Wild Ride
By Snare-chan
Pairings: None
Ratings: K
Category(ies): General
Warning(s): None
Status: One-shot, complete
Summary: Against Penelo's better judgment, Vaan decides to try and ride a Mesmenir. Good luck with that, tough guy.
Notes: I was visiting Jahara the second time around, leveling a bit and hanging out with the natives a bit when the idea occurred to me. The village has to be my utmost favorite in the game, along with its locals. I thought it only fitting that my first step in writing for the fandom should deal with them in someway.
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy XII; wish I did like everybody else. They should put FFXII in stock, then I'd buy it all!
Penelo wasn't quite sure what to make of the Ozmone Plain. A part of her felt at home here, what with it being attached to the Giza Plains. It resembled and took on many of the latter's qualities during The Rains. But she knew it wasn't – it was always this green and filled with different kinds of living creatures. So the other part of her felt kind of timid, treading carefully across the land as if afraid of offending its true inhabitants.
Sitting next to Vaan on one of the many sloping hills that make up the area's deep gorges and maze-like design, she could see that the other felt the same, though in his own way. Unlike her more respectful nature, he seemed keener on exploring every nook and cranny to its full extent, taking in the views with every chance he got.
While she felt and acted like a foreign relative just visiting as a guest, he took on the role of someone who wanted to stay, to make this his home. Right now, side-by-side, it was easy to notice the way he was scanning the wildlife and the rest of their surroundings, growing familiar with it like someone settling into a new life.
"I think…" Vaan interrupted their silence, catching the girl's attention away from her thoughts, "I'm going to ride one of those."
Or maybe he wasn't. Recognizing his manner not as contemplative but as excited, she immediately grew wary, recalling all the times he'd said something in an equal tone of voice and how he'd always ended up in trouble because of the ideas slinking past his lips.
Frowning, Penelo followed his gaze towards one of the purple-tinted animals Basch had indicated as a Mesmenir; the four-hoofed creature wasn't very long, and due to its lanky structure, it wasn't too difficult a creature to take on, even for Penelo and her short-ranged daggers, but its barbed hide tended to protect it in a way that made it easier to just take on in groups if only for time's sake.
"Vaan, you're insane," she announced, hugging her legs to her chest as if to ward away his bad plans. "Wouldn't you rather ride a Chocobo? They're much faster and easier to handle."
"What? Come on, look at the thing," he gestured with his palm towards the nearest beast. "Don't tell me you've never been tempted! They're perfect for traveling. Besides, those birds back at Jahara are expensive."
"But…" she hesitated, biting her lip and eyeing the Mesmenir one more time, "it doesn't look safe at all! Look, I'll pay for the Chocobo if you just-"
"No way; I wanna try this."
He half slid, half hopped down from their seat, leaving Penelo only enough time to make a protesting sound deep in her throat. She just knew this wasn't going to end well – things like this never did, but she also knew that no matter the danger involved, once Vaan had his mind set, there wasn't a single thing that could be done to change it. Besides, she reasoned as she scooted closer on her hands and knees to keep a closer eye on him, he'd never learn if she continued to interfere – not that he ever learned, but she could still dream, couldn't she?
"Are you sure about this, Vaan? Basch told us they're pretty aggressive. What if it attacks you?"
"It'll be okay, I promise. Stop being such a worrywart!" he chided her absently, leaning over to inspect the ground and gather some posies and rich grass in a tight fist.
"If it does attack, I'll defend myself with this." He tapped the one-handed blade at his hip with his free hand, and while she'd seen with her own eyes him handling himself quite well with it (especially after some training with the others), the idea of him going it alone against the purple sleipnir had knots forming in her stomach.
Sighing softly, she reached around to her own weapon and pulled it into her lap for easier access…just in case.
While she was getting a good handle on it, Vaan was making slow progress towards a lone Mesmenir across from his previous resting place, his fingers holding the gathered plant life positioned far away from his body towards it. When it caught his scent, it started upright, nickering at him in warning. Stopping in his tracks, he waited for it to get used to his presence.
"It's okay, girl; I'm not going to hurt you," he murmured as soothingly as possible, now inching his way closer.
For Penelo, it was positively nerve-wracking.
The Mesmenir stamped its two front feet impatiently, but neither charged at him headlong nor skittered away in fear. Perhaps it was curious, too. When the blond had made it close enough to touch, he left his palm open and perfectly still, inviting the beast to eat. At first it snorted at the offering, as if insulted that it could be bought with mere greens, yet…after a couple moments, hunger came over it and it began to feed.
A coiled up ball inside of Penelo's abdomen gave way a little, her sweaty palms loosening on her dagger until-
Without warning, Vaan took his chance; while the creature was distracted, he began to circle around until he'd reached a point where he could hop up without impaling himself and – grabbing hold of its spiky mane – hauled his body on top.
The Mesmenir, understandably, didn't appreciate this gesture. Upon realizing the deception, it let out a shrill whinny, its body rearing back on its hind legs in an attempt to throw him off. Holding fast, Vaan let out a mirroring cry, though his was in surprise more than outright anger.
"VAAN!"
