THE ZELL DINCHT COLLECTION

WARNINGS

1) I do not own Zell, Squall, Rinoa, Irvine, Seifer, Selphie, Irvine, Quistis, or any other character I may mention from the FF8 series. I may add some more characters, which are mine. If you steal them, I probably won't find out about it. I also do not own most of the towns, monsters, etc… used in this story.

2) This was written cause Zell is the coolest character ever to be created in the FF series. It's rated NC-17 for mostly sex, but there's also some language and violence.

3) This is a yaoi story. If you are offended by yaoi or don't know what it is, I suggest you leave. You have been warned.

Ok think I got everything. Just read it and leave me some feedback. If you flame me I'll find it funny, so do whatever the hell makes you feel good.

CHAPTER 28: The Gates

"How much for a lift?" Squall asked a ferry owner, once the group reached the western coast.

"Where to?" the owner mumbled.

"Island Closest to Hell." The ferry owner's eyes suddenly lit up, and he shook his head.

"I don't go there."

"Who does?" The man scratched his head, and looked around.

"Talk to Bauknight over there," the man nodded. "He might have what you're looking for."

"Thanks," Squall said coldly, and led the way over to the man.

Bauknight noticed their approach, and held out his hand. "What can I help you with?" Squall reluctantly shook it, and then jammed his hand back into his pocket.

"We're looking for a ride to the Island Closest to Hell. Ever been?"

"Yeah…actually a whole group went up there yesterday. Tricky journey though…"

"Can you get us there?"

"Depends…what's your business? You trying to spend those people who went up yesterday a visit?"

"That's none of your business."

Bauknight stared at the brunette, trying to read his face. "I can't help you." The man turned his back on the SeeDs, and started to walk away.

"WAIT!" Selphie yelled, knowing that Squall had too much pride to chase after the man. "What do you want?"

"I'll strike you a deal," Bauknight turned around, eyes delighted in the group's change of heart. "You let me in on whatever you're doing, and I'll give you a lift over there."

"You don't want to get involved," Squall shot coldly. "Either give us a lift, or tell us someone who can."

"Listen, I got a spear, so if you're doing anything dangerous, I can defend myself."

Sighing, Squall slowly began to give in. He took a quick look around the group, who looked desperate to get on with this thing, and then his eyes fell on Zell. "I'll brief you if we can leave right now," the brunette muttered, offering a final resolution to the captain.

"Not a problem. Hop on," the man smiled, proud he was finally able to break their leader. The group happily piled onto Bauknight's small ship; glad to finally be moving in the right direction.

"Don't get involved in any thing you're not ready for," Squall whispered to the captain, as he boarded the ship. The coldness of the boy sent shivers down his spine, but he had an adventure for the day, and that was all that mattered. Bauknight followed the brunette into his cabin, and he started up the boat. A blonde tattooed boy also came in, but the rest of the party remained on the outside deck.

"So what's up with you guys?" the captain beamed, steering his boat out to sea.

"We don't know yet," Zell replied, staring at the ground. "It'll be a surprise to us too."

"What, are you mercenaries?"

"No," Squall said. "But we are expecting a battle, so bring your 'spear'."

"You don't believe me?!?" Bauknight laughed, looking back at the brunette. He suddenly kicked a panel on the cabin wall, and an axe shaped blade on a long pole appeared. "I think I can take care of myself."

Zell looked up in amazement as the glistening blade reflected the sunlight on to the floor. "So you're looking for a fight?"

"Nah, I just haven't explored the island for a while," Bauknight smiled. Zell was about to ask him why he was willing to fight with them, but decided against it. They needed all the help they could get. The captain wasn't in bad shape either. He was about 6 foot, 150 pounds, and didn't look much older then Squall, which he later confirmed, as he was 24. The spear he had was in great shape, and he said he kept it from his garden years. Apparently he went to Galbadia Garden, but never passed the SeeD exam. After 19, he was forced out of the garden, and had to find an occupation elsewhere. The sea attracted him, and since he was here, he found a wife and had a daughter. Overall, Zell learned he was a man of adventure. The blonde knew that it was stupid of the man to get involved in battles like this, especially with a family, but something pushed the man to act as though he was still in school. Zell respected him though, because he was an overall good guy. He meant well.

