I do not own any characters except for Vance and some others. All of the rest are from Final Fantasy X! :) Enjoy the story, and please review!

Chapter 1: My First Assignment

"So, what makes you any different from the rest," the brown-haired girl said, as she

picked at her nails. She looked awfully bored, and I supposed it was because she'd spent the last

few days doing nothing but interviewing people like myself.

"Well, I'm extremely experienced with chocobos," I said, nodded toward the chocobo

that was standing behind me. I nervously tightened my grip on my chocobo's reigns protectively,

remembering the announcement about chocobo thieves that had just been heard booming across

the Mi'ihen Highroad.

"Who isn't," the girl replied gloomily.

"Um, I'm a chocobo trainer, actually," I said, trying to stand up tall and hoping to see

some sort of rise out of the girl.

"You're just a boy," she just said, flicking something off of the table that we sat at.

"That may be," I said, taking a seat and ordering my chocobo to rest beside me, "But I've

spent the last six years training chocobos in the Calm Lands. Miss, I've traveled quite a way for

this interview. It's been my dream for as long as I can recall to be a chocobo knight. Please, just

listen to me."

The lady finally looked up at me, and I saw some sort of recognition in her eyes, but she

just shook her head.

"An Al Bhed, with a chocobo," she mumbled to herself, "What is this world coming to?"

"Actually," I said, looking at the ground, "I'm, er, only half Al Bhed. I...I'm actually not

Al Bhed at all! I've lived in the Calm Lands since I was eleven, raising chocobos. I wasn't

really, er, religious at all."

"Well," the lady said, looking back at her nails, "At least you weren't some Yevonite.

Still, shouldn't you be joining up with some Al Bhed Faction or something?"

"Oh no," I said, looking down at my chocobo, as if hoping to receive some

encouragement, "I'm actually not very good with machina."

The lady snorted. "An Al Bhed who's better with chocobos than machina!" she laughed,

"Who'd have thought!"

I felt myself blush. I was different, I knew I was. That's why I had left the Al Bhed home

six years ago, after my mother's death.

"I'm not really Al Bhed," I said for what seemed like the hundredth time, "I mean, I am,

but..."

"I get it," she interrupted, and then laughed, "My name's Elma. I'll be your trainer."

"You mean I passed?" I asked, my eyes growing wide.

"Yeah, it's definitely rare these days to find someone who's better with chocobos than

with machina! Especially an Al Bhed!"

We shook hands, my eyes glowing with excitement the entire time.

"Hear that, Sheea?" I said to my chocobo, who by now was looking quite bored herself,

"We're in!"

Sheea stood up then, and gave what I took to be a congratulating squawk. I jumped on

her back, and saluted Elma. Elma laughed, and saluted in return. She then handed me an

envelope, and told me to give it the commander Lucil.

Smiling, I rode quickly over to the command center, and asked to see the commander.

The man at the desk seemed surprised to see an Al Bhed, even though flushing I told him that

really I wasn't, and then he showed me the way to see Lucil. I left Sheea with him, although it

only made me nervous, as I remembered the chocobo bandits.

Sheea and me had been through so much together, being that when I was a lonely boy of

eleven, I had stumbled upon a fiend who had destroyed a chocobo nest. I scared the fiend away,

but all of the eggs had been smashed, and the mother killed. One egg, however, had not been

smashed, and then, an egg cracked open, and there was Sheea.

I kept her, and together we'd trained many other wild chocobos and sold them, making

quite the profit. However, as the Eternal Calm came, so did the Machina Revolution. This

seemed like the perfect time to be an Al Bhed, but only to most Al Bheds. I hated the Machina

Revolution. It was too sad to see so many chocobos being traded in for machina. Not only that,

but soon, my business went down too.

There were two things that I had always wanted to be. One of those was a chocobo

knight. I had often dreamed of myself, slaying Sin. But back then, there was no such thing as an

Al Bhed chocobo knight. So, I had basically given up on that dream. The other thing I wanted to

be was a Blitzball player. Let's face it, however, because I was no good. I could barely swim, let

alone hold my breath for that long. Still, the excitement of the game had always interested me.

I forced myself to snap back to the present, and realized that by now, I was walking up to

Lucil's desk.

