I ought to thank TogetherAtLast for giving me the inspiration to write a Final Fantasy XII story. Her own piece, Hunting the Sky, is the one responsible for this inspiration, really. Thank you TAL! By the way, if you are looking for some humor, love and mystery, you have to read her story, which is also BalthierxOC! Okay! Moving on!
Chapter Title: The Prologue / Still in Here
Description: A woman was encountered in the Barheim Passage, and the party is soon to find out who she is.
Warning: None at the moment
Characters: Barheim Passage Party, Burrough, Kirit, and a random, yet important, merchant
Disclaimer: All characters and settings in this story belongs to the creators who made this awesome game, except for my character and the random, yet important, merchant.
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The Bazaar was as lively as ever; shoes and sandals clattering on the paved ground, occasionally stepping on one other's but no one seemed to mind… though a curse slipped here and there for those who owned a pair of worn-out sandals or was trampled on by a Seeq. A wooden crate fell onto a Bangaa's foot and his companion snorted in amusement as the other cursed loudly. A woman quickly clamped her hands over a wandering child's ears. The Bangaa noticed this and apologized profusely, foot still throbbing in pain. On the other side of the busy place, a stall was unfortunate in getting no consumers…
But this was what he wanted.
He had been intently glaring daggers at whoever dared to skitter near his pile of starfruits.
Starfruits were a delicacy that was grown deep in the Westersand and obviously look like stars if you cut them in half and are ironically colored yellow. They were supposed to be used in champagnes, but the people of Rabanastre had found an important use of it. Potions. Their juices would be squeezed and mixed with honey, strange, yes, but useful.
He had a box of them on the stall and a couple more under the canvas for protection from the sweltering heat. The merchant would occasionally sprinkle them with water and resume his glaring once the fruits were cooled.
While the bystanders wondered who had stuck a stick up his ass, the merchant knew who had done so, but not exactly. There were times when he would look away from his stall for a few second only to return and realize that a box of starfruits were missing and was replaced by a fairly weighted bag of Gils that covered all the expenses. Once when a ball rolled by his stall and he went to pick it up, leaving the box of newly grown yellows behind. He threw the ball gently to its owner, a kid taking part in a street game, and returned to his wooden shop. He let out a silent string of curses as he realized that his box of starfruits were, once again, gone but he spotted a truss of blond hair running toward the stairs to the North End.
He wanted to catch that boy.
It was fine for him to pay the merchant the right amount for the box of stolen fruits but the elder wanted to know why the kid was stealing but still paying instead of paying up front.
As the waiting man thought of some possible reasons, his nose suddenly started to itch. He turned his head to the side and…
"A-ACHOO!"
…sneezed. He sneezed and turned AWAY from the box to not let germs fly onto it. As this thought slowly processed into his brain, he heard a slight scraping of wood. He panicked and turned to the front of his stall, giving himself a whiplash, and stared.
-XII-
'Well, that was unexpected.'
A pair of curious eyes looked toward a group forming around a crystal, healing themselves of cuts and sores.
Not a moment ago, there was a loud crash which shook the tired person. Sensing that something had broken, the bystander sighed in hope that someone worthy had came down here. The waiting stranger had been down in the dungeon for awhile, tired and bored. And finally, someone had arrived.
An eyebrow formed an arch as the bystander noticed there was a Viera included in the group. From the stranger's seat on the hard ground, dark eyes stared as they came down the stairs and approached the Bangaa. They had a conservation which was rather boring and it was apparently about getting out of the damp place.
"To smithereens, you say!?" The blue merchant exclaimed and captured the outcast's interest.
The tired Bangaa shook his head and muttered some obscene words under his breath. The hidden person stared at the clueless group, quickly formulating a plan.
"If you are inquiring to get out of here, perhaps I may help you," the bystander finally spoke, drawing their attention to the new voice.
"Pray tell," one of the men spoke in a sultry voice that irritated the stranger a bit. "What is a woman doing in here?"
"Woman or not," she retorted, standing up and walking away from the corner. "I'm still in here."
Now it was the oddly formed group's turn to be curious of the new guest in the confided space. The place was still dark, so they couldn't tell much of her hidden features. Only what they could see is that she was of an average height and had a pole strapped to her back.
"Here," she approached the party, holding out a device of some sorts. When the female guest noticed their confused stares, she explained, " 'Tis a Tube Fuse. It should make the power lines work again."
A boy with blond locks took the item and asked, "Then why haven't you fixed it?"
"I was waiting for you guys."
"You knew we were coming?" A rugged and beaten up man questioned, drawing the woman's attention to him momentarily.
"Nay," she explained again with an exasperated sigh. "I wanted to get out of here with some kind of help, seeing that I'm not talented enough to take all of the monsters in there."
She thumbed toward the closed gate to emphasize her point and they nodded in understanding. The young blond ran up to the power converter and the group below heard a click of the Fuse being installed. There was a loud screech and a clang of metal before electricity crackled, bringing life into the light bulbs. When the kid came back down, the woman turned to the gate switchboard next to her and pressed the large button.
There was an ear shattering bang before the rusty gate creaked open, flakes falling to the ground.
'Those should be oiled soon.' The woman closed her eyes tightly and pressed a palm to her forehead in an attempt to stop the bawking of Cockatrices.
Shaking her head, the woman turned back to the group and asked, "Mind if I tag along?"
"Name?" The Viera questioned the other female, speaking for the first time.
"Kirit," She answered without hesitating before asking once more, "And may I ask of yours?"
The young blond went in front and declared with a thumb to his chest, "I'm Vaan. And this is Balthier, Fran… and Basch." He gestured to each of them respectively and added the last with detest on his tongue.
"Pleasure," Kirit inclined her head in greeting. "I shall be just ahead, you best be buying some equipments and items before catching up." She turned to leave but halted rather abruptly. "Ah, Burrough, I almost forgot."
She approached the neglected Bangaa who was starting to nod off and handed him a hefty brown bag.
"Ah, you shouldn't have," he rasped once he saw what was in the bag.
He reached in and took out a bun of bread, eyed it for a second before devouring it slowly. The female only smiled before walking through the arch and leaned on the wall inside it. She closed her eyes and left the group to their business of purchasing items from the oddly formed stall. A few minutes passed in silence save for the occasional clinking of potion bottles and the thunks of the swords being picked up and put back down.
"Well?"
Vaan jumped at the sudden voice, almost dropping the newly purchased Longsword onto his foot. Balthier sighed and shook his head at Vaan's breakout of cold sweat while his partner merely blinked, let alone budging from her posture. Basch looked up from his crouched figure nearby a pile of potions. She turned her head back to the light on the other side of the tunnel. She rose an eyebrow and spoke.
"Can I join?"
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A/N: Well! There you go! Your first chapter of From Nabradia, With Love. This is actually my first fanfiction ever written in this website and anywhere else. O_o;;
If you spotted some typos, or are confused about a point in this chapter, review or send me a message, I'll fix/reply as soon as possible. Hope you enjoyed it!
Next chapter should be up in a day or two, depending on how many people liked it so far. And… I hope my character isn't too Mary Sue.