By the time she'd stumbled down towards his aid, the animal had had enough, and taken off running into the Haulo Green area. In despair, she watched as it bucked and made full speed across the ground, easily outrunning her and leaving her to follow its trail of chaos.
Normally, she would have made her way cautiously across this place, conscious of the hiding reptiles known for taking up residence underground, but right now she was more concerned for the big stupid-head whose bright idea it had been to ride some random, wild animal and said wild animal that was quickly galloping its way towards Jahara. Thankfully, there was nothing to bar her way, seeing as even the demented Black Chocobos saw reason and wisely got out of their way as they trampled through.
"VAAN!" she barely managed to gasp once more, their forms quickly growing smaller even as she put everything she had into catching up, "SLOW DOWN! STOP!"
"I – CAN'T!" he yelled back, his body positioned at a weird angle alongside the creature's solid hairs in hopes of not hurting himself. "EVERYONE! OUT- OUT OF – THE WAY!"
Eyes widening, Penelo stopped dead in her tracks, only able to watch at this point as the Mesmenir trampled towards the bridge leading into Jahara, the two guards keeping watch taking in the strange sight long enough to know that diving out of the way was their only best course of action. Upon recovering from the shock, she jogged over, stopping long enough to make sure they weren't hurt and making a rushed apology, before continuing on to inspect the damage.
By the time she'd made it to the center of the village Vaan and his steed had trampled a firepit, its surrounding goods, and two and a half tents. All the warriors were up in arms, a few of them taking up their bows and arrows and trying to strike it down while the majority tried to heard it.
"Oh! Please, be careful," she begged, watching on in worry. Penelo wasn't sure if they were merely heeding her words or honor bound by nature, but not many tried to take the shot, though many aimed. The few that tried missed, having been aiming for its head or legs in an attempt to disable it without harming the blond, whose grasp appeared to be loosening due to the sheer abuse. The animal was practically flying as it continued to wriggle and bound around, making for an impervious hold.
Shing!
Bang!
The sound wave had Penelo ducking down in alarm, recognizing the second distinctly as a gunshot. Peeking past the fingers covering her eyes, she was able to catch the beast suddenly skidding at losing its balance; it collapsed to its front knees and sent Vaan into a partial flying-roll that had him landing upside down against one of the wooden fences surrounding the encampment. With two last, laborious breaths of defiance, the Mesmenir collapsed over on its side, laying still.
Wordlessly, everyone turned their heads towards the area the attack had originated from, their eyes landing on Fran and Balthier, the two standing a distance away on a hill – her bow still poised with a new arrow already in place and the butt of his gun still perched on his shoulder. When it became evident that it wasn't thinking about moving again, they relaxed, the entire establishment feeling to sigh in relief.
At the same time everyone moved, Penelo rushed over to her friend, skidding on her leg guards the last few feet to Vaan's side.
"Vaan! Vaan, oh god, please say something!" Her hands hovered over his body, wanting to right him from his awkward position but too afraid of causing him more pain than necessary. Thankfully, he cracked open his eyes, indicating that he was at least alive, if not conscious, and stared up at the several faces peering down at him.
"…something?" he croaked, the joke causing her to release a watery laugh as she helped him to roll over and sit up straight. Not caring who was staring she gave him a hug, a tear or two nearly making their way to his vest.
Once he was steady enough, she backed off and proceeded to give a harsh enough slap to the shoulder for him to flinch.
"I told you that was a stupid idea! Why do you never listen to me? You could have died – someone here could have died – thanks to your idiot stunt!"
"I must agree with the young lady," Balthier spoke up, his fingers still clinging to his chosen weapon as he and his female companion approached. "That wasn't the keenest idea to attempt, my dear boy. Exactly what were you thinking?"
The other ducked his head and scratched the back of it, at least having the frame of mind to look a little embarrassed.
"Well, ya see…"
"Is everyone here alright? What happened?" a deep voice interrupted, said voice belonging to none other than the War-chief Supinelu. He'd come out just as the commotion was beginning to die down and seen who was involved with the end result.
The blond tried to rise to his feet in respect, though in the end Penelo had to help him a little by taking him by the upper-right arm.
"Yeah, I think we're all okay over here," he started, seeing as no one else looked willing to explain for him considering it was his fault, "I uh…tried to take one of these for a spin and kind of…lost control of it, I guess."
The leader was silent for a time, probably having to wait for the words to sink in, before his head swiveled to take in the dead monster at their feet, then at last back to Vaan. The evidence was a little hard to ignore.
"No one has dared to try and tame the creatures of Ozmone Plain before," he spoke neutrally, sounding as if choosing his words carefully. "Perhaps you can teach me how you did it, hm? Though…maybe not so close to the village."
No one dared to argue with this kind of good fortune, though Penelo was tempted to wag a finger at his mask and warn him not to encourage her friend's unwise choice of actions. In the end, though, she could only widen her eyes a little bit just as Vaan did and nod their heads obediently.
The chief nodded in turn and faced his village, announcing that, "Dinner is on for tonight, men!" which was followed by quite a few cheers and waving.
"See," Vaan whispered close to her ear, "I told you it would be ok."
-Fin-