This story is of two original characters in the FFX/X-2 universe, normal, every day kids. They're characters from a roleplay, but I wanted to bring them into story format and bring them some to life. Characters are copyright their creators, the world is copyright to Square-Enix. Im not sure I'll continue this, but I still wanted to share my favorite characters with everyone.
Beginnings
It rarely rained in Luca. There was something about it's position at the end of the main continent with the Highroad above that kept the rain from falling. Most supposed it was similar to how one side of a mountain range can be nearly a rain forest, while the other can be a desert, but really, very few people thought about it. It was this dry weather that helped to make Luca a popular city for tourists and those who lived there alike, but when it did rain, it poured, and this instance was no exception. Having poured so thick that one could barely see a foot or more in front of oneself for two days, it was down to a steady, cold rain, the kind of weather that creeped into your bones and just made things ache. The docks stayed closed, unable to easily operate the cranes and move freight around with the rain, and the street vendors kept in as well. No one traveled on the streets, staying inside where it was warm and dry, leaving the city looking like a ghost town. It was the kind of weather that made people ill, and in some places, this was a bad thing indeed.
Jen sighed softly as she hunched her shoulders against the rain, sticking her hands in her pockets and slouching down. The dark skinned 'Bhed teen wandered through Old Town, searching for any orphans left out on the street that hadn't managed to find a place out of the rain. Old Town was the worst part of Luca, nothing but abandoned buildings and warehouses, given up as lost after one of the very rare Sin attacks on the town before High Summoner Yocun completed her Pilgrimage, most of the buildings damaged or piles of rubble, Luca just rebuilding and leaving the ruins to rot, many believing them to be haunted. Now it's become a haven for the homeless, gangs and orphans, eeking out a living among the ruins, and Jen was one of them, one of the many Al-bhed who 'fell through the cracks' of the Al-bhed orphanages. The young teen had made something of a name for herself in the streets in her fight to live, respected by the others who lived there, few bothering her as she had proven herself with her fists and personality. Her kind nature drove her out into the weather tonight, knowing that any left in the rain were likely to get sick, and with the very limited medical attention that the orphans of Old Town could get, she knew such a sickness could be fatal, and bodies left on the street were even more dangerous, for even more people.
Peering into an alleyway, she smiled lightly and nodded to the two young girls she could just barely see, huddled together below what Jen thought was a pretty decent shelter, and though they seemed cold, they weren't wet, and that was the important thing. Moving on, she glanced up to the sky and sighed at the rain, pushing her sopping wet ponytail over her shoulder, rubbing at her neck for a moment to try to coax a little warmth back to her skin. Pausing for a moment and looking at her hand, she watched the rain as it ran down her skin, another light sigh drawn from her throat, before looking ahead to see where she was. She nodded to herself, a light smile curling her lips, she knowing she had the chance to head home soon. She was nearing what was accepted as the 'end' of Old Town, several demolished houses, nothing but piles of rubble and dirt, no possible place to make a shelter and only good for salvage, and not even that anymore, separated where the orphans lived verses the still in use warehouses which were just on the other side. A little distance further down the road was where the Al-bhed homes began, the other, not quite as poor part of town, the Church and general attitudes of Spira keeping those 'Bhed who did settle there kept down and treated as low class citizens, despite Luca being generally neutral and they not having to fear for their lives. Standing next to the last dark alley, it mostly closed off by the crumbled ruin next to it, Jen turned her attention to the darkness between the buildings, drawing in a breath to call out to see if anyone were there.
She was interrupted by the sound of very harsh coughing, followed by a pained sounding groan, causing Jen to exhale her breath in another world weary sigh. Coughing was not a good sound to hear when one was worried about orphans getting sick. Cautiously creeping into the alley, she tilted her head a little, trying to spot the source of the sound, suspecting that the noise came from within a crate on it's side. Fixing a light smile on her face, she cleared her throat slightly. "Hey, ya can't stay out here, huh? Come on, let me show you someplace to go?"
