Chapter 1: Lost At Sea

Seifer crouched down over the motor. Everything seemed to be in order, all the wires were connected and nothing was out of place. He frowned dumbfounded as to what the problem was.

“Oh, THAT’S what I forgot to do!” exclaimed Raijin, shaking the boat as he leaped to his feet with an epiphany.

“You forgot to do something?” sneered Seifer. He was having a foreboding feeling about what was wrong with the boat’s motor.

“Yeah,” whispered Raijin, “ Remember when you asked me to make sure that I fill up the motor of our boat with gas?”

Seifer’s face dropped as he scowled and cursed under his breath. Slowly, he got to his feet with his fists clenched tightly in anger. Seifer took a step toward his companion and without warning, swung a punch, hitting Raijin square in the stomach. Raijin lost his balance and fell backwards. He plunged, head first, into the dark blue water.

“Idiot!” yelled Seifer. “Now what are we going to do? We’re stuck in the middle of NOWHERE!”

Seifer shook his head, kicking himself for not canceling his little escapade after Fuujin was sent to Trabia for some reason he was too uninterested about to listen to. He should have known that a trip without Fuujin was going to be trouble, especially if Raijin was going to be his only company.

“Umm…” mumbled Raijin, who still was in the water and too afraid of Seifer’s wrath to say anything more.

“What now?” asked Seifer in a very annoyed manner.

“T,There’s a…” Raijin shivered from the cold, “a b,boat.”

Seifer froze. He quickly turned his gaze towards the horizon. Sure enough, there was a small rowboat drifting towards them. A mound of crap that seemed to consist of an overly stuffed bag, jacket, and some technical equipment rested messily in the boat. Seifer cupped his hands over his eyes and peered out at the mysterious raft, scanning for an owner.

“It looks as if there’s a bag in it,” said Raijin, “but I don’t see any people. Maybe it’s deserted.

Seifer turned his head towards his companion in disgust. He never understood why people always stated the obvious. Seifer sighed and looked back at the boat. They needed to think of a way to get it, even though it WAS a rowboat and they would have to paddle all the way home. Glancing around, Seifer’s gaze fixed itself on the fishing poles.

“Get the hell out of the god damn water and help me,” commanded Seifer.

Raijin jolted out of the water, swaying their broken motorboat to and fro as he climbed in. He shook his wet body happily as if he was a big dog. He was ready for action.

“Here,” Seifer picked up the fishing poles and shoved one of them into Raijin’s face. He had a huge headache and concluded that no one could be alone with a complete moron for over five hours and not feel sick. Seifer just wanted to get on that crappy rowboat and paddle like crazy until they reached home. He really DID regret that Fuujin hadn’t been able to come along.

“Alright,” Seifer said in a determined, but also weary voice, “let’s get started.”

With that, Raijin and Seifer cast out their fishing lines. Unfortunately, they both missed the little boat. After reeling in their lines, they tried again with no such luck. Seifer sighed. This was going to take a while, he thought, and it did.

Casting and reeling, casting and reeling. Seifer was becoming consumed with anger and frustration. He looked over at Raijin and saw that his companion was smiling………………and singing?

“I love the fishes ‘cause they’re so DELICIOUS, gotta go fishin’, gotta go fishin’. We could eat ‘em everyday and my mom says that’s okay…”

“SHUT THE HELL UP!” Seifer interrupted Raijin’s goldfish song.

“Sorry,” Raijin said, the dopey smile that had just a minute ago consumed his face was gone.

Seifer scowled and threw his fishing pole down. Shaking his head, he sat down and lit a cigarette. He took a deep breath, sighed, and leaned his head on his hands.

“Please, god let this hell end,” muttered Seifer, “oh, please, please…”

“WOOP-DEE-DO-DA-DAY! I got it, Seifer, I did it!” Raijin jumped up and down, practically capsizing their broken motorboat.

“Sit the hell down you frickin’…” and Seifer continued to call Raijin every single swear that had ever reached his ears, “you’re gonna tip us, you moron.”

Seifer riped the fishing pole out of Raijin’s hands and began reeling in the boat. He couldn’t afford the risk that Raijin would somehow screw this up and then they’d be back to casting and reeling. This was a notion that made Seifer sick to even imagine. He had one thing on his mind and one thing only: getting OFF this frickin’ boat and into a bar.

Faster and faster he reeled, as beads of sweat dripped down his face. The sun beat upon them with great intensity and Seifer was unable to shield his eyes from the light because of the need for both his hands to remain on the fishing pole. He squinted at the rowboat as it got closer and closer with each passing second.

“Come on, come on,” Seifer chanted. “Hurry the hell up!”

Raijin was kneeling by the side of their motorboat. He hung his arms over the side, getting ready to grab the small rowboat as soon as it came within arm’s reach. Seifer’s eyes widened as Raijin stretched out his arm and got hold of the bow of the crappy little rowboat, which would be Seifer’s savior.

“Yeah baby!” Raijin shouted joyfully, smiling ear to ear as he held the rowboat’s bow.

Seifer could not stop the wry smile that appeared on his face. He sat down as relief overcame him and calmness settled upon his soul.

“Well….” Seifer pondered what they should do with all the shit piled into the little rowboat. There wasn’t anyone to claim it and he was too tired to go through it all.

“Hell, all that shit looks like a god damn frickin’ mountain!” Seifer said, voicing his thoughts.

“Do you want me to just capsize the whole boat and dump it all out?” Raijin asked.

“Sure, that’s the most intelligent thing you’ve said all day!” Seifer answered.

Raijin, beaming with pride, grabbed a good hold on the rowboat and heaved it over.

“Ahh, cold, cold, cold!”

As the yelling and screaming reached Seifer and Raijin’s ears, they realized that the boat HAD NOT been deserted after all. Seifer drew his gunblade as a head popped out of the water.

“F,f,fr-ee-zz-innn-gggg!” Zell shivered as he emerged at the surface. He flung his head back, whipping his hair out of his eyes. Raijin covered his eyes as water flew through the air towards him.

“YOU!” Seifer yelled, pointing his gunblade at Zell.

“Me?” Zell asked innocently, “How about YOU? Why did YOU tip me? . . .Oh, Crap!”

Zell realized that they had capsized the whole boat which meant that his radio and SeeD equipment were ‘swimming with the fisheys’. He took a deep breath and dove down into the water. Deeper and deeper he went until he was out of breath. Zell jetted upward to the surface and gasped for air as he appeared. He sighed and tried to catch his breath. As Zell readied himself for another ‘go’ at the rescue of his supplies, Seifer grabbed him by the collar and yanked him up into the broken motorboat.

Tossing Zell down on the floor of the boat, Seifer commanded, “Listen here Chickenwuss.”

And that was as far as Seifer got because as soon as the words ‘chickenwuss’ left his lips, Zell was on his feet, arms swinging and punches flying.

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