the elemental cycle ix: windleash

'I'm afraid Seifer was tried for kidnapping Deling. We believe he may be dead.'

Fujin crossed her arms over her chest, rejecting the statement.

'IMPOSSIBLE,' she snapped, scoffing the very notion. It was... to not-Seifer. He wouldn't stand passively by and let himself be tried or executed. He would fight.

'It's just not Seifer, ya know?' Raijin piped up. His tone was slightly worried. Fujin understood why. Even if Seifer wasn't caught, he might be hurt or something, else he'd shown up at Balamb or Galbadia Garden by now, arrogant smirk firmly planted on his face as he chided them for worrying.

The dark-haired boy opposite them shrugged, expressing his indifference. His attitude clearly said whether Seifer is dead or not is none of my business. Fujin didn't blame him for thinking that. In a way they were kin, siblings in attitude. Both silent, strictly professional and more often than not lonely.

'We gotta find him, ya know?' In sync, Fujin and Raijin nodded at each other.

'FIND.' Yes. Find Seifer. It'll be alright.

Turning, the two Disciplinary Committee members ran back up the corridor.

The Deling bus No.41 rattled to a stop in front of the Deling Station. The conductor standing on the pavement near the bus stop looked around for any passengers. It was boring being a Deling bus conductor, your sole duty to stand there and usher passengers into the bus. You didn't even have to collect the fare, as the buses were free.

No one. He was about to wave to the bus to go on when two people dashed out of the station. The one in the lead was taller, with dark skin and black hair, a vest and baggy pants, and a staff in one hand was panting and out of breath. The smaller woman following him had gray hair and red eye and black eyepatch, blue shirt and pants and black boots, and looked perfectly fine with running.

'Bus... to... Presidential Residence?' the leading youth huffed in exhaustion. The conductor never knew how lucky he was that the question didn't have anywhere said youth could insert a 'ya know'.

'Please get on,' he said cordially - well, as cordially as possible for a tired and cranky man.

Both teens piled on, the male clumsily, the female moving with a kind of smooth grace. He noticed a weapon - pinwheel, it looked like - strapped to her back.

'Lady, no weapons in th-'

The hiss of the bus doors closing cut him off.

Well, he reasoned, she would find out soon enough.

Fujin sank back against the plush leather seat of the bus, exhausted. After an hour trekking through the forest and plains to get to East Academy Station - students didn't get to use the cars at Galbadia Garden - , another on the train to Timber, one hour to Balamb, fifteen minute car ride to Garden, the other fifteen getting to the headmaster's office to report, the three-hour car and train ride back to Deling, including switching trains at Timber... any normal woman would have dropped dead by now from exhaustion, hunger and thirst.

She would really have liked to not go back to Balamb Garden to report, but that was the regulation. As much as she would have liked to drop all the formal crap and just rush after Seifer, Fujin was still first and foremost a SeeD cadet. As such, she had to obey rules. The Disciplinary Committee enforced rules. That didn't mean they could disregard them.

Leaning her head back against the soft leather, she watched the buildings going past with disinterest. The few aches and pain - residue from the battles, compounded with the fatigue and hunger (she'd only managed to stomach a sandwich at Timber Station waiting for the Balamb train) got to her, and her vision wavered. Quelling it with a hard shake of her head, Fujin turned to Raijin beside her. Anything to distract her from the doubts and thoughts that plagued her like flies. You could brush them away but they always came back.

'Seifer, well,' she whispered, unable to think of anything else. Discarding the yelling for her tiredness and worry, she scrutinized the young man's face in the dark. He looked a little strained, but better than she felt.

Raijin understood his friend's moods, even if she didn't understand them herself. After a moment, he spoke.

'Seif's gonna be okay, ya know?' This was said with supreme confidence and loyalty. 'Nothing could happen to him, ya know?'

Fujin stared out the window again, watching the Presidential Residence draw nearer, lights lit despite the fact that it was still evening, and drew her brows together in a worried frown. I hope so. Oh, Hyne, please let Raijin be right this time. Please...

Off the buss, they confronted the guards at the entrance together, Fujin drawing herself upright and squaring her shoulders, trying to hide her weariness.

'Off-limits,' was all the left-hand guard said, while the right-hand one kept silent. She met monosyllables with monosyllables.

'SEIFER.'

-Backed up by Raijin, of course. 'We gotta find Seifer, ya know? He's our friend, ya know?'

The guards scrutinized them, then the right-hand guard conferred with someone over a radio and returned in a few moments.

'Go right in,' he said emotionlessly, opening a door set into the gate for the pair.

For a moment, Fujin hesitated, then strode in, Raijin at her heels.

The elegant grandeur of the Presidential Residence swallowed Fujin. The silver-haired girl strode through a hallway filled with treasures and decorations - probably designed to impress visitors. Fujin was not impressed. Raijin was, however, and kept making 'ooh'-ing and 'aah'-ing sounds.

Through that chamber, she entered a second, smaller, and with fewer furnishings. Two staircases wound up to a higher level, and a door at the further end promised more rooms. It was not that which caught her attention, though.

'SEIFER!' He stood between them and the door, flanked by the graceful staircases. Golden hair glowing in the soft lamplight, features shaded, eyes burning cool gray-green fire in a shadowed face... he had never looked better. There was something about him now, a look of suppressed excitement and exhilaration.

'Fujin, Raijin...' Seifer opened his arms in a gesture of welcome, and his face almost glowed. Then the smile took on a more familiar nature and transformed to a smirk. 'I was wondering when you two would show up.'

'WHY?' Fujin wasn't in a mood to be tactful. Why did you disappear? Make us think you were dead? Why are you so happy, for Hyne's sake?

Seifer laughed, a glorious sound. 'Why?' he mimicked her. And guessed all her questions perfectly. 'To make puberty-boy and all the rest think I was dead. And because... because I've fulfilled my dream!'

Silence descended on the room, a smothering blanket. When anyone spoke again, it was Raijin.

'Dream, ya know?'

A smile lit the dimness. 'I've become a knight.' The emphasis he put on the word gave it a capital 'k'. 'Sorceress Edea's Knight! And you can be my squires!' He seemed truly glad, happy. For some reason, Fujin didn't feel so. So much I don't understand, so much I don't know... better to find safe ground.

'ORDERS?'

The smile left his face. And returned within a second.

'Spoken like a true soldier,' he said admirably. 'Okay. Orders. First - rest. There are rooms on the upper floor. Go left. Right is Edea's, and she doesn't like trespassers. Not even-' he added lightly '-friends of her knight. I'll call you later.

Fujin blinked. Sleep? The weariness she had willed from her body seemed to seep back. It was all she could do to hold herself upright.

Then Seifer was pushing her, hands propelling her towards the left stairway, Raijin preceding them for once. His hands burned on her shoulderblades, and Fujin had to work to keep from shivering.

Seifer left her at her room with a hurried 'Good night.' Staring at her bed, Fujin tried to assimilate the events of the evening and found her tired mind unable to do so. Unbuckling her shoulderpad - it had been bloody hell on her shoulder the one night she'd forgotten to take it off - and placing it on the low table beside the bed. Fujin started to lie down, not bothering to take off her boots. She wondered whether she would be able to sleep, after all that had happened - Seifer alive, and a knight.

She was asleep before her head hit the pillow.