Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Snow Drift ❯ Fishing for a boot ( Chapter 9 )

Sucking in as much as her lungs can be filled Selphie places a hand beside her mouth then shouts with all her might and capability, "Iiiiiiiirviiiiiiiiiiine!" only to break out into a fit of coughs due to dry air blowing into her already parched throat.

They've been out here not for hours but for days now and the group is more than restless. The southern sun is blazing down on them with the force of an eighth degree burn.

"Irvine!" Squall's shouting in the distance is heard, its just as loud as it was since they got there. How can the male not be running on empty like the others? "Irvine!"

Phineas sits on the ship watching scanners that have been running since they'd landed in order to track the male from a wider range but so far nothing but monsters and other, natural, wildlife has shown up. Nothing remotely human minus the six of them. He had to wonder how much longer they would all be out here. Why didn't commander Leonhart understand that the four of them looked for a week and found nothing; he isn't saying they should give up on Irvine but searching the grounds won't do them any good.

'Stop thinking that way you dumb ass! These guys are higher ranked, they know this area well- I've seen Seifer come out of a cave that none of us even knew was there even after looking for a week. They'll find him.'

Watching them was becoming pain staking, though, when they'd first arrived they were fired up and on the alert. It was amazing to see their true strength in action like that, he thought for sure his- well, it moved when Quistis strangled a monster with her shimmering silver whip Scalpel and froze the thing's head pulling it free from the monsters still warm body; for them, fighting monsters at that level must feel like a joke when to Phineas and the rest of his team members it seemed to go on forever and they exhausted very quickly. The 4 commanders are something to be in awe of, even Seifer and Rinoa. He may have only just become SeeD last year but he's still a really cool guy in battle even if he doesn't officially have a team yet but Squall doesn't have one either, he refused to take them saying he needs a break and would rather remain on special ops rather than complete active duty; with the sorceress wars over- minus the worshipers trying to start trouble, there's nothing left but cadet sized missions, but to keep them sharp they do allow a few cadets at a time to accompany heavy missions for experience. Rinoa is still taking classes but she's no slouch in battle that's for sure the only difference between her and the others is that its not officially on paper yet.

Zell hunched over panting hard. He's just finished a fist to lightning rod battle with a Blitz; having Thundaga junctioned he's been electrically charged just as much as the lightning hungry monster; ripples of electric current are still floating about his exhausted body. He wants to find Irvine, but these sudden attacks are beginning to wear on him- everyone really. He turned his nose away from the stink of dissolving monster and started away for the small campsite where rations and water lay waiting for him.

"Irvine! Irvine!"

"I wish somebody would find something, even the smallest, lamest thing will do" Zell slams down onto his butt a canteen in hand. "so he can be momentarily satisfied." He takes a long drink. "I'm really starting to burn out out here." He looks at his arm lifting the hem of his battle glove. "Fuck, I've got a third degree tan!" He's shocked to see the difference in hue's of his covered skin to the exposed.

"Irvine! ...Irvine!"

"It really is starting to get sad, now." Selphie sits beside Zell, head dipped. "I don't think Irvine is anywhere around."

Seeing Quistis approach the two glance at her before minding their own business again.

"Its getting dark again, we should turn in." She says.

"Tell that to Squall." Says Zell, thirst finally quenched he sets the canteen down in his bag where it will stay out of the heat. "He's gonna pull an all nighter again, just watch."

"I don't need to, I can't sleep because he isn't sleeping." She crosses her arms below her breast. "All that shouting is attracting monsters and we're at risk the moment we close our eyes. I'm getting a little stressed by it all."

"Tell me about it. Irvine may not even be here anymore. He's been missing for two weeks- going on three; the land has been searched by two sets of teams and no one has found any sign of him minus what the others brought back with them." Rinoa joins the conversation after putting away her boomerang Twisted Jester which looks a lot like a Jellyeye. "Maybe someone should tell Squall its time to call it quits."

"Yeah... but it'd have to be someone he trusts." Says Selphie.

With a shrug of her shoulders Quistis adds. "Someone who can take a punch after delivering bad news."

