Squall held the car keys as they were handed to them, and looked blandly at his two companions. His gaze was unreadable, "We're actually going to drive to Timber?" he asked flatly, though the sarcasm was still there. He had managed to make himself scarce as his two teammates went to find means of transportation, and came back to find -this-?

Zell walked over and took the keys, " Nope, I'M gonna drive to Timber." He tossed them up into the air jovially, about to catch the jingling objects, only to see them recaptured by the teams unofficial leader.

"Nice joke." Two chillingly arctic blue eyes glared at him. After a moment the cold gaze relented and Squall frowned, his eyes gaining some carefully sheltered emotion of something akin to loss, and he looked away. It was very uncharacteristic of their normally stoic commander.

The three of them got into the car. Squall sitting at the wheel, Quistis in the front passenger seat (diliberatly ignoring the younger blond's insistance on "riding shotgun"), and Zell in the back, middle. The car was started and they began to drive smoothly on a carefully chosen track to Timber, for an immeasurably long time.

After traveling all night across the giant continent they reached the small city of Timber. Even Quistis had had enough time to take to threatening Zell if he didn't stop his "back-seat driving" habits. Both of the front seat occupants were fairly annoyed with him. They parked the shabby car in front of a magazine store, unloading and stretching greatfully. After a few moments of bickering, mostly caused by the youngest blond, they officially decided to start their search.

Quistis looked to Squall, "We would cover more ground if we split up."

Squall nodded, and walked on along the street that aligned that railway tracks without saying a word, leaving his two fair-haired, somewhat confused companions to stand staring quizzically after him. The blue-eyed man had always been of a very independant nature, even in his youth, and if they didn't naturally gather his want to be alone for the moment, he wasn't feeling up to explaining it to them. He wasn't sure he would even know how.

Everyday he felt the need to be alone. Away from everything. Free to feel pain, lonliness, whatever was etched so deeply upon his soul at the moment. Lately it was the raven-haired girl whom had so mysteriously disappeared. He wanted to feel her again. Know the touch of her skin and that scent that was so uniquely feminine, yet carelessly intense. Hear her melodic voice as she idly talked of anything that passed through her mind.

But now she was so far away.

When she had left, they lost what connection they seemed to have had, leaving only the hollow absense of that same vital attachment that was each other. Without Rinoa, the quiet man felt himself losing not only his connection with her and the others whom surrounded him, but with reality itself. He felt so suddenly detached; as if nothing really mattered anymore.

And he felt somehow worthy of the pain. Yet the only reasons of 'why' that he could form were petty and incomplete, and left him to only wonder if he really deserved what he was putting himself through. And if he didn't, why couldn't he stop such inane mental abuse upon himself. It would only distract him, and in his line of work there was no room for distraction.

For now, though, he just continued to walk in hopeless search of that missing attachment to his spirit.

Zell looked at the woman in pink to his right, "I'll be going that way." He pointed to the train station and the street directly perpendicular to it. The exact opposite of Squall's selection of direction.

Quistis nodded, "I'll be going to search around the pub and surrounding areas."

Zell nodded and headed off, leaving the other to go her way as well. 'I wonder where Squall is going...'

The lady SeeD headed along the noisy Timber streets; quite a few people were out today. She walked lightly into the pub, politely nodding to the friendly strangers who paused to greet her. It was a quick way up to the bar, the pub being very quiet and almost empty today. After only a moment she had asked if she could have a private word with the bar tender.

The bar tender was not the one that had been in there last time she had decided to visit the Timber Pub. He was a man in his mid-twenties and was around 5"11 in height, a little taller than Quistis, he had blond hair that hung long and stringing on one side of his head and shorter on the other, and he had piercing blue eyes, almost holding a similarity to Squall's but no where near as cold.

He was very friendly and welcomed Quistis to Timber with a wide smile, bearing less than adequately hygenic teeth/

"Hi, ma'am. Cappa Martinez is my name," he said shaking her hand, he had an accent thick with that unusual island talk that so few people north of Timber held, "Now, you said you was a SeeD?"

The grammer wasn't too great, either.

Quistis nodded slightly smiling, Cappa seemed very enthusiastic about meeting a 'SeeD.'

"My Papa was a SeeD! Oh, I want'd to be a SeeD so bad!" He shook his head, "I's all up for it... but, then 'e up an' out on a mission, one day an'...." The man grew quiet, looking like he'd been told he would loose everything he owned in the next five minutes.

Quistis sighed, "I'm sorry, about... whatever happened--" Quistis began.

"When Papa didn't come 'ome, Mama got worr'd, she said me or my sis was nev'r to bec'me no SeeD. We was to stay 'ome, an' get a safe job, like a sales Clerk or som'thin' of that nat're..." The man bit his lip timidly.

The ex-Instructor frowned, "I'm still sorry, but--"

"My sister be comin' in 'ere every day. Except she disappear'd 'bout two an' a 'alf weeks ago, but she came back yesterd'y. I know she be up to no good... but she's my sis, right? You gotta' love ya sis! Am I right?"

Quistis nodded, opening her mouth to say something but Cappa cut in again.