"So you should be an asset," Zell laughed, which he hadn't done for a long while now. The captain nodded, as he finished his life story.

"I haven't felt like this in five years," Bauknight smiled, turning the boat onto the beach of the apparent Island Closest to Hell. Grabbing his spear, the captain followed the rest of the party out onto the beach. The sun had already set, and a light drizzle had unfortunately started to fall. A large hill blocked their view of the entire island, but Squall led them up it fearlessly. Before them stood a dark gray structure. It was made of strong weather-beaten slabs of granite. Zell knew it was an old building, as cracks ran down the eroded walls, but it still looked hard to penetrate. It was a fortress. Inside there was Puma, and he would find him. The dull pain vanished from his legs, and Zell raised the hood on his hooded sweatshirt. The drizzle turned into larger raindrops, and the party began to get soaked. The fortress was 500 ft in front of them, and under the cover of darkness, Squall hoped they would find a way in somehow.

"What's the plan?" Seifer sneered, pushing his wet hair back so it wouldn't drip into his eyes. Squall stared at the ground, trying to decide how to handle the situation.

"We don't have the reinforcements, so we don't want to start a war." Squall looked around the group, and then up to the darkened structure, as a bolt of lightning illuminated it. "We should split up and try to scout the place…so who do we got? Me…Seifer…Selphie…Zell…Cowboy…and the sea captain." Everyone in the party seemed fascinated with the rain as it flowed over the dark fortress in front of them. Squall even got lost staring for a second, before regaining control. "Zell, Irvine and Bauknight, take the right side of the structure. Me, Selphie, and Seifer will take the left. Get close to the base, but DON'T get seen. This is a scout run, we'll do something once we get reinforcements."

"BUT…!" Zell immediately protested. In his opinion, they didn't have time to waste. They didn't have time to scout.

"Zell we can't take on 2,000 people," Squall rationalized. "If we went out there swinging they'd slaughter us."

"So we just leave Puma to die?!?" Zell shot.

"He'll survive. Just trust me on this one."

"Tch…" Zell couldn't come up with a good response. "I'll scout for an hour. After that, we're going in with or without reinforcements." Squall nodded reluctantly, and split off with Seifer and Selphie. The blonde led the cowboy and the sea captain in the opposite direction, sighing heavily with disappointment. The rain had turned into a torrential downpour, making it feel as if someone was pouring a pitcher of water over his head. Zell was soaked from head to foot, but he was the only one that wasn't shivering. He led them through the huge puddles that lined the ditches of the hilly island. The granite structure became bigger and bigger, until it was only about 100 ft. away.

"Listen," Bauknight yelled over the rain, as Zell paused to look up at the fortress. "I'll only stay with you guys until these reinforcements come. I wanted an adventure, not a war."

Zell looked over to him through his even blacker hoody, as it was drenched. "Yeah…we didn't want you to be here when the blood starts to fall. You should be alright for an hour though."

"My wife's gonna kill me," Bauknight chuckled, as he followed Zell and Irvine. "I was supposed to be home fifteen minutes after we left." The blonde smiled, trying to put an optimistic view on the situation like the captain, but he found it hard to keep it. The soft dirt turned into mud under their feet, causing the party to slip and stumble at times, but Zell didn't lead them into danger. They walked in a circle around the structure, keeping a hundred foot gap to not draw attention. After a few minutes, Zell suddenly paused in his tracks.

"What the hell is that?" Irvine asked, looking up to the wall. A giant fissure ran down the side, which lit up as lightning struck the island.

"An entrance or the Achilles Heel?" Zell mumbled. It was the only piece of hope they had so far, because the rest of the fortress had a 15-foot wall with no entrance other then scaling it.

"You think we'd fit through that?" the cowboy questioned.

"I don't know, let's go up and knock," the blonde replied sarcastically. He looked up high, seeing the crack originate at the top of the wall. The rain ran into his green eyes however, blinding his vision. "They did one shitty job building this thing." Zell dropped his head to the ground, trying to shake the water off. Another flash of lightning lit up the landscape, which was quickly followed by a loud rumble of thunder.

"They're getting louder," Irvine noted.

"Gives us the advantage," Bauknight smiled, even though he was shivering intensely. "They're not coming out in this storm."

