Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Domestic ❯ Vagabond ( Chapter 13 )

Domestic

WARNINGS:

1) I do not own FF8, Squaresoft, or get any profit out of this story

2) Rated PG-13 for violence, language, and sexual content

Chapter 13: Vagabond

It was a month later and Zell found that his SeeD account was quickly diminishing. It fell apart a lot faster then he thought it would. And now he was screwed. For a job you needed an ID, and his only ID was his SeeD card. Squall said to show no-one his SeeD card, so that was out of the question. Doing some quick addition in his head, he figured he had enough money for food and a hotel room for another week. He could only hope that Squall pulled something off by that time. Zell couldn't think of anything he could do though. He didn't even know what was going on.

After his conversation with Seifer, Zell hunted down Travis and took him with him. Luckily, Azerton won the tournament and had stretched his 3000G thus far. Zell wasn't quite sure how he did it, but Travis never seemed like the big spending type.

The blonde let out a sigh. He wasn't used to living it one day at a time. The Garden always took care of the expenses when there was mission. Problem? This wasn't a mission, and the Garden wouldn't be funding missions any time soon.

Zell received a call from Squall only two hours after he arrived in Deling City. It was brief and uninformative. Something happened at the Garden, and under no circumstances was he to return there. Squall wouldn't tell him exactly what happened, if there were any injuries, or where he was. All he said was that he should sit still in Deling and wait for further updates. It was a crappy phone conversation.

It was almost a month after that conversation, and Zell heard nothing from Squall. If the brunette didn't call soon, Zell wasn't going to have access to a telephone. The last 2000G flew by.

"This is our last day with a hotel room," Zell muttered, lying on his bed. He looked out the window to his left and took in the city skyline. It really was a nice town, but extremely expensive.

"So where do we go from here?" Travis asked. He was on the other bed and looking up at the ceiling.

"I have about 500G left, so we're going to have to get a job," Zell sighed. He really didn't want to wash dishes for minimum wage, but it came down to that. "We can't get a job with our current ID, so we're going to have to see if we can buy some fake ones."

"…ok," Travis muttered hesitantly. He wanted to go home. Not "home" home, but "Garden" home. The last thing he wanted to do was move back in with his parents. He hated it there. He wouldn't be able to afford going to Galbadia or Trabia Garden. Hell, it took him his entire childhood to save up enough money to get into Balamb. And everything fell into place like he hoped it would. Well, he wasn't planning on having to deal with Wix, but he was accepted, and even on the path to making good money as a SeeD. He was almost free of his parents…almost. Zell wouldn't let him go live a mediocre life in Dollet, and Riene would probably put him up for a few months if he asked her. What was he talking about? He'd never ask her. If he played his cards right, maybe she would offer. He'd only have to…

"And if Squall doesn't give me a call in a month, we're heading back to the Garden," Zell said with confidence. "I don't care what Squall says. I'm not washing dishes until he decides to get his act together."

There was an awkward silence while Travis rolled the worst case scenarios around in his mind. He liked to think of the worst possible situations because they guarded him against surprise. If he never got his hopes up, they could never be crushed. "So we're heading back, no matter what?"

"Of course," Zell snorted. "Do you think I'd let us rot here? Nah, we're going back to the Garden; by force if necessary.

Sadly, that's what Travis wanted to hear. He would rather face monsters in Balamb then face a year with his parents. Letting out a sigh, Travis rolled onto his side. "So when are we going to get these IDs?"

"Tonight."

(**********)

Travis didn't like Shutt much. He was wearing an old, ripped Cactuar t-shirt and dirty sweatpants. His stench was the worst. It was hard to describe, but Travis guessed a mix between shrimp and oil. This was their guy though, so he just tried not to breathe through his nose. They were in a swanky bar, which smelled of cigarette smoke and urine. It wasn't the most sophisticated place in town. They sat at a hardwood table on stools made out of metal. Zell did all the talking.

