Who:  Selphie Tilmitt, Irvine Kinneas, Kail Nurah, Dragonclaw, Tybal the Puppet, Vincent Valentine, and Squall Leonhart.
Where:  Dorm area, Cid's Office.
Why:  Bad news for poor Squall.




The sound of booted feet running down the corridor from the main ring is heard, as Tybal, the gun-loving SeeD scout from the front gate, bursts into the dorm entry, panting. "Anyone seen the Commander?!" he demands.

Selphie blinks at Claw's offer, and opens her mouth to ask Irvine if he'd like to do so! But! Tybal bursts in, and her attention flickers over to him, wide-eyed from the subben outburst. "--Ah--!" Shaking her head, she looks helplessly to Irvine, then to Claw -- "No...! What's wrong?" Criminy! It's just one thing after the other!

Still holding Selphie with one arm, Irvine turns his head to glance at Tybal, blinking at the sudden 'rush' he seems to be in. The cowboy shrugs his shoulders, having not seen Squall since just before jumping off the Ragnarok the night of the attempt to save Cloud. Selphie voices this for him, however and he quirks an eyebrow, waiting for an answer.

Kail emerges from his room, rubbing at his own slightly puffy eyes, but looking either better or blocking his own emotions off for now and trying to hold off thinking until later, and finds a veritable congregation of people (at least, for the Dormitory). He jogs over, asking, "What's going on?" Tybal looks dead serious.

Dragonclaw's head swivels to look at Tybal, and Dragonclaw holds the blue fuzzy blanket a bit closer around his shoulders. "No," he says after a moment. "Should I have?"

Tybal skids to a halt and bends, hands on knees as he tries to catch his breath. You'd think he just got done swimming from home. "ShinRa's blasted the Island," he manages, sounding like what happens with fury meets tight control. "Some kind of energy weapon, right where Garden usually is."

Selphie gasp!s, though she did expect something like that. "--Ohmygawsh! -Mega- bummer!" Yeah, well. That's Selphie's way of saying "Aaah! Crap!" She looks up to Irvine -- -she's- the SeeD here, and she's basically asking Irvine what to do. "Where do you think he is?!"

Eyes widening, Irvine feels his jaw slacken again. "The town?" he asks, though he knows it was evacuated, there were probably still a few stubborn oldtimers who refused. Like the lady he bought Selphie's pendant from, she'd already flat out told him she'd never leave her home... So, if Garden wasn't there, was the town affected? How many *innocents* were caught in this blast?

Tybal shakes his head, pushing back his hair angrily. "We only saw the strike on our old site," he explains, sounding like he wants to spit. "We were too far away, came back to report as soon as we could. I think the town's ok..." Though, he -had- left after the first hit, hadn't he?

Dragonclaw doesn't hesitate. He half-growls under his breath, frill flipping up and vibrating in suppressed anger. "Why did they do that? No point! None at all, destroys the land, not even a /reason/!"

Kail rubs at his eyes again. "You're kidding." Flat tone of voice, not good. "Great. Just great. Someone should head out and see if the town is in one piece."

Selphie glances around -- well, criminy. She's a follower, despite her Leo personality, and really doesn't know what to -do-. "Where haven't you looked?" she asks Tybal, fidgeting. Argh! Need! Leader!

Irvine takes a deep breath, holding out a measure of hope at least, for the time being. "Anyone checked his quarters? His office? I haven't seen him *out* but that battle took a lot out of all of us, imagine what *he* went through." He squeezes Selphie's shoulder lightly, glancing down to make sure she's ok.

Tybal looks to Squall's door, catching his breath finally. "Someone said he was in his room, I thought I'd check." Never mind the questions, the guy's trotting over to pound on the door. "Hey Commander!" *thumpthumpthump*

Dragonclaw hesitates. "If he is near a tree I can ask," he says, still half-growling. "But do not think he will be."

