A/N: My first foray into the pairing I favor the most in the whole Final Fantasy VII series: the Yuffentine (Yuffie x Vincent for those who don't know). I know I've not updated my last story for a while, but I've not been getting any comments, and so I've decided to drop it. But hey, at least it was an experiment neh? At least I know how hard it is to write from the viewpoint of a journal…an interesting experience I might add. Anyway, I know it's short, but please enjoy, and comments would be lovely-I'd like to know how I can improve and any suggestions you have would be most helpful in determining whether or not I should go on—I promise to add more details later on if I know it's worth it to continue.
A man sat before an audience of people in the fields, tuning his biwa and picking away at the silken strings with the bachi to test if it was perfectly tuned with a red lacquered cane sitting next to him. He wore a black version of the typical priestly garb of a travelling monk which included the robes, a red overcoat, a set of prayer beads, a pair of straw sandals, as well as a sedge shade to protect against the rain and the sun. Were it not for the fact that he was a blind monk, he would have been considered drop-dead gorgeous as his long and silky, inky black hair and effeminate appearance would have lots of women chasing after him.
As soon as the audience saw the monk pick up the bachi, and set the biwa in the proper position for one playing the lute cross-legged, the noise began to die down. With that, the monk began to play a slow note with the biwa, and then progressively made sudden strokes with the bachi. As he played, he never had to say a word, but everyone could tell what the story behind this particular song was about—a story about war, love, treachery, and loss. As everyone closed their eyes to allow the imagery of the story seep in through the meditative music, the monk told the tale with every pluck of the strings on the biwa.
Once upon a time, there lived an oni shogun known as Omega who waged war against the ancient race of angels known as the Cetra. He had four loyal retainers: Galian Beast, the chief of the savage tribe; Death Gigas, leader of the undead legions; Hellmasker, the great berserker swordsman; and finally, Chaos, the right-hand man of Omega himself. Omega and the Cetra council had battled for generations against each other, and but none had fought a more fierce battle than when Chaos battled with an unknown general—both had fought battle after battle, with their matches always ending in a stalemate.
One day, the unthinkable had happened. A being had fallen from the sky with aspirations of destroying the world and the universe in general. At that point, seeing how powerful this new player was, both Omega and the Cetra had agreed to put their differences aside, and work together to defeat the menace from the sky—a horrific battle was fought, and in the end, a Pyrrhic Victory ensued on the side of those protecting the world…with the combined powers of Chaos and the unknown general, and at the cost of most of their forces, the being was sealed away by the most powerful spells that both sides could conjure never again to awaken.
It was after the war that a treaty was signed between the forces of the demons and the Cetra, calling for an immediate ceasefire between the two factions. It was after the treaties were signed that an arranged marriage between Chaos and the Cetra general was put into effect to ensure that the ceasefire was carried out. At first, the reluctance was there and it was in the open, but eventually, the two learned more about each other as the days passed, and mutual feelings were developed to the point that true love had been found in two beings who were once enemies.
Alas, fate was not on the side of the lovers who had just gotten close. For under the noses of both Chaos and the general, and even Omega and the Cetra council, a plot had been formed even from the beginning of the treaty. On the night before the wedding, all hell had broken loose: an attack force led by Galian Beast, Death Gigas, and Hellmasker had attacked the Cetra general while she was alone in the gardens, while a small task force of elite Cetra warriors had attacked Chaos in his sleep. Both had fought their way out of the treachery killing their attackers, but when each had encountered each other once more, it was no longer as lovers, but as enemies as they fought each other until both were tired out. When they had both realized what had happened, they had also come to realize that as long as there was opposition from both sides to the wedding, they would never be together as lovers as hatreds from their own people would threaten to shatter their love immediately as distrust would spread from the treachery.
After this revelation, it had come to the conclusion that as long as Chaos and the general lived, the ceasefire would never be honored—their respective peoples would simply take advantage of their wedding to make another attack, and the war would be started once again. And so, Chaos and the general had made a pact and took a gamble on reincarnation. They both swore to a suicide pact, and that one day, they would both be reincarnated in the same life and reunited once more as lovers in a time when the Cetra and the demons would no longer exist.
It is said that even today, Chaos and the Cetra general are still waiting for the day that they are both reincarnated in the same life—waiting for the day that they will finally be reunited to fulfill their promise of love to each other. But until then, they shall both die and be reborn through the Lifestream as they continue search the world for one another. And from here, the story ends—the ending is now left to the audience's imagination as to the fate of these two lovers.
The monk ended the session, and began picking up the ryo thrown on the floor. He then prepared to leave as he strapped the biwa to his back, pocketed the bachi, and then picked up the cane before leaving. Once everything was packed up and ready to go, the monk picked up the bag of money, but before he started walking away, the monk heard some movement in the grass as well as the clinking of katana in sheaths and the sound of being drawn fill the air—just great, first he's starving, and now he has to deal with brigands, and seven of them judging by the sound of the footsteps.
"There's no point in hiding," said the monk, "I may be blind, but I'm not deaf. I could hear you move through the grass—you're all louder than the bell at my former temple. I must apologize, but I am currently in a foul mood, and so I must ask you to just leave me be and we all go home happy."
"Interesting sermon coming from the blind vagrant monk," said the leader of the brigands, "especially given the fact that he's surrounded on all sides! Now we want all of your donations today—if you can just hand us that bag, we'll make sure you get to get out of this scot-free, and we'll even give you access to our personal protection program if you play music and pay your wages to us."
"I would be happy to accept, but unfortunately, I need that money. And so if you'll kindly step aside and let me go into town for some food that would be lovely."
The leader of the brigands, angered by this monk's insolence simply stepped up ready with a downwards swing, and before he could even begin to yell, he felt something cut him in the chest before he fell to the ground paralyzed—this monk has been carrying a shikomizue all this time! The rest of the brigands then moved on in and tried to rely on numbers to take down the monk, only to find that their victim was turning the tables around them by dancing around bringing them all down one at a time with a single draw and re-sheathing of the sword—an iaijutsu style.
Once all seven brigands were brought down, the monk immediately flipped the blood off the blade of his sword and re-sheathed his shikomizue, and paused. "I've missed all your vitals," he said, "you would all do well to rethink your lives before you run into someone who is not as merciful as I am." As soon as he was done in that area, the monk started walking towards the town with his cane sweeping the ground for anything ahead of him. Little did he realize that he was being watched from afar, and being followed at that…
A/N: From here, the song was inspired by "Fuhen" by Rin, and listening to "Dan No Ura", and yes, the fairy tale idea was from "Yuffie and the Beast", courtesy of Falling Rain. Hi, if you're reading this, I hope you didn't mind, and please update on "Yuffie and the Beast" soon!
Translations:
Biwa—a four-stringed lute with five frets, shaped like a pear (think pear-shaped guitar or a double bass).
Bachi—basically a guitar pick with a long handle for playing a Japanese stringed instrument like the Biwa.
Oni—an ogre/demon in Japanese Folklore
Shogun—a warlord, the literal meaning of the word when written in Chinese is simply "general".
Ryo—an oblong golden coin, equivalent in function to a hundred dollar bill in feudal Japan.
Shikomizue—a cane with a sword blade hidden inside it, mostly used by samurai during the Meiji era when swords were banned…a perfect ninja weapon.
Iaijutsu—a Japanese martial art in which the practitioner draws his sword from the sheath, and attempts to cut down the target in one go before re-sheathing the sword, it is now known today as "iaido".