If there was one thing to be said for the briefing packet that Nida put together for Squall, it was really on thorough. Right down to the description of the path that would lead Squall out of Timber, toward a nearby forest, and through it to the isolated location of a cabin. The forest is thick, the sort of messy and overgrown place that says humans haven't been around in very long, and yet there are still some game trails through it to make the path easier.
There is also, it turned out, some things Nida didn't remember. Or perhaps didn't know. Or maybe just came about later from a paranoid mind. Because now there are triplines hidden in the forest floor detritus. Not the sort to catch or to harm, but to warn.
Luck only gets one so far, or perhaps it isn't in play. Maybe it's just that this is the luckiest thing that could happen. But in his advance toward the cabin, just as it's coming into sight, there's a noise. Sticks rattling against each other overhead. As the noise carries and fades the prior quiet sound of chopping fades away in its own right, and with that growing silence comes a heavy thud, perhaps of someone throwing the axe aside.
"Guess I should say something now," a tired voice, Seifer's voice, comes from out of sight. From behind the cabin that has clearly seen better days but is already showing some signs of someone attempting to clean and patch it up. "You give your word that you'll turn me over to Garden, and I promise I'll come peacefully. But any sign the route is leading toward Deling City, and we'll have some problems."
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There is also, it turned out, some things Nida didn't remember. Or perhaps didn't know. Or maybe just came about later from a paranoid mind. Because now there are triplines hidden in the forest floor detritus. Not the sort to catch or to harm, but to warn.
Luck only gets one so far, or perhaps it isn't in play. Maybe it's just that this is the luckiest thing that could happen. But in his advance toward the cabin, just as it's coming into sight, there's a noise. Sticks rattling against each other overhead. As the noise carries and fades the prior quiet sound of chopping fades away in its own right, and with that growing silence comes a heavy thud, perhaps of someone throwing the axe aside.
"Guess I should say something now," a tired voice, Seifer's voice, comes from out of sight. From behind the cabin that has clearly seen better days but is already showing some signs of someone attempting to clean and patch it up. "You give your word that you'll turn me over to Garden, and I promise I'll come peacefully. But any sign the route is leading toward Deling City, and we'll have some problems."