"She come in 'ere today, challenged ev'ryone in the pub to a game of Triple Triad... she done lost all of 'er cards, I th'nk... She be workin' for some weird guy or som'thin'... 'E be comin' in 'ere too. 'E's up to som'thin'... I swear 'e is... I said to sis this mornin', 'Waruitenshi! Ya' gone an' disappeared for two weeks, didn't tell no one you was leavin', and ya' come back in here, get yo'rself drunk, and... Girl, som'one should teach ya' to play cards. Ya' dun' even know how!' " he shook his head, chuckling softly.

Quistis jumped, "Waruitenshi?!"

Cappa nodded, "Yeah?"

"Who does Warui work for?" The blond ex-Instructor leaned forward, her face a mask of curiosity and serious pondering.

Cappa frowned, "Um..." he looked puzzled, "I dunno... Some guy... 'E be a wee bit tall. Does some o' dat magic. When 'e's drunk, 'e'll tell ya ever'thin', whether you wanna' know it or not. Ask 'im a question, if 'e dunno the answer 'e'll make up one, I swear. The man be a bit quirky. 'E be comparin' life to a toothbrush once. Not qu'te sure why... I rem'ber 'e was talkin' 'bout turnin' into dat kid dat w's workin' for s'me sorceress... I dunno anyt'in' else..."

Quistis stared puzzled, the man's speech was impeccible, but she managed to derive some meaning from the senseless babble. 'A man working for a sorceress..? There were tons of them. Which is he talking about?' She looked to the table, 'Could he be talking about Seifer...?! But...' Quistis looked up at him, "If you can't tell me his name, could you tell me where she lives?"

Cappa leaned back, "Well, she 'ad been livin' in the 'otel bas'ment with that boyfrien' of 'ers. 'Er boyfrien' bein' dat guy she works for... Yuda? No, that's not it... Yardi? Nah, sounds like plant treatment... Uh... Yume? No... Yune? No... Oh! Yume?" He looked like he had struck gold, "I think that's it! Uh....Yuda... No, Yume! Yumenegoo... Uh.... Yumiga... Uh... something like that!"

The blond forcefully smiled through his series of mummbling and brainlessness, "Thank you, sir... I think I have found who I'm looking for."

Cappa smiled back, "Well, why is SeeD so inter'sted in my sis and 'er boyfrien'-- what's 'is name?"

Quistis frowned, "Well, I think I know where your sister has been for the last two weeks. And, I have a strange feeling she might know something about the disappearance of one of my friends."

A boy, he couldn't be older than thirteen ran out of the back room, behind the bar, "Hey, Cap!! Phone call from yo' motha'!"

Cappa waved 'bye' and ran to get his phone call.

Quistis sat at the table a little longer, feeling she knew who was behind Rinoa's disappearance. 'Waruitenshi showed up two weeks ago... She seemed very interested in what was going on. We left yesterday, she could have very well, gotten to Timber during the night.... before we got here at 10 am. She knew where we went!!'

Quistis ran to the nearby shops at the train station. The Pet Shop door swung open and Zell came out. he looked like he would beat the first person he saw, luckily he didn't, because it was Quistis. Zell pointed to the show, fury flooding his unsteady voice, and anger shown red on his cheeks.

Quistis stopped him before he could explain, "We don't have time! I think I know what happened! But I don't know why."

Zell stared at her, slowly cooling down, "What?"

Quistis began to explain about Cappa at the Pub and his sister 'Waruitenshi.' She explained she was working for some guy, but she didn't know his name "Yume-something, he couldn't get past that!"

Zell stared at her blankly when she was through, "You mean to tell me: Rinoa is being held in a Hotel basement, by a guy named 'Yume-whatever' and a dumb blond?"

Quistis narrowed her eyes and held up a strand of her hair, "Watch it!"

Zell frowned, "You got the point, am I right?"

A light nod from the woman.

Zell threw his hands up, "You go start the car! We'll be back with Rinoa in a second! IN A HOTEL BASEMENT!? HOW STUPID DO PEOPLE GET!?"

Quistis shrugged, "I dunno about it either."

Zell turned back to her, "Are you sure Waruitenshi had anything to do with it?"

Quistis bit her lip, "I don't know for sure, but I think so..."

Zell shrugged and sighed, "We'll see.... We better go find Squall."

Squall had walked the streets looking for a reasonable place to start looking, the Forest Owls train wasn't there anymore. There were no Zone or Watts he could ask at the moment, Where to start?

He started to walk past the pub when a man walked out, quickly, almost hitting Squall with the door. The man seemed distracted by something, though, he walked quickly to the other side of the street and waited, looking at his watch. He was Squall's height, he even had Squall's hairstyle-maybe a bit shorter-, he wore a long black trenchcoat, a white shirt, and some dirty, torn jeans. Squall was sure he saw a glint of silver hanging from his neck. The guy wore sun glasses and turned in Squall's direction.

Squall jumped behind a few crates, that were being unpacked of the liquor they contained. Luckily the guy hadn't seen him. Squall saw something familiar about him in the way he stood, the way he walked, his looks, if he hadn't been dressed differently and without the sun glasses, he would have looked almost identical to Squall!

I didn't even try ellipse-removal here. I guess I could have, if I understood what the crap is going on. xx;