"Someone with a kind voice and knows how to deal with the hostile." Rinoa adds her two cents as well.

The three women turn their gaze to the short blond sitting amongst them. Said male looks at them with hurt disbelief that they would, and pardon the expression, but throw him to the lions.

"That someone had better not be me." Zell shakes his head.

"Oh come on! You two are good friends and... he trusts you with all kinds of mechanic stuff- remember the toaster? And what happened at the secret base?"

Only Selphie can compare a hard ass secret mission to a toaster. Zell rolls his eyes. "But... but I only like bringing good news... its part of my sunny disposition."

"What sunny disposition?" Asks Quistis.

"My can-do attitude, and that'll be severely stunted if my body is broken to take away the 'do'."

The girls let out a groan.

"Quit crying," Seifer interrupts their whining session. "I'll go talk to Leonhart and get him to come back to Garden so we can send someone else to look for the honky."

Getting into his face, finger pointed sternly, Selphie warns. "Seifer, this is Squall, so you be nice."

Looking down at the girl he pats her on the head. "Relax, messenger girl, I know Squall is sensitive. I can be very understanding." Listening for where the males shouts are coming from Seifer marches over to the male with intent.

The others watch with sorrow for the hot tempered blond.

"He's gonna get punched in the eye." Zell says removing a protein bar from his bag.

Seifer sighed loudly when reaching Squall; the brunet is hacking a bolder to bits with his gunblade. Pausing to watch a moment, Seifer crosses his arms. "Don't tell me you think the mountain swallowed him like in that story Matron used to tell us? I can assure you it was make-believe." He wriggles his fingers as if Fairy dust were on them.

"Worth a shot." He says over his shoulder, voice cracked and dry from not having eaten or drank anything for a long while, he continues to hack away at the large rock.

"The others are starting to worry about you... its going on two weeks now, cowboy's not here. We're going back to Garden to ask for help searching."

"Bye."

"You're coming with us."

"No, I'm not." He lowers his gunblade. "If I stop... whose to say his voice isn't just broken from heat and he's actually been calling for us all this time? ...I can't just turn my back on him."

Rolling his eyes, Seifer comes closer. "Yeah, yeah brave prince is gonna rescue his princess- I get it, but you're wasting your strength by being reckless about it."

"Didn't think you'd care."

"I don't. The only reason I'm talking to you at all is because the others are too fucking scared to do it, so come on-..." He gestures towards the Ragnarok with a nod of his head. "Its either come back with me willingly, or the others are going to go to plan B and clock you over the head- look, they're already planning on how to sneak up on you." He looks over his shoulder.

Disbelieving anything Seifer says Squall, though, glances passed the male; surely enough Zell just grabbed a large branch patting it in his empty palm while the girl have leaned in to whisper to him.

'Son of a bitch.' Thinks Squall eyes widening as his space is suddenly invaded by Seifer leaning down towards his ear. "What are you-...?" He staggers backward a few steps; Seifer's victorious smile the last thing he sees before passing out, his weight drops forward in a heavy heap to be caught by the ex-knight.

"Nighty-night, loser." Hoisting the male over his shoulder Seifer walks back over to the others.

"This is the right size for kindling a fire," Zell says to the girls. "we'll probably be staying overnight again."

"Good timing with the branch, Dinky." Says Seifer as he nears the group.

"Squall?!" The girls shout rushing over to the tall blond that's carrying their knocked out friend.

"What the hell, Seifer, we didn't say to hurt him!" Selphie whined only to get a pat on her head.

"Calm down, Tilmitt, I didn't hurt him..." With a knowing smirk he adds. "I said that you all were planning to, and when he looked the other way I whispered Sleep into his ear." Seifer releases the male to the ground with the grace of a duffle bag that's strap was over his shoulder keeping it up.

Squall fell to the ground with not a single grunt of acknowledgement due to the strong spell over him.

"Let's get him to the ship." Zell grabs the brunet under the armpits. "Seifer get his legs." He asks.

"No way, I've done enough carrying for one evening." He waves a hand over his shoulder as he strolls to the large red ship.