"True," Zell agreed. The biting wind began to freeze his hands, so the blonde quickly stuffed them in his sleeves. This wasn't a happy place. At least Timber was warm. "It's like Hell froze over." His companions nodded in agreement as they tried to warm themselves. Zell felt bad for Bauknight, cause he really wasn't prepared for all this. The poor guy was freezing his ass off, just because Squall wanted to waste time before reinforcements arrived. Irvine was just as cold, but Zell really didn't care. If the damn cowboy didn't hide info in the first place, they wouldn't be in this situation right now. Irvine was a bastard.

"Is that what we're looking for?" Bauknight asked, gripping his spear tightly.

Zell wanted to let the poor guy go home, as it was his boat, and Squall, Seifer, and Selphie would most likely explore the entire thing. "Yeah, let's go back to the beach, we'll try to warm up or something." So turning around, Irvine, Bauknight, and Zell made their way back to the beach. Lightning occasionally flashed, and the sound of thunder never seemed to die. Irvine led the pack, but apparently in the wrong way. The landscape became new and different, and Zell had no clue where they were.

"Where the hell are you leading us?" Zell yelled, as the fortress was barely visible anymore.

"I…don't know," Irvine admitted. The blonde quickly slapped the back of the cowboy's head, and started to lead them in another direction.

"You're a complete fucking moron," Zell snapped. Even Bauknight was pissed at him. The usually jolly man lost his smile, and dropped his soaked head to the ground. This wasn't his idea of a good time. "Why the hell is there a shed there?"

"I…don't know," Irvine said again.

"Did you see a shed on your way in?"

"No…"Irvine muttered softly. Zell dropped his head to the ground and scoffed. He was in a group with Mr. Happyface and a dumbass. Turning, Zell started to lead them back towards the fortress. This all changed, as a shot was heard, and the air whizzed past his ear.

"GET DOWN!" Zell hissed. He heard three thuds, including himself, and tried to lie as quietly as possible. He breathed slowly, and prayed someone hadn't seen them. A second shot was fired, and then a third, and then a fourth. The blonde knew they went way over their heads however, and was glad the enemy didn't see them fall to the ground. A squishing sound could be heard, as the foes made their way over to see if they hit their targets. From what Zell could tell, there were two of them because one person couldn't take four steps in a second. The wet grass caused the blonde to lose his sight, so he had to rely on his ears.

"Do you see anybody?" a strange voice asked, almost standing overtop of Zell.

"You can't see anything in this rain" a second added. The blonde couldn't take it anymore. He felt Irvine fall beside him, and lightly tapped him on the shoulder. In one quick motion, the two sprung up, and jumped the two intruders. Irvine followed the first voice, and hit a solid body with the end of his gun. Zell followed the second, and quickly tackled the foe. He felt the skull crush under his fist after his first swing, and felt the warm blood seep out onto his hand. He then heard a shot from Irvine's shotgun, and regaining his vision, saw the cowboy on his feet. Luckily, there were only two enemies, or they would have been at a major disadvantage.

"Bauknight, you alright man?" Zell asked, searching the ground for the sea captain. No reply came, and the blonde became nervous. "Bauknight?" He finally found a third body on the ground, and lifting up the head, he noticed it was the captain. The same warm fluid dripped down his hand, as the blonde found a bullet hole in his neck. Zell quickly dropped the body and his hands began to shake. The red color washed from his hands, but it didn't make him feel any better.

"What happened?" Irvine asked with fear. Zell couldn't come up with a response, and continued to look at the ground. Mustering his courage, Zell lifted the body over his shoulder, and silently led Irvine back to the beach. The blonde's leg pain suddenly came back, and with his mental anguish, it was a long walk back. It took him fifteen minutes to even get on the right path, and another fifteen to find the beach. Irvine walked silently behind him, presuming the obvious. His cowboy hat slumped, as he watched the rain fall into the puddles beneath his feet.

"ZELL!" Selphie called, as the blonde made his way back onto the sand. She beamed up to him, but then seeing Irvine's condition and the body over the blonde's shoulder, her smile faded. Zell ignored the rest of the party, and placed Bauknight's corpse into his beloved boat. A dark red stain ran down the back of his hoody, and he dropped his head to the ground as he sat next to the rest of the party.

"Dammit," Zell mumbled.