specifically seeking out T-Rexaurs, recklessly killing off any Grats that dared to get in his way, in one swift, fierce swipe with his sharp claws.

For the next while, he would proceed to put a dent in the amount of T-Rex monsters within the Training Center as he took out his emotion on them, that day it was a bad day for them to be in there.

Crimson Wolf, even after his long session of fierce battling, felling many of a monster much bigger than himself, size difference really meaning nothing to him at the time, just wanting to rip and tear through things, preferably large, he grew stronger from it even after he settled down from earlier, he barely even felt fatigued, his energy level just seemed insanely high, pretty much limitless.

He kept his ears open in case there was some promising announcement made, he hadn't given up on an opportunity for some real action just yet.
 
ooc: Sorry for the late reply, had some personal stuff to deal with, but now i'm back

ic:

Zell, seeing Squall emerge from the lift approached him, waving slightly "Yo Squall! Good to be working together again, eh? Looking forward to being a team!" Zell rubbed his hand on his trousers before checking it was clean, and then offering it to Squall to shake "put it there, man"

Zell then had a sudden thought, one he voiced to Squall " hey Squall, since we're working together in this batle, and it's assumable you won't be easy to find later... Where will we meet? The Cafeteria?" Zell's mind more focused on getting his hands on some hot dogs, rather than an easy rendezvous point.
 
"Coming through! Out of the way! Move it!"

Zach bundled his way through the meandering people of Balamb Garden, trying to reach the deck as soon as he could. His running and shouting may have been a touch dramatic; there were only about 5 people he had to run past.

He was itching to find out why Xu needed him. Desperate even. His imagination was running wild, as usual, so much so that he nearly ran straight past the elevator.
Zach had quite a gung ho nature, so everything he did seemed dramatic. Even something obscure as missing the elevator. He performed what only can be described a baseball slide on the immensely polished floors and turned to face the elevator.

"Phew, almost missed it. Wonder what Xu wants?"

The elevator continued to hum as it slowly ascended. Eventually, it reached the deck in what seemed to take an eternity. Xu was waiting patiently, yet with a slight look of apprehension on her face.

"Hey Xu, what's up?!"

Zach announced, forgetting for a second the authority Xu had over him...

"...Ma'am."
 
"SeeD and Cadets, this is Xu. Those participating in the Field Exam, finish your preparations. The mission starts now. Remember you contact us if you find out anything. Zachary and Wolf, please come to the deck. Xu out."

Crimson Wolf heard the announcement, then just as fast as he headed for the gate before, he dashed off to get to the elevator to take it up to the deck, but still being careful to not bump into anyone on his way there.

When he got to the elevator, it was on it's way down. He waited eagerly for it to arrive, getting on as soon as it did, wondering all the while what Xu would want him for, he is different from anyone else in Balamb Gardens, but she also called out for a man named Zachary to come to the deck as well.

The elevator on it's way up, though at the same speed as always, seemed to be slower than ever to Crimson Wolf, trying to get to the deck as soon as possible as not to keep Xu waiting.

Finally arriving at his destination, he headed in, seeing Xu, and an unfamiliar face, most certainly the other person told to come to the deck.

"I heard you called my name, ma'am," he said, after standing upright in respect of Xu's authority, "what is the situation?"
 
ELIZABETH


"Yes, you are participating," Elizabeth told Ben, looking at him with a steely glint in her eyes; almost as though challenging him to question her decision. "All we know of the situation in Trabia currently is that the mass of monsters there has increased by at least double their original numbers. Our latest reports state that it may even be triple by now. This isn't the only influx we've discovered. There is another large one near Esthar, but I do not doubt President Loire's ability to keep his city safe. Trabia Garden, however, lies at the very epicenter of the influx in Trabia. They're all but surrounded. I'm certain Leonheart has also recieved reports of his own, and rushes now to the aid of the Garden." Elizabeth paused, checking the glinting edge of her blade.She gave Ben a careful look before continuing.

"If Trabia is overrun, we lose a possible ally. The Garden may not house warriors such as us or SeeD, but the students are loyal and dedicated. Exactly the sort of ally we need in this upcoming war. They may not be fierce but they have heart and hope. I cannot stand by and let them be crushed." Again she paused, observing her comrades' face, wondering how he would react to a sudden confession. "I was brought up in Trabia Garden. I could do nothing as the Garden was destroyed three years ago... You can be damned if I'm just going to stand idly by this time. If it means helping Leonheart and his SeeD, so help me, that's what we'll do. I refuse to see my home destroyed again." She roughly wiped away a rogue tear that slid down her right cheek. "If I can prevent it... then I will do everything within my power to do so."


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

XU

The SeeD woman gave both arrivals a small smile. "Glad you both made it up here so quickly. In case you are not aware, this is our Pilot, Nida," she gave Nida a fond smile before turning her attention back to both young men before her.