Rolling his eyes, Zell gets a better grip on the sleeping male in order to lift him alone but Squall's body becomes a bit lighter when his legs are lifted into the air. "Rinoa," He says when seeing who is at the end of the brunet. "thanks."

"Mhm.. whoa!" She stumbled to the side. "He's not as light as he lets you believe, is he?" She comments while adjusting her hold. "I'm good." Walking forward while Zell backs his way to the ship they move their friend down to the ship.

Selphie and Quistis grab the bags for them, slipping the strap of the duffle over their heads to sit comfortably on their shoulder and across the chest, following behind with their weapons in hand for just incase monsters attack. Quistis knew that Squall wasn't going to be happy when he woke up but hopefully they'll have more help by the time he comes around, so it will ease the males mind. Quistis still has a soft spot in her heart that makes her look out for the five, being a year older than them never had a thing to do with it, its the need to want them to be safe and alright that does it.

'Where could Irvine possibly be? Is he buried underneath something calling out to us but we can't hear him? Maybe he's in a time rift caused by that G.F. who knows what abilities it may have had. Knowing Squall he'll wanna start searching again the second he opens his eyes... he should really take the commander thing lightly, but how do you talk sense into someone that strong willed? Especially when it comes to his lover? ...Irvine. Wherever you are just please be alive.'

Selphie walking beside the woman cocks her head smiling when Quistis comes from her thoughts and notices that she's been watched. "Sorry, but what were you thinking about?"

"Just wondering what could have happened to Irvine that's all. People don't just disappear without a trace unless they've been kidnapped or..."

"Abducted by aliens?"

"Selphie, no, there's no such thing."

"I know, just trying to keep things light." Looking back at the area she sighs. "Honestly, I think Irvine isn't even out here any longer, he might have fallen from the cliff into the ocean."

"Do you think so?"

"Mhmm. So maybe when we get back we can get the police to look and some experienced marine type guys and divers, swimmers and..."

"We'll just settle with the Sub specialist for now."

"Right."

Loading the ship the large docking doors close up after them; the hall is illuminated by large emergancy lights at the heads of the doors as well as large lights hidden beneath the floor. They pass through the left door heading into the short elevator which raises them up to the deck. Selphie lowers the bags to the floor hurrying over to Zell at the cockpit to take her seat. Quistis situated the bags in the corner so they wouldn't slide all over the room then takes a seat behind Squall to help Rinoa, who's seated beside the sleeping male, hold his arms to keep him steady for lift off and land.

Anxious Phineas asks. "You guys aren't giving up are you? I know he's out there somewhere."

"We're not giving up, Max, we're just taking a break and calling in other sources help." Quistis replies with an even tone hoping to calm the male down.

But how can he be calm knowing that they were the last ones to see their commander and because of their lack of experience they couldn't find him the first week he went missing making it impossible for anyone to find Irvine should he have been around then. Phineas placed his hand on his stomach to keep his lunch in. He couldn't eat dinner not when the others were still out there with nothing to show for but dirty clothes from their search progress.

March 9th.

Squall's eyes scrunch tightly before they flutter open wth blurred vision of a white ceiling before the sheet of false is covered by what looks like a large thumb with a blond fingernail that has a crack along the left side. Groaning, Squall clears his throat of, what he thinks is, a days worth of crud that built up while he slept. "Fucking Seifer," Gainging a bit of his senses as to who is in the room with him he continues speaking. "Zell... what the hell happened? Are we still in Centra Ruins?"

Laughing nervously his, sleep monitoring, friend stands up spinning on his heels so that he's shielded by the chair he was sitting in. "Not exactly," He replies. "We- uh... that is Seifer, kinda used a spell on you to put you to sleep and we brought you home to rest."

Groaning, Squall places a hand to his forehead to keep himself from getting dizzy as he sits up in the bed. "Fine. Whatever. I'm rested now, let's get back to searching."

"No!" He holds the male back with a hand to the chest. "Dr. Kadowaki said that you've exhausted yourself by searching the wasteland without much food or water in you. You're fine now, though."