There was a moment's silence in reply to her question, Jen about to repeat herself before there was a sudden flurry of motion, a small figure darting from the crate and deeper into the alley, slipping as she moved around a pile of debris, a squeak of pain quickly muffled as the figure, a small girl, moved out of sight again. Resisting the urge to sigh again, Jen kept smiling as she advanced further into the alleyway, holding her hands open to try to show she had no weapon and wasn't a threat. "Aw, come on, you don't need to run, huh? It's okay..." Coming around the corner of debris, she paused as the ragged little figure came into sight, not wanting to spook her any more, though with the collapsed building, there wasn't anywhere else to go to. Jen could tell she was new to the area, and seemed new to Luca itself. Shivering in her thin, very simple shirt and pair of shorts, her long dark hair plastered down from the rain, the little girl stared with wide eyes at Jen, her arms wrapped around herself as she tried to press into the wall as if she could meld into it. A soft frown creased Jen's forehead as she noticed the dirty bandage wrapped about the little one's forehead, and a second bandage around the girl's stomach.
"You're new here, huh? Come in on the boat from Kilika?" She tried casual conversation, keeping her hands held open, getting a very slight nod in answer, making Jen wince internally. Everyone knew of the latest reappearance of Sin and how it had taken out a fishing fleet from Kilika, killing most, but leaving many children, who were on the boats with their families, dead or orphaned. The tragedy was made a little worse in how it was out on the ocean, some who had survived the attack having died by drowning before rescue boats could reach there. Those who were orphaned were 'shipped off' to the Church run orphanages in Kilika and elsewhere, this girl having apparently run away, not that Jen could fault her for it, the Church orphanages were run terribly, and they didn't look to have taken good care of her, either. "You look a little beat up, let me take you outta this rain, huh?"
The little girl stayed quiet, staying pressed to the cold wall where she was. The hesitation and fear were clear in how she held herself, she finally nodding a little and stepping forward some, looking intent to just follow the older girl, favoring her right leg, a new cut oozing some blood, she likely having gotten it when she tried to run earlier. Once she moved more into what dim light there was, Jen found the words she was about to speak caught from her throat as the almost unnatural beauty of the young girl's blue eyes caught her sight. Almost eerie in their icy color, yet not giving her a wicked or 'cold' expression, rather she had quite a warm, kind look behind the pain which lingered there. Jen felt the lurch in her heart, a bit of confusion drifting into her mind for a moment. She found herself wanting to take that pain away, to care for the cold and wet girl, more than just bringing her somewhere dry, like she usually did for any of the kids she found. No, she wanted to do more, much more, and she didn't understand why, but wasn't about to question it. Reaching to her, she moved forward, carefully slipping her hands below the young girl's arms, being as gentle as she could, pausing before she lifted her when the little Kilikan's eyes widened and she stiffened in fear, getting another lurch to Jen's heart. "Shh, it's okay little one, 'm gonna pick you up, okay? That cut on your leg looks like it hurts, and it's a bit of a walk, don't want to make you walk it, alright?" She smiled and felt her heart flutter again when she earned a small smile from the little orphan; though she stayed a little tense, she let Jen heft her up into her arms.
"So what's your name? 'm Jen." She tried to coax the girl to finally speak, the thought that she couldn't speak drifting into Jen's mind, she had seen many who had encountered Sin simply crumble and lose their ability to talk, turning into shells of their former selves, Jen finding herself wanting very badly for that to not be the case with the surprisingly light girl in her arms. She subtly quickened her step some as she headed for her little home, the realization of how cold her foundling was striking home as she pulled her slightly closer to try to share her some warmth, though Jen was fairly cold herself. After a moment's hesitation and a slight shrug of her shoulders as the little girl reached to grip to Jen's shirt, she finally got a soft spoken answer.