Irvine frowns somewhat at Tybal's back. Since observing Kain, he's been a lot less patient when he sees something frivolous. If he knew Squall was in his room, why was he asking the rest of them where he was? (As if he had the right to judge, really, he's got a rep for being frivolous.)

Selphie watches Tybal move, blinkblinking widely up at Irvine. "--Well, yeah! But I really didn't think he'd be in his -room-..." She trails off, feeling slightly -dumb- for not checking his room, first thing. Sigh.

And there's no answer at the Commander's quarters, and Tybal leans agianst the wall, rubbing his eyes. "...Where else?"

Kail looks at Tybal. "Meeting Room...Control Tower...if nothing else maybe you can PA him if you can get up there." Yeah, he knows not that many people can. He can't always and he's a pilot, so.

Irvine sighs and reaches up to rub his eyes, "Is there any town near here? Any where he might have gone outside of the Garden?"

Dragonclaw, predictably, went and found the nearest shrubbery and quite politely asked it - quiet-like, of course, and not in words in any case. But judging from the fact that he comes back very quickly, he didn't find Squall.

Selphie pointpoints upwards, looking hopeful. "Yeah! Call him over the PA! --That'll work, right?" And though she may be a friend of Squall's, she doesn't have access up there. Grr! To Irvine, she ooohs quietly -- "Do you think he woulda' left? --Ca-rap! -Squaaalll-!," she -whines-, suddenly.

"Can someone check the control tower," Tybal suggests, straightening. "I'll check and make sure he didn't go out anywhere. PA him, something..." Poor guy must be tired.

Kail nods. "I'll see if I can get up there," he says. "Chances are no, but failing that maybe we can find someone who can." He shakes his head. Man...shooting Balamb...if they hadn't moved Garden....unpleasant thought.

Dragonclaw offers, "Can go. Never been up to the top. Want to see it. Please?"

"I woulda," Irvine comments to Selphie. Good thing he's not Squall. But, to Kail he nods, "Guess we'll all see if we can get up there. I can't think of anywhere else he'd be." Glancing at Tybal, he loses that judgemental status real fast. "Guess that's that. Thanks."

Selphie already starts for the Dorm Exit, tugging at Irvine's sleeve even as she does. "C'mon --! I'll go check the halls, and ask everyone if they've seen him. If you find him, I'll find -you-, okay?"

(Insert mad dash up to Cid's office here.)

Vincent watches the outburst run its course. Silence. "I admire whatever talking Cid Kramer managed to buy Garden's neutrality in your world." he says finally. "But if it does not work here, then we will have to find alliances to pool our resources toward." Another pause, "No single entity can defend against all that any other entity can perform. And it's not expected." So... don't worry?

Squall is seated at one of the tables, a plastic-coated map before him, and a piercing look directed up at Vincent. Apparently, he's just made some... intense? Angry? statements.

*knock knock knock* At the door. Though obviously whoever's behind it doesn't have the patience to wait as it opens anyway, Irvine, Kail and Dragonclaw suddenly crashing whatever meeting or talk is in place. Irvine looks grave, and slightly miffed. Ok, he looks downright angry, murder in his eyes. Realizing he's probably interrupted something, he does hold his tongue for the moment and wait for the three of them to be acknowledged.

Dragonclaw clatters in, claws clacking against the ground - though he tries his best to mute them at least slightly. Standing just behind and to the left of Irvine, the first noticable difference from usual is that he /still/ has a standard Balamb-issue blue fuzzy blanket around his shoulders.

Kail runs in behind Irvine, stopping just off to his side and behind him, and looks fairly somber, having been hit with one thing after another today, and is gradually picking up an expression similar to Irvine's. He stops, sees they've interrupted Vincent and Squall, and stays quiet.

Squall is about to reply to whatever Vincent's said when the Stooges burst in. He stands quickly, staring. No running in the halls? Looking to Irvine (the man's expression fairly draws the attention), the Commander frowns and asks with some dread, "What?"