"As you may be aware, several of our promising cadets are now on their way out to complete their mission to secure Trabia Garden. However, this mission is not as cut and dry as it first seems. There is a likelihood of something going wrong... And if it does, I'm going to need the aid of the many warriors within Garden."

She paused, making sure the dual pistols at her waist were concealed. "I'm sure I can count on your cooperation should the mission fail?" though she posed it as a question, she was not expecting either of them to say no. "If you are sent out, Wolf, I want you to go with Stephen. Zachary, you're to move out with Zell." She arched her eyebrow slightly, tapping her finger against her lip. "Any questions, gentlemen?"
 
Squall Leonheart

"Yeah, Zell, Cafeteria would be fine, when it comes to it I'll find you in there, though I should imagine we'll be OK, it's just an exam after all right?"

Squall was about to head down to the front gate when a sudden realisation hit him. First of all, Xu had told him this would not be a normal mission, normally he would have asked to have been briefed, but his mind was too busy with Rinoa earlier, he would have to go back up to find out more. Secondly, he was the commander and it was his responsibility to start the mission once Xu and Nida were hapy with the position of the Garden. He turned and headed back into the lift and waited as it took him to the third floor.

Uopn entering the office Squall noticed that it was empty and immediately assumed that at such a critical time both Xu and Nida would be on the pilot deck. He strode over to the lift and let it take him up to the deck above.

Once he arrived Xu seemed to have just finished talking with two SeeD members, and Nida seemed to be doing nothing, meaning he was happy with where they had landed. He walked over to the new SeeD members and greeted them before looking a Xu.

"I need a word about this mission" he nodded over his shoulder "Away from them."

----​

Laguna Loire

It had been years since Laguna had been part of the fight. Involved in the noise and energy of the battle, this was why he had become a Galbadian soldier all those years ago, for the love of the fight, and he knew Kiros and Ward felt the same.

As monsters ran around him he and the Esthar soldiers defending the northern perimeter of the city fought hard, and they fought well. Creature after creature was felled by short, sharp bursts of machine gun fire and once or twice whole groups of enemies blown away by a well placed grenade.

"Keep fighting everyone, we're pushing them back."

Laguna could see without the tactical feed into his eyepiece that they were winning the fight at the northern entrance to the city, and from what he could tell from the satellite uplink the eastern entrance was holding it's own as well.

"Let's get rid of them all! Make them rally for another attack later on so we can all get a break!"​
 
Ben listened, at least appearing impassively, to Elizabeth. In truth, it kinda touched him that the leader picked him to open up to. Then she wiped away a tear at the end, since she was sad. Apparently, the fate of her old Garden, old and new, bothered her greatly. He was her bodyguard, but at the moment, her touching gesture erased that from him. Now was not the time to be an emotionless machine.

Ben nodded to her. "Friends dying... is extremely painful." Ben spoke haltingly, so as to not let his own emotions run through his voice. "That is the reason... why i grew stronger... to what I am now." Ben sighed. "I lack in magic... but my skill, physically, has kept me and those i protect alive. It is because of... some maniac bastard" Blade had no fear about speaking candidly; she had opened up to him candidly "that i am like this. Sometimes, I just wish that..."

Ben stopped mid-sentence and looked down at his blade. The blade had appeared with the maniac. The maniac, once the blade had been taken, had no true power. "That maniac is the reason i wield this blade... to remind myself that i need to keep strong... and protect those i care about, instead of failing like I did before." No one knew of this. Ben rarely ever talked about his past. It was a bit painful for him, since a lot of it involved loneliness and death.

A drop of water hit the perfect blade, hitting with a small plop! that seemed to echo for everyone to hear. Ben raised his head. "I believe that no one else should suffer what i have gone through. Would you mind, ma'am, if i fought alongside you, to make certain that you don't suffer like I have?"

OOC: I never mentioned how he had obtained the blade, did I? Well now I have. Serves its purpose well, eh?
 
"SeeD and Cadets, this is Xu. Those participating in the Field Exam, finish your preparations. The mission starts now. Remember you contact us if you find out anything. Zachary and Wolf, please come to the deck. Xu out."

Rinoa absentmindedly played with her necklace again as she made her way to the front gate, nearly running into several lower-classed cadets. She mumbled her apologies, hurrying on so she wouldn't be keep her team waiting.

She mentally ran through her preparations as she came to the school's exit, securing her Shooting Star once again and scanning the area for Selphie. Rinoa finally spotted her standing near the Trabia entrance, and put on a smile, waving as she jogged over. "Ready to go...? Wait, I don't see Jack anywhere..."

(OOC: That took me ages, I'm sorry. I need to remember to post here <.<)
 
"Any questions, gentlemen?"