"I...donno my name..." She spoke, her voice terribly soft and shy, she looking as if she expected to be yelled at for her answer, shrinking back slightly and looking down and away. Jen made a soft sound, furrowing her brow a little, but offering the girl in her arms a smile as she got up to the door to her little house, using her shoulder to wedge the heavy slab of a door open, shivering slightly as she stepped in. It was a small room turned into a house, the building likely having once been an office of some sort, the front windows long bricked in before Jen arrived. She was lucky, though it was dark inside, the lack of windows kept things warmer than one may expect, and she had a semi working bathroom, the cold water still connected into Luca's water lines, giving her a toilet and sink. A lopsided table served as an attempt at a 'kitchen', next to the dug out hole in the floor, a makeshift fire pit for cooking, a slightly propped open door that seemed to lead to a staircase to the roof providing ventilation so that Jen didn't smoke herself out of the little home when the fire pit was in use. The girl in her arms looked around with her eyes wide open, blinking a little as she tried to adjust to the change in light, squinting a little into the corners of the dim room.
"Don't know, huh? Well, we'll have to do somethin' 'bout that..." Jen murmured, carrying the shivering girl over to the pile of blankets and pillows which made up the bulk of her bed in the corner, the ancient mattresses below keeping it up off the ground a little, carefully setting her down before slipping aside to open the beaten, locked trunk that she kept her valuables in, pulling out a sparse first aid kit before moving back to the slightly droopy, shivering girl. She paused, meeting the Kilikan's eyes again, briefly lost in the blue. Her lips quirked up in a smile as she tilted her head slightly. "Ella...we'll call you Ella, how's that?" She knelt down, just sitting there for the moment as she watched the girl mull this over for a moment.
Looking off to the distance for a few moments, the little girl smiled some, her cheeks coloring softly as she looked down to Jen in front of her, nodding softly. "'s okay..." She murmured, wrapping her arms around herself again as she sulked down a little, trying not to shiver or drip too much on the floor or bedding, looking a little uncomfortable. Jen smiled happily as she sat up a little straighter, reaching for a rag and wetting it from her small waterjar kept by the bed, carefully starting to clean the blood from the little girl...Ella's...leg, looking thankful that the cut wasn't too deep.
"We'll get ya cleaned up, huh?" She murmured, cleaning the wound and drying it, using a little bit of the salve she had left, making a face at the empty jar of first aid salve, but figured it was for a good cause, carefully wrapping a bandage around Ella's leg as the young girl watched her curiously. Jen leaned back and looked up over Ella, considering what she needed to do now, wondering if she should try to change the bandages around Ella's head and stomach. Ella, for her part, was looking at her with a curious and sort of searching expression. Jen was very dark skinned, even for an Al-bhed, very few having the dark brown, almost 'chocolate' sort of skintone that she had. Her hair was blond, as all 'Bhed were, a sandy, 'dirty' blond color, held in a ponytail that hung down just below her shoulder. Her life on the street left her with a gruffer, hardened sort of look, the skin on her hands rougher than she'd like, her muscles fairly well developed, though her growth likely wasn't the best due to her lack of proper nutrition growing up, making the fifteen year old look a lot older than she was in some ways. Her dark green eyes shone a little in the dim lighting of the room as she looked up to Ella, smiling softly. Ella was tan as well, though one could tell it was from being outside rather than a natural skintone, though Kilikans were darker skinned than most Spirans. Her long hair was a dark raven color with a bit of a blue tint to it, drawn back into a ragged ponytail. They were both drying off now, and the slight wave that Ella's hair had was becoming more obvious. She certainly didn't have the rough edge that Jen did to her form, she looking strong, but frail at the same time, Jen reasoning it was from the wet and bedraggled state the little girl was in. She could tell that Ella had a fever, the girl's cheeks flushed and her eyes shining lightly with the growing sickness, drawing a soft sigh from Jen and a quiet thought in her mind that she must sound like she has a leak. "Let me change your bandages, please? I think we're gonna have to take you to a healer in the mornin'."
