(A/N:) ... this fic does not deserve the 1000+ hits it received. ;A; For I am bad at regularly updating... *vomits up a random chapter onto the site then runs off to be a recluse again*

Disclaimer: (*sobs an denial and runs away from all the insensitive people who ask such a heartless thing*)

Title: Cub of the Pride

Chapter Four:Playacting

The jagged cliffs threw endlessly deep shadows over the desolate wasteland that the three Galbadian soldiers currently found themselves inhabiting. It was a land that was destroyed by the awful cry of the moon. Only the ruins stood in testament to the destruction of that sadness. It took many hardships for the three warriors to make it thus far, especially since the land had not been occupied in many ages and the maps they had were outdated.

"But, Uncle Laguna, Uncle Kiros told me you brought the wrong map." The small girl frowned and tapped her lip in thought. "And I thought you guys were lost?"

The president absently adjusted the stolen, blue bandanna on Squall's head so it wouldn't fall over his eyes. "You don't have to listen to everything Uncle Kiros has to say. You'll pick up some bad words. Now where was I?"

"You were wandering around... not lost?"

Laguna pouted at her words but continued.

Despite the unknown terrain and foreboding feelings, the battle hardened warriors armed themselves with their meager gear and set out to explore the lay of the land. The threat of dangers lurked seething in the dark pores of this foreign land. With caution evident in their every step the brave men ventured forth, and soon found themselves at the location that the enemy was tearing ugly wounds in their mother planet.

"Uncle Laguna!" The man abruptly stopped his narration and aborted the roll he was about to do. "I'm getting tired. Do we have to run around so strangely?"

The Esthar President glanced back and took a good look at his comrades. His current Kiros looked a little flushed, and Ward seemed to be pouting since they stopped darting and weaving down the hallway-turned-Centra-ruins. Elle got a lot more winded trying to keep up with her adopted father's longer lunges into the nonexistent shadows, but Squall seemed amused as he padded down the hallway watching his family members act like monkeys in the Presidential Residence.

The words came unbidden along with a rush of déjà vu. "Strange...? What do you mean strange? ...Just bein' cautious. That's the basic rule of thu..." The man's voice trailed off as he glanced at a corner further down the corridor. Pitching his voice a little louder, "I said 'That's the basic ru─'" An Esthar soldier stumbled into the hallway from the shove his fellow guard gave him. "Looks like we've got company. Esthar soldiers. Still wearin' those flashy uniforms."

Another guard sighed, trudging into the hallway to block the route back. Squall pointed a finger at the man towering above him. "Fwassy!" The little toddler was still learning how to speak and picking up new words to label everything around him. It was just unfortunate that he kept picking up the wrong words for things, and he was a little stubborn and persisted on his own choice instead of accepting any corrections. Father was still mowon, sky had somehow became wain, and the flowers in the President's personal garden were mama much to Laguna's confusion and discomfort.

With a battle cry the dark-haired father pulled out a water gun and fell the first guard who after a pointed look from his president entered some impressive death throes. Elle giggled and poked at the guard when he finally stopped moving to ensure that he was dead of course. With an encouraging nod from his father Squall turned to kill the soldier in front of him. The blue eyed boy growled and threw Griever at the soldier's head.

"No, no, Squall, you're Uncle Ward right now."

The boy tilted his head in thought before he scowled and crossed his arms as he attempted his uncle's intimidating aura. With a cue from Laguna the soldier dropped to the floor dead from Ward's glare of doom.

"Better make a run for it!"

"Why?" The little girl questioned flicking one of her braids out of her face. "Didn't we just defeat them?"

"There's an army of them here, duh." The man scooped up both of the kids and jogged down the hallway, and once they were out of sight the soldiers lying on the floor picked themselves up off the floor.

Outnumbered and pursued the three heroes found themselves chased into the strange structure that was half buried into the wastelands. It was like they stepped into a portal into a strange alien world. Their mad dash took them through a lair of crystal that seemed to pulse with it's own bizarre energy. Even in such a dire predicament our heroes were resourceful and laid traps for their pursuers.

"I thought you told us never to do that!" Elle looked guiltily up and down the hallway as her uncle mussed up the rug, rigging it to trip someone.

"Under normal yes, but we being hunted. So sit back and enjoy my genius trapping skills... aaaaaaaaaannnnnd don't tell your uncles about this."

It was unclear what the enemy was plotting to accomplish in these lands with such a otherworldly object, but some evidence of their presence could be detected. Ironically it was the more normal, familiar objects that stuck out starkly as foreign because of their surroundings. Their adversaries were putting so much effort into their plans because the warriors found much to their shock and surprise that there were explosives in place. Turning the tables they used the enemies weapons on them.