Zachary looked up at the ceiling briefly whilst he thought. "So...Does that mean that we're on standby for the time being?" His shoulders slumped slightly as he began to sulk little a little child. Zach was itching to get involved with the mission; even if it wasn't essentially a tough one.

Zachary knew nothing of Zell, his new SeeD buddy so to speak, but was sure Xu had picked a suitable partner for him.
He ran his hand through the styled brown mess that was his hair as he thought once more. It seemed that people were on edge more than usual. Sure, a mission with SeeD cadettes was always risky, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Before Zachary had a chance to overthink anything, he and Wolf were greeted by Squall. Another man he knew nothing about, but had heard about during his short stay within Balamb Garden.
Zach looked over at Wolf and shrugged his shoulders, hinting that he was a little perplexed about everything that was happening within the Garden.
 
Crimson Wolf had refrained from getting excited when he saw Squall as not to lose his composure, but he had for some time admired his mastery of the Gunblade, even though he is generally not much of a fan of guns, Squall's skill is impressive.

After he headed over to Xu, Crimson Wolf looked over at Zachary, noticing he was looking over at him and shrugged his shoulders, looking a bit perplexed. He obviously was newer to Balamb Gardens than himself, he decided to try answer some questions he may have in his mind the best he could for his knowledge.

"You seem pretty new here, so you probably don't know many of the people. Looks like we'll have some time, so allow me to enlighten you a bit on a few things that you may be wondering about." he said, proceeding to start telling him about Squall.

"The man who greeted us just a moment ago, that's Squall. He's a Gunblade Specialist, I've admired his skill with Gunblades for a while now. Even though I'm none too fond of guns in general, but his skill with Gunblades is impressive, it is something I must respect." he explained, continuing on to describe the one he would be partnered up with when he gets into action.

"And Zell, who will be your partner out there when the time comes, his own fists is what he uses for a weapon. He is quite skilled at hand to hand, landing solid punches on his foes, and the odd kick.

You seem a bit anxious, Zach," he acknowledged, as Zachary did seem a bit antsy since Xu spoke to them, "you strike me as an energetic person with an upbeat personality, Zell is a bit hyper himself, so if I'm not mistaken about you, Zell should be a good partner for you out in the field.

As for myself..." Crimson Wolf got into a more relaxed position, and crossed his arms, before going on to say "I can't say I am familiar with this Stephen they will partner me up with, I have spent a lot of my time in the Training Center, strengthening myself for when something like this may come up, so they may not know me too well, hopefully I can work well with him, I know they know what they are doing.

I just had hoped I could work aside of somebody a little more...well known. You should be glad to be going with Zell, he has already made a name for himself. If I had gotten the question out in time before Squall arrived and started to discuss something with Xu, I would have asked what this Stephen person is like, I don't really know anything about him."

He thought of one more thing to say to Zach at this time, then he would finish with his explanations unless specifically asked something by him. "Don't worry, I'm sure you will soon have your chance to shine, we're only on standby for the moment, they will most likely need backup, since when does a mission go exactly as planned?

When something comes up, that will be our cue, then we head for Trabia and meet up with each of our partners there." he assured him, letting him know there would be a good chance he would see some action. "Just hang in there for now, and be ready to go at any time, no telling when we may be called on to get out there."
 
Stephen was looking out over to trabia garden, he was to wait until the cadets needed him, this annoyed Stephen, he wasn't the waiting kinda guy, he wanted to get out there and hammer some monsters into the ground with the Starfang, he pulled the sword from it's sheath and looked at the slightly shimmering blade. "Screw this" Stephen announced as he disembarked from the garden, he headed towards Trabia, he was going to support the Candidates even thought he wasn't needed, the man was bored.

as he approached Trabia Garden, he slowed down to a walk and strode over to the wall next to the main gate, he then leaned against it, Starfang in his hand "Hurry up candidates, get on with your missions" he announced as he stabbed the Starfang's blade into the ground.
 
Arukab was standing nearby where Stephen had been waiting impatiently. He knew Stephen wouldn't last much longer at this rate, it was his character after all. Seeing Stephen jump on down, Arukab just nodded his head and chuckled. "Well, at least he's a good kid." Arukab said silently. He was waiting to see if he was needed. whether he was or not, he was still happy to be here in this situation.

While waiting he decided to take up his gunblade and stand watching so he could be ready for quick action. Unlike Stephen, he was patient, as he had been on several such missions. Patients was a big part of the SeeD life. It was not essential that they had this, or Stephen would never be a SeeD, but either way Arukab remained ready.
 
"Don't worry, I'm sure you will soon have your chance to shine, we're only on standby for the moment, they will most likely need backup, since when does a mission go exactly as planned?

Zach had just met Wolf, but decided to trust him. He seemed to know what he was talking about and had an air of confidence about him. Wheather he knew more about the mission than Zach remained to be seen, but at least he wasn't a newbie and looked like he could handle himself.
As for Zell, Zachary's partner in the field, he was still an unknown quantity. Wolf seemed to think he would be a good foil for Zach, so he took his word as gospel.