Ella frowned and scooted back from Jen a little, hiding a wince from the motion. "N-no, I don' have ta, I don' wanna cause you t-trouble, Miss Jen..." Glancing over to the door, she wrapped her arms around herself again, starting to tremble softly. Jen glanced over to the door herself, satisfied that the heavy half metal, half wood thing would be far to heavy for Ella to move with any ease to try to get away, Jen realizing that even if she didn't have that strange feeling to care for this girl, she shouldn't let her leave, Ella obviously quite ill. Reaching up, Jen lightly rested her hand on Ella's knee, squeezing gently.
"You aren't any trouble Ella. You're hurtin', an I wanna help you. I know somebody who'll help an you don' have to worry 'bout it, okay?" When Ella still shook her head and tried to press back into the corner, Jen sighed softly and smiled lightly, tilting her head a little. "Okay, how about this? You let me change your bandages, an we see if you're feelin' okay in the mornin? I don' have any more salve to use like I used on your leg, but clean bandages are important.." Ella eyed Jen warily, likely thinking that should she let Jen touch her again, she'd sweep her up and off to the healer now, not sure of the 'deal'. Keeping her arms around herself, she bit down lightly on her lower lip, shivering lightly.
Thunder rumbled softly outside, causing Ella to glance up, the sound of the rain easily heard through the open door at the back of the room. She wrinkled her nose a little as she looked down at her side, and with an expression that fairly well read her desire for the help despite her wish to not cause trouble, she made a soft, half whimper, nodding a little as she sniffled softly. "...kay...we'll see in the mornin'." Jen smiled, having settled to patiently waiting while Ella debated with herself, quietly admiring the young girl's wish to be independent, a survival trait in Old Town. Carefully helping Ella move forward again, she pulled over her bandages and poured a little water into a basin.
"Thank you, Ella. We'll see in the mornin'." Jen gently helped Ella pull off her soaked through t-shirt, setting it over the back of one of her chairs to dry, then turned and looked over her 'charge' again. She found herself having a difficult time guessing Ella's age as she watched her for a moment. She was either very young, or simply small for her age, which Jen was leaning toward being the possible solution to her query, the blond reluctant to ask directly, assuming that if Ella couldn't remember her name, she likely couldn't remember her age, either. Being as careful as she could, she started to remove the bandage from around Ella's stomach, noticing how guarded Ella was about this, the young girl remarkably tense and appearing like she'd be ready to leap away at a moment's notice. Pausing after she got one strip of the bandaged pulled away, she looked up to Ella and smiled lightly, tilting her head some. "How about I do your head first? You seem kinna tense 'bout this, I don' want to make you hurt more, kay?" Ella's shoulders relaxed almost immediately at this suggestion as she nodded, Jen nodding and reaching to remove the bandage that was already half off from around Ella's forehead. There was a fairly sizeable gash and bruising over Ella's right temple, the area swollen a fair bit. It didn't take a medical degree or any sort of knowledge about the human body to guess that this was a likely reason for Ella's memory loss, Jen pausing to peer into Ella's eyes for a moment as the thought occurred to her that the little girl wasn't thinking too clearly, Ella just blinking at her, looking a little confused. Jen smiled crookedly again when she caught that confused look, laughing softly as she brought the wet washrag up and carefully dabbed at the closed over cut. "Does this hurt much? It looks kinda like it did."
Ella nodded a little, her eyes watching Jen's hand as best as she could, occasionally glancing to watch Jen's face. "It doesn' hurt that much now. 's kinda a throb that don' go away." She answered, closing her right eye when Jen brought the washrag up, shivering softly as the touch apparently hurt a little, but she didn't complain, this making Jen smile softly. She held the rag in her hands for a moment to try to warm it up a little, the water lukewarm but still cold due to the general temperature of the room, Jen feeling a slightly urgent feeling to get Ella warm as the half bare girl started to shiver softly again, mumbling a bit. "'s what's makin' it so I don' 'member stuff, isn't it? The cut on my head?"
