Vagary Prologue

By The Knight

Think Squall and Rinoa simply jogged out of that field in the middle of nowhere and back into Garden? I have a different opinion.

Squall and Rinoa walked quietly through the flowery field that showed no sign of ending, staring out to the unbroken horizon. They’d been walking like this for some time now, attempting to find the edge, or a sign, or…

Something.

But there was naught but flowers and grass and wavy, rolling hills as far as the eye could see in every direction on Squall’s compass. Still, this was better than the barren plain Squall had been wandering on after the battle with Ultimecia and the subsequent time decompression. He’d walked…and walked…and walked some more, until he finally collapsed with exhaustion, an exhaustion so deep it had nearly killed him.

He’d been searching for her. His sorceress.

But she had found him, instead. It had almost been too late; her Full-Life spell had barely caught him before his soul had slipped away. Once he’d come to and realized where he was and who he was with, his relief at finally finding her had wiped the skies clear of the dark, dreary overcast and transformed the barren rock plain into a lush, green paradise.

A paradise that now threatened to smother them. They’d gone over, around and once, compliments of Rinoa’s growing powers and desperation, straight through hill after hill after beautiful, horrible hill. They were growing tired (second time around for Squall), hungry, and lonely. They both missed their friends. Now it seemed they’d never see them again.

“Let’s stop for a little while,” Rinoa suggested. “We’re both tired. We need to rest.”

Squall simply nodded. He picked a spot on top of one of the irritatingly ever-present hills and sat. Rinoa could only giggle at his rigid demeanor. Even the way he sat screamed “SeeD.” Still smiling, she lowered herself to the ground next to him, leaning against his shoulder.

“You think we’re in the field near the orphanage?” Rinoa asked, more for the sake of hearing something than because she felt like talking. Damn, she was tired.

“I doubt it,” Squall said in his quiet voice. “I spent many days in that field, and it wasn’t this big. I feel like we’re walking the same patch of land over and over again.” A pause. “I…I don’t know where we are.”

Rinoa closed her eyes on the tears that threatened with that statement. She’d been lost for hours, but she’d held onto the hope that he, at least, had some idea where they were. Now she thought it was hopeless.

“…not hopeless…”

“What?” she asked.

“Hm?” Squall returned, perplexed. “I didn’t say anything.”

“Must have been the wind,” she concluded quietly.

“…sleep…”

“…dream…”

Just as they drifted away, the thought occurred to them both that in all the time they’d been walking, the air had been perfectly still.


Chapter 1

The Knight's Fanfiction