"Balamb's been targeted. ShinRa blasted the Island. Tybal's been looking for you," Irvine replies with a crispness that's very unusual for his normally laid-back manner. He clenches and unclenches his fists, his stance exceptionally tense.

Dragonclaw's contribution, is, if nothing else, short. "What he said." Well, it's concise. He stays quiet, shifting from one foot to the next. "Nice office."

Kail doesn't say a thing. Like it's gotta be said more than once, anyway.

Well, something bad was expected, but not... "The -whole- Island?" Squall exclaims, staring. The look he gives Vincent is one of shock and... resignation? What were they talking about, anyway?

Vincent is already standing... And simply stiffens at the news. He hates being right, sometimes, though he'd never admit it. He looks back toward Squall, then to the three, "And where is Tybal?" he adds on to Squall's demand.

"I don't know," the same tone of voice from Irvine, and is that the sound of him gritting his teeth? "All I got out of Tybal was that they saw the strike on the old site. He thinks the town's ok." He -thinks-. Gives a little hope, but not enough as far as the gunman is concerned. He misses Vincent's question, looking straight at Squall.

Dragonclaw's weight shifts again. "Said town is probably alive. We hope. Not sure about the trees, though," he says with a bit of a droop to his posture. "Important?"

Kail adds, "Somebody can probably make it over and check on the town from the sea or the air without staying long enough to be spotted by anybody or have time to be traced."

Squall shakes his head and, folding his arms on his chest, he scowls in silence a moment. Then, "Good idea, Kail. If Nida's not busy, maybe he can take teh Ragnarok for a flyover. Just to see if the town is still there." Just saying the words depens his frown, and he looks back up at Irvine. "We knew something like this might happen, right?" Asking? Asking all of them. Wanting them to agree.

Though really he'd love to deny it, the gunman finds himself looking away from Squall now, taking a deep breath, the adrenaline of his initial anger starting to wear away. "Yeah. I had a feeling. But, that's why we evacuated the town, right?" Sure, see, everyone's gone anyway. Well... except those who refused to leave.

Dragonclaw, predictably, doesn't agree just to be difficult. "Did not think they would destroy for no reason. Did not think that, as long as we were not there, they would attack /there/. Would think they would go after us here."

Vincent sighs quietly, leaving the four to discuss the matter while he listens. Though on Dragonclaw's comment, Vincent speaks up. "It has been part of ShinRa's past to subjugate unprotected cities for their own purposes. Either through monopolization of vital resources, or through outright conflict. It would not have been wise to abandon the port to a random fate without the nominal protection of Garden's presence."

Squall almost flinches at Vincent's words, perhaps taking them... the wrong way. Typical? Maybe when you're already mulling your own guilt for calling down destruction on townspeoples' homes. His gaze goes to a table leg.

Selphie, having obviously been running -- huffpuff -- pushes one of the doors open, leaning against the doorknob. "You guys! Squall's Cid's offi-...ce." Stare. Blink. Hmm. "Hey, Squall!" n_n; Typical Selphie entrance. Sigh.

Dragonclaw snorts, frill flipping again. "It is a /waste/ to attack the land. The land does not attack without guidance and we were not there. Is pointless and /dumb/."

Sobered by Vincent's words, Irvine slowly closes his eyes, face turning to the side and downcast simultaeneously. He doesn't even look up as he hears Selphie's entrance, just thinking...

Probably. Vincent meant the words to show that Garden did not abandon the people that looked to them to their fate with ShinRa. A good thing. But in any advent, he looks at Irvine, and repeats his first question, "Where is Tybal now?" he glances over, noting Selphie's entry, and nodding briefly to her.

"I'll go find him," Squall speaks up. "And get a report. We need to get a crew together and fly out there to take a look as soon as possible."

