Balthier, Vaan and Ashe where trekking through a baron waste land with towering pillars of rust, connected with bridges built of scrape metal that looked like it had been there for over a century. Also known as the Ogir-Yensa Sandsea. The young trio had been slaughtering the Urutan-Yensa for hours, but it felt like years for they had at least killed 12. "Argh my feet hurt" the obnoxious blonde haired boy exclaimed. "Argh I got sand in my shoe." "Argh my ..."
"I swear to god if you complain again I'm gonna beat the crap out of you." Ashe interrupted clamping her ears.
"Leave him alone he's had a tough day." Said Balthier with his soft Archadian accent. As he walked up behind Vaan and cupped his ass cheek with his soft delicate hand and squeezed gently. Balthier whispered in his ear "it's ok. I'll make things better." This made Vaan jump although he did not complain or question it, it just left him with a rosy glow. They just walked on.
Time had gone on and still no one was talking. Even Vaan had stopped his constant whining. The silver tongue of Balthier finally broke the silence "So how many is that now? 20?"
"No I think it's more like 13."
But Vaan just stayed silent."Wow Vaan. I'm actually surprised you stopped complaining; I thought I'd actually have to beat the living crap out of you. Damn I was looking forward to that." Said Ashe as she laughed with sarcasm.
"You must have scared him." Laughed Balthier.
"Yeah I do that to people it kinda sucks"
"I'm not scared of her I'm not scared of anything. Because I'm Vaan and the main character so that means I'm not scared of anything." Boasted Vaan.
"He has a point."
They walked round one of the rusted pillars to find a flickering sphere of flame. "Shit! Salamand Entite!" thought most people there.
"Ok what do we do run? Fight? What do we do?" shouted a much panicked Ashe.
"We stand and we fight! together! As a team! We can do this!"
"No Vaan. I couldn't bear to see you hurt." Said Balthier almost lovingly.
Plus their 14 kills had stacked up and they couldn't afford to break the chain now. So they fled the scene like a dog with its tail between its legs. Parts of the rusted structure flashed past the as they ran through walk ways and around pillars. Urutan-Yensa tried to stop them in their path but not even they could stop the fear of a Salamand Entite burning them to a crisp.
They came to an abrupt corner and in their haste Vaan caught his foot in a loose wire sending him tumbling to the ground."Vaan!" shouted Balthier as he whipped his head round almost breaking his neck. "are you alright?" Balthier stretched out his arm to a slightly baffled Vaan who grabbed his hand with a firm grip. They gazed into each others eyes and even Ashe could see the connection. "Guys, you know I'm still here?"
Fortunately they had lost the Salamand Entite otherwise they would all be crisps by now. After this they all decided that it would be best if they went back to the Strahl, as they had had the most stressful day of their lives so far.
Back in the Strahl Fran, Ashe, Penelo, Basch and Vaan were talking about what had happened today while they were out. "So Vaan who was the best fighter today?" asked Penelo with great curiosity.
"Well I would have to say. No offence Ashe. But Balthier was defiantly the best. The way he swung his sword around..."
"I bet you just love the way he swings his sword around."Interrupted Ashe as she giggled. Fran and Penelo joined in with this little giggle as they had already been informed about Vaan and Balthiers little antics. Leaving a very confused and lonely Basch sitting in the corner. Balthier swaggered into the room "I heard my name. What is it that you're talking about?"
"Just what happened today." Smirked Fran.
"Well I need to talk to Vaan. Meet me in my room I have I surprise for you."Balthier turned his back and comfortably walked away. Vaan quickly followed.