She was faced the other way, talking into some sort of machina. I bit my tongue. If I

were a true Al Bhed, which six years ago, I had wanted so badly to be one, I would have known

what kind of machina that was, and how to work it. I wasn't a true Al Bhed, however, and I

knew I'd just have to face it. In fact, as I stood there, waiting, I realized that I didn't even

remember the Al Bhed language. If my mother knew, I knew she'd be disappointed.

I hated thinking of my mother. To me, she wasn't the best mother. She had died when I

was four, so I barely remembered her, but I could still clearly see her face. Still, she was the one

who had left me at the Al Bhed Home all by myself.

I closed my eyes, thinking of those painful days at the Al Bhed Home. A woman's voice,

however, interrupted my thoughts.

I snapped back to reality, to see a lady with flaming red hair staring at me.

"Yes?" she said, "And please be quick, it's been a busy day. I have trainees that I need to

get situated."

"Uh, I'm one of those trainees," I said, handing her the envelope that Elma had given me.

"You?" she said, and I nodded. "Very well," she said, "We need all the help we can get."

"Would it be okay if I ask you something?" I asked, blushing as I did. I was fairly

reserved, and didn't go out of my place to often. Growing up in a place like the Calm Lands

could do that to you.

"Certainly," the lady said, but she was looking through papers more than she was paying

attention to me.

"You've been understaffed for so long. Why are you just now taking in so many people?

And with Sin gone..."

"You see," she interrupted, "There is an extremely large, uh, thing, going to happen in a

couple of months. Only a few people know about it, and...well, we need people to help keep

things in order when the time comes. You understand, correct?"

"Oh, yes ma'am," I said, nodding my head.

She smiled, and then made a waving moment with her hand. "Please go back out, and

you will be greeted by the same man that greeted you earlier. Then, you will be taken to the

barracks. Enjoy, because after this, you'll be suffering in our boot camps!" Lucil laughed as if

what she had just said was some sort of joke, and I thanked her, and then left.

I met up with the man, and took Sheea to the "Chocobo Ranch", and then went to the

barracks. I was quite tired, so I did little talking with the rest of the new recruits, and then went

to bed.

Training was super easy for me, being that I was so experienced with the chocobos. I

wasn't allowed to ride Sheea too often, because Captain Lucil and Elma wanted to see how I

dealt with other chocobos, but that wasn't a huge deal.

I was fast too. Sheea and me had been in plenty of races in the Calm Lands, and I was an

incredibly skilled rider, not that I liked to brag, or anything.

I must truly admit, however, that through everything, I grew more and more curious as to what

it was that we had all been hired for.

At night, when we were supposed to be asleep, many of the other knights would discuss

what it was they thought we were needed for. They threw in silly ideas, like maybe it was for a

blitzball tournament, or maybe that Sin had returned, or even that it was just some test to see if

we were good enough riders to start the first chocobo racing team.

I shrugged all of these ideas off. No, it's got to be something way more important. It's

got to be for something huge.

I didn't realize, however, just how huge it truly was going to be. For Spira, for everyone,

for me.

"Vance, I've called you for a reason," Elma said, two months after I had first become a member

of the chocobo knights, "Everybody else...Well, they're not nearly as talented as you."

"Uh, thanks, I guess," I said, wondering what it was that Elma had called me for. It was

late one evening, and everybody else was out partying, being that our training had finally ended.

"Look, Vance," Elma said, "You're what we need. Even if you are just a boy."

I stood up straight. I hated it when they reminded me of you youth. I was seventeen after

all. It's not as if I wasn't mature enough to be considered a man. Then, I nearly laughed at the

thought. Mature? Me? Yeah right!

"Anyway," Elma said, noticing how I had cringed at the word "boy", soon we're going to

give each and every one of you your assignments. We will also tell you what it is that we hired

you to do. Do you understand so far?"

I nodded. What wasn't there to understand?

Elma cleared her throat. "Besides Lucil and myself, there isn't anyone out there who

is...well, man enough, to do the job we're going to do." Elma's throat cleared again, and she

continued, "I know I said you were a boy...but, well, we think you have what it takes. We're

ranking you up with us."

"What!" I said, a broad smile crossing my lips, "Seriously! Wow! It's, it's an honor,

Ma'am."