Squall and Xu were still in deep conversation. It was scene's like these that prompted Zach to thinking the mission wasn't standard; something else was up. Unfortunately, it wasn't for Zach to pry, however much he wanted to.

His mind began to wander "Seems like I'm gonna have some time to kill...Man I'm thirsty!" Zachary's mind had a tendancy to wander, even at the most important of times.
He glanced over at Wolf and whispered, "Hey, I'm heading down to the cafeteria, I'm dying of thirst! You coming? Looks like Xu and Squall could be some time..."
 
"Hey, I'm heading down to the cafeteria, I'm dying of thirst! You coming? Looks like Xu and Squall could be some time..."


Crimson Wolf had closed his eyes for a moment after this, thinking of what he would say in response. He always seems a bit reluctant to answer offers like this, as he can't grip anything, an example being a glass of water. But he didn't have anything he had to do before the time would come to get into action in Trabia.

"With my paws it is difficult to grip anything, such as a fork for eating food, or a glass of water, and for something like a hot dog, even getting a paw on both sides of it to it to secure it so I don't drop it, I would likely get some fur on it, which would end up in my mouth when I go to take a bite of it, and diving my face into it isn't exactly civilized, I don't do that, at least not in public." he explained, giving a bit of a smirk after his comment.

"I have spare time until we get called into battle, so since I have nothing better to do, I suppose I could accompany you on your trip to the Cafeteria, perhaps if they can put a straw into an ice cold glass of water, I may be able to drink some of it.

That is, if I don't have too much trouble sipping it through a straw, not really the way I would go about drinking some water ordinarily, but I am a bit thirsty myself and I may manage, never used a straw before though, guess this could be a first."

Crimson Wolf had never tried to do something like that, but he had seen people do so, without even touching their glass with either of their hands, figures if he could manage to suck in as opposed to the normal breathing that involves letting air out rather than drawing it in, as one does with a straw to their mouth.
 
((OOC: VERY short post. But I think it's kinda needed sooner than later. Sorry for such a long wait guys D=))

XU

"I need a word about this mission, Away from them."

Xu nodded once before turning her side to the two boys she had summoned previously. "What's the problem, Commander?"

After posing her question she finally turned back to answer the others questions. "Yes, gentlemen, for the time being, you're on standby. I'm sorry, but Commander Leonhart has a few questions for me it seems. Until the time comes, you are dismissed."

She turned back to Squall, concern in her eyes. "Has something happened?"



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

ELIZABETH

It was strange for Elizabeth to indulge in heart to hearts, but here she was spilling her secrets to Ben. It suprised her that he was just as willing to offer up his own story in exchanged. Hearing his story, Lizabeth gave him a gentle smile, one that was rarely seen upon the White Seed Leader's face. "I'd be honoured for you to fight alongside me, Ben."

She listened to the silence that fell after, only the sounds of the boat cutting the waves to break it. Soon they would land at Trabia and their mission would begin.

"Once we hit Trabia, we must locate Commander Squall. I'd much rather we didn't step on anyone's toes here."
 
"What's the problem, Commander?"
"Has something happened?"

"Nothing has happened Xu, but it just occurred to me, normally I would know a LOT more about the mission, I would have asked earlier, but my mind was... elsewhere..."

He looked Xu straight in the eye.

"So what is it about this mission, why are you keeping everything to yourself, if this is to go well in the field I need to know what's going on, after all, it is my responsibility if something happens."

He continued to look directly at Xu, unwavering, his glare demanding an answer. If Rinoa was to be out there he wanted to know EXACTLY why Xu was worried because if anything were to happen to Rinoa after everything they had been through...

(OOC: No post for Laguna this time, not really a lot to change)
 
"SeeD and Cadets, this is Xu. Those participating in the Field Exam, finish your preparations. The mission starts now. Remember you contact us if you find out anything. Zachary and Wolf, please come to the deck. Xu out."

As Jack faintly heard this he slowly awakened from his 'nap'. He got up slowly and looked around, a little stunned like you are when you first wake up. A quickly as he had been awakened he remember what today was and looked at his watch. He was going to be late again. He threw off his blankets and grabbed his two Katanas and started to run toward the front gate.

"Oh man this is not good, not only was I late for the briefing but now I am late for the actual mission." Jack said to himself.

He ran as fast as he could bumping into random passerby's screaming apologies while running by. He finally made it to the gate and found both Rinoa and Selphie waiting patiently. He approached them completely out of breath and panting like a dog in summer.

"Sorry....I.....am......late......" Jack said as he collapsed onto the ground.

(( OOC: Sorry for the lack of posting completely forgot that I was even in it. :ffs: Thanks Jess. :jess: ))
 
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