"BOOM! Ugh! This thing is heavy..." Since using explosives on boulders in the Presidential Residence wasn't exactly allowed (nor safe), Laguna had to make due with his own voice as sound effects and a conveniently placed vase. Unfortunately the thing was a lot more heavier than it appeared. So it was no surprise that neither Ellone or Squall were able to interpret the scene of rolling boulders chasing down the soldiers from Laguna slowly shoving a large vase down the hallway as a Esthar guard ran away in front of it in slow-motion. Finally the man stopped, pushing the vase to the side where it wasn't blocking the corridor.

"Wait! Uncle Laguna isn't that-"

"No time for that! This is the part where we run."

"But-"

"Running now!"

"Wunnin'?"

Despite the bright illumination of the place a weight of oppression settled darkly on the warrior's souls. Their enemies seemed relentless, the paths of the tunnels seemed endless, and their troubles just kept accumulating into daunting towers of misfortunes; but still they pressed on. When it seemed that they should resign to their fate, a breath of the sea lifted their fatigued spirits. From a cliff the turbulent waves of the ocean offered gestures at a chance at freedom. That small hope almost flickered out like a small flame caught in a sudden gale as soldiers pinned them in.

Laguna quietly snickered to himself. Oh if Ward and Kiros could see how they were currently being portrayed, then he was a dead man. At the moment Ellone was doing a pirouette while holding out two folding fans as substitutes of Kiros' weapon of choice. His little boy was still trying to glare the soldiers to death. When he could manage it between his wheezing gasps of laughter, Laguna covered his comrades with shots from his water gun. Mildly the president wondered if it was safe to be spraying water on the advanced body enhancement armor.

Originally one stubborn Esthar soldier was determined not to go to the afterlife by himself. In a last ditch effort they had used a desperate move that cost Ward his voice and took Kiros and Ward out of the fight. The events that happened on that one failed assignment was a turning point in all of their lives. Laguna's face grew pensive as thoughts of finding himself some happiness in family life and Ward becoming a mute. It seemed very unfair that he gained something precious and his friend lost something so important.

The censored version of that last attack snuck a smile on his face as it chased away his darker thoughts. Ellone huffed in indignation as the guard picked her up and placed her on top of a high table, making it impossible to continue the fight. He then did the same to Squall. Placing a finger before where his lips should on his helmet, he mimed for the boy to be quiet now, and then joined his partner on the floor supposedly dead. Laguna mentally filed a note in the back of his mind for later.

Bodies weary from the endlessly fights, the warriors found themselves on their last legs. The severity of the last blow had one of the companions saying their farewells as they felt themselves slipping from the world. Unable to bear the thought of losing one of their own after coming so far, they tried their best to revive hope and encourage their comrade to keep fighting.

The boy shrieked with laughter, the bandanna slipping down over his eyes as his father delivered the dreaded "Cuchi-cuchi treatment". Squall tried to squirm away but his father simply picked him up and attacked his vulnerable sides. "How's that, huh! Want more! Well!" Gasping out of breath the young boy could only shake his head with a wide grin. Satisfied with that answer Laguna stopped but not before lifting the boy's shirt and blowing a raspberry on the small stomach which had the boy giggling again at the strange sensation.

Their situation was quite dire. Hope was fading fast. Down far below them nestled within the ocean's embrace was the means to their salvation. There seemed to be only two choices to be made. Stay up on the cliff to die or trust their lives to fate and hope they make their way back home. With strength fading they made their choice.

To her surprise Ellone found herself being lifted up and then airborne. She squealed as she went flying into her uncle's office. Her flight was cut short as she crashed into a mountain of cushions that was piled on the floor. A few seconds later cushions went flying in several directions as Squall joined her in the mound of bright cushions.

With blue bandanna hanging lopsided on his head the boy laughed, clapping his hands. "Again!"

With a roar Laguna dove in after them sending up cushions flying up and just about everywhere. Gravity kicked back in and all three found themselves partially buried into the cushion mountain. A moment later the dark haired man went kiddie mining. A task made extremely easy as all he had to do was follow the sounds of the muffled giggling. After tossing his son into the air a few more times at his request Laguna finally finished the tale.

"And that's how your uncles and I completed our mission in Centra. Awhile later I found myself waking up in Winhill under the tender mercies of two very special ladies." He winked at Ellone. "The en-"

"Wait! I know the next part!" Ellone interrupted quickly undoing the braids from her hair and pulling a headband out from somewhere. Laguna wondered if she was holding it with her this whole time as she slipped it on. Squall pouted when his sister yanked the bandanna off his head. "Kay now I'll be Raine!" Laguna coughed in surprised, wondering where this was going. "Squall you'll be me, and Uncle Laguna will still be himself." A moment of silence passed and Elle stared at the man. "Uncle Laguna, you're supposed to be asleep!"

"Oh right!" In exaggeration he let his tongue hang out lolling to the side. Laguna however was not prepared for the words that came next.

"What is that awful racket? It sounds like a dying animal." Elle pinched her uncle prompting him to act. "You're supposed to be crying like a baby!"

