edenbound | FFVIII: Breach (1)

Fandom: Final Fantasy VIII
Pairing: None
Warnings: Rinoa POV
Chapter: One
Rating: PG13
Summary: Rinoa is in a mess, and she has to find her own way out. For multi-chapter fics, warnings and pairings are chapter specific.

I moved very slowly, and cautiously. I'd been having what I thought were weird dreams – dreams about moving, about men shouting and people moving about, me unable to move, unable to make a sound. I opened my eyes carefully when I realised that my arms and legs were bound.

When I found my eyes obscured by a strip of cloth, I felt a flutter of panic. I stilled again and tried to speak. I found myself gagged, too, with brown packing tape, sticking painfully to my face.

Slowly, I counted to ten. It was supposed to be calming.

I reached for my magic within my mind, and I would have sighed in relief if I could; they hadn't blocked my magic. Obviously they didn't know how to deal with a sorceress. Or they didn't expect me to wake up.

Remaining completely still, I used my power to scan the room. There was only one person in the room – I touched his mind briefly and only found thoughts about me that made me blush. I quickly put him into a trance, one where he got what he wanted. Might as well give him that comfort, considering the punishment he was likely to get.

I had laughed at Squall when he had insisted I take specialised courses at Garden to help me survive in such situations. I immediately realised I would have to thank my pessimistic, but realistic, knight. Thinking of him, I reached out quickly, thinking about asking him to help me, but I drew back when I realised he was with Seifer. For the sake of my own sanity, I'd found it best to stay away from my knight and his chaotic thoughts and emotions when he was with Seifer.

Besides. I didn't need him anyway. Not that much.

A spell to undo the ropes around my hands took little effort. Then I decided to conserve my magical energy – a thing SeeD had taught me; before those lessons I never would have thought of conserving my power, I'd have used it for every single little thing. Some people believed the sorceress power was a bottomless pit, but really, it depends on the strength of the woman. With my hands free, I pulled off my blindfold and looked around the room. A fairly typical little cell – no clues as to where I was.

I started to peel off the packing tape over my mouth, but found that too painful and gave it up as a thing for later and unimportant for now. I undid the ropes around my feet, rubbing them with a wince as the blood suddenly rushing through my veins made them throb oddly. I thanked sheer dumb luck for the fact that the distracted young guard had been the one to bind my hands, so that they were okay and the knots had been loose.

As I thought about him, I finally looked up and studied him. He was a pretty average guy; he had dark hair, long lashes and a sort of girly face. It took me a moment to realise the key point, though.

He wore a SeeD uniform.

I tried not to jump to conclusions. Instead, I surveyed the area; first with my eyes, then by listening, and then with probing magic. I couldn't learn anything about the area. The only thing I could find was that the corridor outside was empty, and there was a way out. That was good enough for me.

I confess that I was very pleased with myself by that point.

I got up, kicking the rope out of the way and adjusting the little dress I wore to sleep in a little uncomfortably. No wonder the guard had been thinking such thoughts. I was going to be cold...

Sighing, I put the guy into a deeper trance and with the help of a little magic, managed to get his jacket off. I wrapped that around myself for warmth and decided that I didn't want to try getting his trousers or anything. I'd make do. If I had to, I could use magic to keep myself warm.

I was going to use magic to unlock the door too when I realised that the guard must have a key. It was things like that the SeeD course had taught me. I bit my lip and decided not to start feeling pleased with myself just then. I got the keys and then unlocked the door, feeling as if I was right, and that I would get out okay, despite the little voice of pessimism (so Squall, so SeeD) that spoke up saying that it couldn't be that easy.

For once, things went my way. It was that easy.

I crept down the corridor, taking the keys with me and leaving the guard in there. As soon as I got out into the cold night air, I flung the keys away in a random direction and started off in another.

It was freezing cold, and dark, and I couldn't really tell where I was. I knew it wasn't as far North as Trabia, it would have been much colder if it was, but I couldn't for the life of me think of anywhere I could be.

I got as far away from my prison as I felt I could, sometimes running, always out of breath and worried, my hair sticking to my face and back, my skinny little dress clinging to my body in all the wrong ways; and when I decided I'd had enough, then I slumped down in the grass. It tickled my bare legs and I felt as if I would never be able to sleep there, but somehow, I did.

----

It seemed even colder when I woke in the morning. I sat up, my hair sticking to the packing tape. I winced and started to peel it off again, feeling as if half my skin was stripped off with it. I imagined how stupid I had to look, the imprints left on my face, and winced again.

What? I don't like looking stupid, even after escaping a kidnapping attempt. I had an excuse for looking like crap; that didn't mean I had to like it.

I reached for Squall. There was nothing I could do without him by then, and really, I just wanted to see his familiar face. And perhaps thank him for the training he'd insisted on that got me out of there.

<Squall? Need a hand here.>

His reply was quick. <I know. I'll be there as soon as I can trace you. Balamb Garden moved during the night, Nida didn't do it, so we're not exactly sure where we are yet. I'll find you.>

<It's my job.>

He sounded exasperated. He sounded as if I'd simply wandered off against his orders and somehow got myself into trouble. I laughed, hugging my knees, feeling better for the little chat. <I got kidnapped.>

And then he stopped answering me.

I was so glad when I saw Garden floating over the plains towards me. I stood up, shading my eyes from the sun. The chilling thing was that I couldn't see the place where I'd been held captive, and yet I knew I hadn't gotten that far from it.

I made sure I would remember to tell Squall that. And then I headed towards Garden's entrance and the relieved faces waiting there for me.