The hat lifts as Irvine opens his eyes and raises his chin again to answer Vincent, "He's checking to make sure Squall didn't leave the Garden. We had no idea where he was. He's likely still in the building, unless someone fed him information that Squall'd left."

Dragonclaw offers, "Will go look for him, send him up? It is no trouble."
      
Selphie decides that whatever was said before her entrance -must- have been something uber-serious, if Irvine didn't even look up. Nodding to Vincent, trying to slip into a semi-professional mode, she blinkblinks at Squall. "--Ah--" Then Irvine answers for her. Hm. Fidget.

Squall pauses, and nods briefly at Dragonclaw's offer. Uberserious? Yeah. The Commander still doesn't take his gaze off the floor. Maybe he's thinking genius tactics. More likely he's thinking of the consequences of his orders.

Dragonclaw plods out, fuzzy blanket forgotten and left lying on the floor. He'll be back.

Selphie moves out of the way for Claw to get through, looking... well, lost. Big surprise. She hates to ask it, but she's gotta. "--What'd I miss...?" Sigh! She looks at Squall, and -- waaah! She's lost, aside from what Tybal said.

Irvine glances up, holding a hand outward toward Selphie while mouthing, 'Com'ere'. No, he's not happy, his mood severely sobered from his initial anger, but he's not about to leave poor Selphie sitting there by herself, confused.

Vincent raises a hand and gestures Selphie closer to the group. "I will find Nida." his gaze is drawn to Selphie for a minute, "An attack was made on Balamb Isle. We are not certain of the specifics, yet." He turns to Squall again, as if looking for permission to depart. And... well, perhaps looking to see if the commander is going to be all right. For a moment, there's concern on the gunman's features.

Squall isn't the most loquacious at the best of times, but now he's just silent. "Yeah," he answers Vincent. "I'm going to go check on the infirmary, I haven't had the time... Then I'll get back to 'work'." He says the last word with a tone of distaste, with a glance at Vincent's boots, before starting a stalk out the doors.

Selphie does!, indeed, g'there to Irvine. Trot, trot. She watches Vincent as she does so, nodding slowly -- she knew that Balamb was attacked, but... Well. She feels like something else was mentioned. Either way, even as she reaches Irvine, she glances back to Squall once more, "--Squall--!" She hates to see people upset. c_c; Waaah.

Irvine winds an arm around Selphie's shoulders, shaking his head as he looks down at her, giving her arm a little squeeze first to get her to look at him, hopefully. Fully understanding Squall's current position (and never envying him), he's not exactly keen on the idea of keeping him here longer. The look he gives Selphie reads: Just let him go.

Vincent says, at the same time as Selphie, "Squall?" But... maybe that's drowned out, given her louder response to the man's departure. He doesn't bother to repeat himself, but stays quiet to see if there is a reponse from Squall.
      
Squall pauses at the door, saying quietly, "Irvine, Selphie, Kail, let everyone know we almost got blasted. We'll wait until we see what the full damage is before saying more. We don't need a panic." With a hard shove of one arm, he pushes open one of the doors and departs.

Selphie does look up to Irvine, looking almost guilty, seeing his 'let him go' look -- but only for a moment, as Squall again talks. "...!" Waaah. She returns her gaze up to Irvine, now looking stubbornly worried. Yes! Stubbornly worried. Siiigh. "--'Zat -all- I missed?"

With Squall's departure, Irvine's shoulders slump. He looks up briefly, really wanting to just punch something right now, but the office is too nice and he's no Zell Dincht, he'd probably just break his fingers... and he needs those.

Kail just watches Squall exit quietly, and sighs a bit. He has a vague idea of what the commander's going through, even if it's only vague, so he doesn't disturb him...but he just turns and starts to exit quietly as well.

Vincent departs shortly after the commander does, meaning to go without a word... And obviously giving Squall more than enough time to get a lead start. Yeah, so they don't have to see one another. Something to be said about giving another space.