"You guys kept looking, though, right?" Squall, now seeing perfectly, looks about the room. He's in the nurses office alright, only problem is there's no injured cowboy next to him just a tray of a glass and a pitcher of water.

"Uuuhh, define 'looking'?" He begins to pour the brooding male a drink since he glanced at it; holding it out to him he shrugs.

"You stopped looking!?" Squall's confusion turns into outrage and he pushes away the offered glass; getting up from the bed he heads to the door.

"Squall you don't understand! We were all tired and kinda taking a break until we were back on our feet." Zell hurries over to the male, pulling a card from his jean's back pocket "I have the card for the door, but," tucking it safely back inside the pocket he stamps his foot down to show that he means business, the martial artist says sternly. "you're not allowed to leave until the nurse says so."

"But what about Irvine?"

Turning the male around to face him he keeps a grip on the brunet's shoulder. "We have guys looking for him, scouters and diving specilialist."

"Diving specialist?"

"Selphie thinks Irvine might have fallen from the cliffs, so we have guys in submarines searching the water."

Popping the back of his head against the sliding door he sighs out. "Fuck." He hadn't even thought of that; Irvine's an excellent swimmer but no one can last against the ocean's currents for too long. Face scrunched the male rolls his eyes back to avoid crying. "I just... want him back, Zell- can you understand that?"

"Of course I can, if it were Seifer I'd move hell and high water to get to him but, that being said, I'd also know when the chips are down. In the meantime, we have to keep positive about this."

Tears turn to anger again as he shoves the blond off him. "How can I keep positive!? They won't look as hard as we will, they don't know Irvine and after a while fatigue will make them quit and you know it."

It was most likely true, but Zell still wanted to keep positive. "I'll go get the nurse- see if she'll let you out. But I really think we should leave it to the hired help to search." Hands up in defense from any oncoming attacks from the angered male, Zell slips passed him to the door. "I'll go get the nurse." He repeats. "Stay here."

The door slides open with the swipe of the card key past the scanner; turning around he walks out backwards for just incase locking the door back once he's out. Zell would have jumped to the moon by the sudden bang that came from the other side of the door had he not expected it because, if it were him in this situation, he would have done the same. Alone, Squall slumps down against the door head back against the wall, legs bent, fingers linked together down at his crotch and he mumbles.

"Hyne, please let him be ok."

...

"I think we should go back to help search."

"Zell, it been an entire month and we haven't found a single sign of him..." Quistis lowers her gaze to the checkered floor. "I think we should get prepared."

"Prepared for what?!" Now its Zell's turn to get angry. He can't believe what she's saying, if it were her they wouldn't just 'get prepared- it wouldn't be that way for any of them. "No! Quistis... we can't give up on finding him, not just for his sake but Squall's too! He's gonna be totally fucked up if we quit now, not to mention he'll never speak to any of us again... and we all know him, he'll just go looking for himself and end up in worser shape than he was last month."

"Zell's right, Quistis." Selphie agrees quietly. "We should at least look for one more month before we plan for any funerals."

"We're not planning any funeral." Squall snips out as he enters the dorms. "Irvine will be found."

"Squall-.." Quistis is cut off.

"Zell, you're still under contract with Leviathan right?"

Stammered in brief confusion he says. "E-.. w-... yeah- why?"

"We'll need to search the ocean floor, no submarine can go as low as it can."

"Right."

"And Selphie, can you fly overhead with Quezacotl?"

"Yeah. I'll do it."

"What about the rest of us?" Rinoa asks ready to help.

"The rest of you use the ships tracker to search. This way, I know Irvine will be found- if we're looking, he'll be found." He questions them meeting their gazes with his own to ensure they understand that they have to find him no matter what.

The group nods, all but Seifer who only groaned but stood to leave with them. After another month of searching the area they only managed to find one more thing of Irvine's besides the hat Eurydice brought back when that team searched which is one of Irvine's boots. Squall identified it right away and proof of that is the initials on the inside sewn in gold thread reading: I.K. But even with Leviathan swimming the ocean floors Irvine's body was not recovered and when the search was called off and everyone, all 56 men and women called it quits, for Squall Leonhart the world went white.