"So we need two fake IDs. If we can get them tonight I'll give you a little extra."

"I can…can I can …sell only one tonight," Shutt stuttered, taking a swig of his drink. He then proceeded to burst into a fit of giggles.

Travis had heard enough. This man was obviously plastered and probably couldn't sell a proper napkin, more or less a fake ID. He went to nudge Zell, but the blonde started talking.

"He's older then he looks. And if anyone takes the fall for this, it'll be us."

"How….are you…old?" Shutt smiled, pouring his putrid breath all over Travis.

"Twenty…twenty two," Travis coughed, turning his head away from the drunk. This was an enjoyable night indeed.

"Yer…not!" the drunk laughed, pushing him a little too hard.

Regaining his balance, Travis moved his stool a little further away from him.

"Issue is….him not," Shutt roared, suddenly angry at Zell. "He have….one…can….he can. Yer…the man…wanted. Safe…not."

"What?" Zell said a little too loudly.

"Yer…SeeD," Shutt hiccupped. "I saw…poster. Face…tattoo gives up. I police…but I get up can't….can't up get." The drunk shook his finger menacingly, but then slumped to the floor. He landed right on Travis's shoes, which caused him to jump up.

"Is he going to be alright?" Travis asked, giving the body a soft kick.

"He's just sleeping," Zell muttered. "He's nuts anyway. We'll have to find someone else."

"He was your top choice?"

"Sadly, yes," the blond laughed. "It only gets worse from here."

Travis just shook his head.

(**********)

It did get worse from there. Nobody seemed to want to talk to the two, and Zell received several strange looks. Everything was fine yesterday. It seemed as if overnight they had become rabid pirates looking to burn and plunder the city. At least that's the thought that ran through Zell's head. He didn't feel, nor look like a pirate. Therefore it can be concluded that he wasn't one.

"Look mommy!" a tiny girl exclaimed as she passed them on the street. "SeeD!"

"Shh!" the mother quieted. "He'll be caught soon enough." With that she gave Zell a piercing glare and kept walking.

"The hell?" Zell snapped, stopping in his tracks. "Caught?"

"We have to get out of here," Travis said with a hint of fear. "Let's go back to the Garden."

"Tch…" Zell scoffed. He thought for a second and looked up at the sky. It was a mean twelve degrees outside. Not good walking weather. "We'll use the ID money on one more hotel night. After that, we'll find a way back to the Garden." Sighing Zell looked down at the ground. He really hated leaving an assigned post. "We'll leave bright and early tomorrow morning."

(**********)

Travis looked up at the ceiling in the hotel room. The air conditioner hummed softly by the window and he could hear cars passing from the road below. Zell snored quietly in the adjacent bed, which was somewhat annoying, but he was used to it. He looked over at the clock and it read 153. Zell wanted to leave at 600 hours, so he really should be sleeping. It was just that he had a lot on his mind. Everything seemed to fall apart so quickly. He wasn't expecting to have to put up with this. Squall was supposed to be leading the Garden against any attacks or threats. There had to be at least 10,000 mercenaries at Balamb, so things couldn't be too bad.

He just hoped that Riene wasn't hurt or McNeese or South or Thor. Sure he wasn't best buddies with them, but at least they attempted to get to know him. They sort of made him regret not being more outgoing, but it wasn't really worth it. It wasn't his persona to go out and be the center of the party. Hell, the last thing he wanted to do was be the center of attention.

A giant truck blared its horn as it tore down the street. Zell startled a little, but turned over and fell back asleep. Travis put his hands behind his head and stretched out his legs. He hoped that the Garden wasn't too disfigured. He knew Squall wouldn't close it. He yawned and tried to get the vision of a decimated Garden out of his head. Maybe this whole thing might be an advantage. A war might let him get his foot in the door. A good battle here and there could get him into SeeD. Then he would never have to return to Dollet. He could buy a house, save some money, and live on his own. Everything would be better once he was on his own.