"I did not cry like a baby!" The man tried to sit up but a hissed 'asleep' made him flop back down. "Not a crybaby..."

"Cwybaby!"

"SQUALL!"

"ASLEEP!"

"I don't think I like this game anymore..."

Ward leisurely strolled down the hallways of the Presidential Residence. It had been oddly peaceful today, and the man found himself enjoying it. It was one of those rare days where there wasn't a lot of work. As he turned a corner the tall man felt that he thought too soon. Instantly his face grew ferocious as his mind switched to battle ready. He may not be carrying his weapon of choice, but that did not make him any less deadly.

Wary of attack Ward made his way to the downed soldiers. Before he could check either if they needed medical attention or studying the injuries to tell what he was up against, one of the men waved at him. The adviser blinked in confusion.

"We're dead, sir." The guard cheerfully informed Ward gesturing to another guard nearby. The other guard facepalmed at the other's words.

Ward blinked dumbfounded at the man. Awfully cheerfully for someone who was supposed to be dead. They were outside of Laguna's office, and seeing the two guards, who were supposed to be guarding the president's office lying on the floor, had naturally put the man on edge. Craning his neck to see into his friend's open office the man could make out the kids currently mummifying Laguna as he laid on cushions on the floor.

At this point Ward was beyond the point of trying to figure out the situation. Making a motion as if to say 'Carry on', Ward simply walked away without a second glance.

Kiros popped the earphones out of his ears, and sighed in relief at the lack of yowling. Seriously someone had to do something with that cat. He pushed the papers off to the side, glad to finally complete the backlog of his papers. Kiros felt a little guilty for pushing Laguna so hard on his paperwork when he himself forgot about his own.

Getting out of his chair with a stretch the man made plans of getting acquainted with some food. Kiros rolled up the cord of his headphone as he tucked his music player into one of his pockets. With that secure he made his way to the door, turned the handle and...

"OW!" ...promptly walked right into the door. "What the-" He pushed at the door, frowning when it didn't budge. It was like there was something heavy blocking the way. It wasn't until later when Ward was walking back to his own office and let his fellow adviser out that Kiros discovered a large vase was shoved in front of his office. Much to their confusion they couldn't figure out how it ended up there.

(A/N:) Shit kept popping up for me to do while I was writing this chapter. I think at one point I was going to take the laptop and hide in the closet so I could get this done. See you people in December cause I think my sister talked into doing NANOWRIMO. (Did I spell that right?)

Omake/Extra/Whateverthehellyoucallthis (Behind the keyboard)

Enits'ju: *brainstorming for another chapter* Hey, what's a traumatizing thing you could do to children?

Sister: Put a sack on their heads and place them in a dark room and leave them there.

Enits'ju: … you know I kind of need them alive.

Sister: Well, how traumatized do you want them? *starts talking really fast looking excited* Like so traumatizing that it changes their whole perspective and viewpoint on life and they become dissatisfied with life and in the end become killers because they don't hold the same viewpoint on life as we do?

Enits'ju: *stunned* … uh... no? Did I mention that it's a large number of children? I don't need an army of unstable killer children...

Sister: What? That's what I think of when children are traumatized.

Enits'ju: That they become killers? Okay let me rephrase that... I need them to be slightly traumatized and abused, and don't say send them to work in the mines because that is so cliché. I never really like the whole mine thing it's like "Here children move these rocks around and be miserable.

Sister: Leave them in a desert!

Enits'ju: ALIVE! I need them alive!

Sister: Do they all need to be alive?

Enits'ju: Okay... I guess a few could die. That ups the horror factor a little.

Sister: How about a deserted island?

Enits'ju: A deserted island? *laughs* … you watch too much reality TV. Is a monkey going to traumatized them?

Sister: Are you going to have the monkey rape them?

Enits'ju: *cracking up* Oh gawd! Let me guess they vote off other children and because they're all traumatized by the pedomonkey, they are all killer children and the ones voted off will be killed by coconuts?

Sister: They're going to get stoned? With coconuts? And why don't you want killer children?

Enits'ju: Are you serious? I want my children to be angels when I have them! How would you raise killer children? *puts on motherly and nurturing voice (AKA my Jenova voice)* "Here, Bobby. Here's a knife you know what to do! Now go play with the other children." *mimes nudging a child to a group while waving*

Sister: *dies of laughter*

*A few days later*

Sister: Why did you need to traumatize children? Are you going to do another chapter of Reap What You Sow?

Enitsju: *smacks forehead and deadpans* Why yes, it's a new annual tradition that I decided to follow. Nothing says Halloween more then to write children dying every year. Sort of therapeutic for when we have to deal with the hordes of kids screaming for candy later.

Omake END

I think I may need a Beta instead of walking up to my sister and asking her questions out of the blue. (Btw don't you love how she doesn't even really questions me on why I want to traumatize kids at first?)