Jen nodded as she used a threadbare towel to gently dry where she had just cleaned, taking one of her stained, but clean bandages and folding it in half lengthwise, wrapping it softly about Ella's head, tightening it just enough to keep it there and tying it. "Yeah, 's probably why. Though it kinda looks like you hit it hard when you got the cut, an I bet that did it most." She set the bandage she had removed from Ella to the side, intending to clean it and add it to her group of bandages. She looked a little worried at Ella when she looked back, the girl's eyes shut and her head hanging a little as she slouched some, her arms wrapped around herself. "Ella? I want to get the one around your waist, okay?" She reached up, softly stroking her fingertips over Ella's cheek, a little dismayed by the growing warmth there generated by the fever. Ella just nodded, looking fairly worn and tired, and though she still seemed nervous about Jen touching there, she unwrapped her arms from around herself, gently gripping at the blanket on either side of her as she sat still and waited. Trying to smile reassuringly, Jen nodded and started to slowly and carefully undo the bandage again, her brow furrowing with worry at the dark discoloration of the bandage. Her eyes widened as she bared the injury on Ella's side, her arms jerking a little in surprise, she just keeping herself from making a sound, a strong shudder flowing through the teen as evidence of just how badly the Church hadn't taken care of her came to light. A barely healed over puncture wound loomed on Ella's left side, looking angry and infected, whatever had wounded her side didn't go in cleanly, her skin torn and cut in jagged lines radiating from the wound, again, just barely healed over. The wound was just below Ella's ribs, but Jen could tell that the lowest rib was likely broken, and the fact that she was alive in the first place was impressive, even if the wound was horrifying. Her eyes flicked up to Ella's face, the girl sitting with her head hanging and eyes shut, her shivering fairly strong now, she not noticing Jen's reaction to the wound. Biting down on her lower lip, Jen held the washrag in her hands to warm it up, then, after a moments hesitation, reached to softly wash over the infected, painful looking injury, Jen quietly marveling that Ella was still alive. "They really didn' take good care o' you, huh?" She murmured, being as slow and careful as she could manage.
"Yeah...people were...kept makin' fun of me cause I couldn' 'member anythin'...they put a potion on it on the boat, but then nobody did nothin' after wrappin' it..." She mumbled, sitting up a little straighter as Jen carefully dried her side, then started to wrap a clean bandage around her, Jen's hands shaking just slightly as she tried very hard not to hurt the young girl. Ella lightly wrapped her arms around herself when Jen tied it off the bandage and slipped aside for a moment, running her hand over her face before she moved to get one of her smaller shirts, bringing it over and helping Ella to put it on. "T-thank you..." She mumbled, looking about to fall asleep where she sat.
Marveling at the girl being so polite and quiet despite the pain she knew she was in, Jen carefully climbed onto the bed and moved behind Ella, laying down and reaching up to gently coax Ella to lay herself. The young girl hesitated a little, but soon laid on her uninjured side, her back to the other girl, curling up into a small ball. Jen pulled a blanket up and over Ella and herself, reaching to pull another up over Ella, feeling how cold she was despite the fever. Softly brushing her hand over Ella's shoulder, she carefully lay behind her, very lightly resting the back of her hand against Ella's shoulders, letting the little girl know that she was there. "Tryta get some rest Ella, huh? We'll see how you feel in the mornin..." Ella only nodded slightly, already quickly approaching sleep, soon lost to it's call. Sighing softly, Jen reached up to brush some hair from Ella's forehead, feeling her fever again. Propping herself up slightly, she looked over the little foundling, considering how she was going to carry Ella to the healers, briefly contemplating taking her now while she slept, but with a soft smile, she knew she couldnt break the promise to wait until the morning. Leaning in, she softly kissed the back of Ella's head, a soft shiver running through her as she nestled a little closer to the sleeping girl, closing her eyes and settling into a restless, anxious sleep.