"Shut…shut up Selphie," Zell mumbled, wrestling in his covers.

Travis just shook his head. It was now 230 hours, and it was going to be an early morning. He threw his shirt on the ground and wrapped himself in the covers."

(**********)

"Get up," Travis heard. He looked up to see Zell looking over his bed. It was way too early for this. He turned to the other side of the bed and buried his head into the pillow.

"Get up," Zell yawned again. He gave the bed a swift kick and waited for a reaction.

Reluctantly, Travis pulled himself up and looked at the floor hazily. The world was much too cold this morning, and the only remedy was the nice warm bed. Looking regretfully at the bed, Travis forced himself up and threw on a grey hoody. Thinking of their return to the Garden, Travis became a little more awake and began packing..

"We don't have enough money for a train," Zell yawned, throwing random shirts into his suitcase. "Well from here anyway. We're gonna have to walk down to Timber and get a ride from there."

"How far's that?"

"About a fifteen hour walk. If we don't meet up with too many monsters, we should be there by 2200 hours."

"Shit," Travis muttered, looking at him wide eyed. He has trouble running laps around the Garden, and that's usually only for a half hour. 15 hours was suicide.

"Yeah, first we gotta follow the train tracks east until we reach Galbadia Garden." He paused, playing out the map in his head. "I don't think we should stop there. We're not on great terms with them in the first place and I don't like the idea of getting 'caught'. So after passing that, we'll head through a small forest and move southeast to Timber.."

"So we're not stopping anywhere? You're nuts, we'll never make it."

"Fine! We'll stop at Odel Lake or something," Zell snapped. "The sun only stays up for so long though. If we don't make it, we're both going to be frozen. This would be a hard trip in June, more or less February." The blonde shook his head and started throwing his socks into the suitcase. "There's a free breakfast bar downstairs. Eat as much as you can and pack some for the road."

(**********)

"The Timber Owls beat the Winhill Fangs 27-14," Travis read aloud from a newspaper. Newspapers were given out free in the lobby, so he thought he might as well have some reading material. Unfortunately, he was running out of articles to read, and they weren't even two hours into the trip.

Zell led the way along the rusty train tracks. It was almost 900 hours and the sun continued to rise above them. The sand beneath their feet was blown in every direction making visibility difficult. Luckily they had the tracks to keep them on the path.

"Holy shit!" Travis exclaimed, stopping in his tracks.

"What?" Zell whined, turning back.

"This is it! This is What that girl was talking about?"

"What?!?"

"Listen to this: New owner of BalambGarden, Cid Cramer, issued a statement last week asking for the capture and return of all BalambGardenSeeDs. "They're a threat to the peace and prosperity of the new BalambGarden," said Cramer at a press conference yesterdayr. "Our new agenda is to stop terrorists that threaten the current peace of our world." Cid also released a top ten fugitive list (see pictures below). Of course at the top of the list is former owner Squall Leonhart, who has not been sighted since late December. Below him is criminal Seifer Almasy, followed by vice commander Quistis Trepe. Fourth on the list is martial arts specialist Zell Dincht…"

"Ha! I'm above Selphie!" Zell smiled, taking the paper out of his hands. "Damn…everybody who was in Dollet is in this."

"How'd we miss this?" Travis asked wiping the sand off his forehead. "Why's it on page 18?"

"Cause Galbadia fears them," Zell laughed.

"What?"

"Look, this is a Galbadian Newspaper right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, Edea's looking like she's getting back to power. If you remember, she basically destroyed both the Garden and Deling City." Zell laughed aloud. "Of course they wouldn't print this on the front page, it'd cause a panic."

"How does Cid have control of the Garden?" Travis asked. "Wouldn't Squall have stepped in by now?"

"He's probably trying to do it diplomatically," Zell scoffed. "Come on we'll go kick old man Cramer out of our Garden."

(**********)