Elma laughed, "You can call me Elma now, Vance. There is one thing that we didn't

cover in training, though, that you may need to do."

"What's that?" I asked, wondering what we hadn't covered.

"Fighting," Elma flatly said.

"But without Sin, what's the need?" I asked, "Will there be fiends on this mission?"

Elma shook her head. "Worse," she said, "There may be some, er, unhappy people."

I nodded, as if I understood what it was she was talking about.

"Have you ever fought with a sword?" she asked me then.

I blushed. I had once, years ago. It hadn't been too pretty.

"No Ma'am," I said, and then covered, "I...I mean, no, Elma."

She giggled like a little girl, but then sighed. "That's too bad, Vance," she said, looking

at the ground, "We really could have used you."

In a flash, I said, "But I do fight."

"What?" she said, looking startled.

I smiled. "In the Clam Lands, you may know that there are plenty of fiends. I had to

protect myself somehow." I pulled out a sling that I always kept in my pocket. It wasn't much,

just a stick with a stretchy ribbon between its two branches.

"That? That's what you fight with?" I thought she was going to laugh, and it was now I

that was looking at the ground, feeling suddenly quite boyish, and wishing I was older. No, I'm

not going to give up this easily!

"Elma," I said, interrupting her fit of giggles, "Look, give me something to give you an

example of."

"Very well," she laughed, but with a hint of challenge in her eyes, "See if you can defeat

me!"

She ran off, and returned with a sword.

"Hmph," I said, raising my eyebrows to accept the challenge, "But don't say I didn't warn

you."

I bent down then, scooping up a rock. Elma charged at me, but I was two quick. I put the

rock in the center of the ribbon and fired at Elma, hitting her in the eye.

She dropped her sword and put her hands over her eyes, whimpering as she did so.

"Ow!" she moaned, "Am I going to be blind now?"

"Sorry!" I said, "I warned you!"

I bent down to help her, but she shoved me away, and slowly opened her eye. It was

watering, and was a little red.

"See," I said, "I have perfect aim." I giggled then, and said, "You're lucky you aren't a

guy!"

"You give no mercy, do you," she said, smiling, "I think the captain will be glad to hear

that you fight."

I smiled, and helped Elma to her feet. "So, I pass, right?" I said, smiling and tucking my

sling away.

She smiled back and nodded. "Still," she said, "It may be wise to learn how to fight with

a sword, just to keep handy, do you understand?"

I nodded, a smile on my face.

"So," I said, "Can you tell me what it is we're doing now?"

She smiled at me, and said, "Just watch the news tomorrow, okay? It'll be on everyone's

tongues!

I had no idea what she meant, but was soon to find out.

"No way! Did you hear?" I heard someone say to someone else as I awoke the next

morning and got my breakfast.

"Hey Jeddy, you hear about the summoner?" another person said, as they passed me.

"Who hasn't," his companion said, "It's been all over the news!"

I would've asked, "Hey, what's going on?" if I'd been a little less shy, but I just went

over to my table and sat down, reading over the day's schedule.

Someone had turned the sphere on then, and I looked over at it, and saw the blushing face

of the High Summoner, Yuna.

I hadn't seen her much, being that in the Calm Lands, not much really goes on, but I did

know who she was. You'd have to be completely crazed if you didn't know who the High

Summoner Yuna was.

"Lady Yuna, is it true you're going to get married?" the newscaster was asking, and

everybody in the entire cafeteria went quiet, as everybody tuned in to see what was going on.

Lady Yuna blushed, and she nodded, "Yes, I am going to wed," she said, and smiled.

Something about her smile didn't seem right to me, however, but I was able to shrug it off

as the entire room around me began to cheer.

"Lady Yuna's finally getting married!" someone yelled, and everybody began chatting

excitedly.

"Exactly," Captain Lucil said, as she marched to the front of the room then and clicked

the sphere off, "That's why you have all been called here!"

Everybody went silent then.

"You knew, Captain?" a short man in the back asked.

Captain Lucil nodded. "It's been known through a select few for a couple of months

now.

"Who's she marrying?" someone asked, and the room became noisy again.

Captain Lucil raised her arms to quiet the room down, and she smiled, "You'll find that

all out later. Now, before all of you begin to party, and yes, I know this is a bit of extremely

good news, we need to talk first.

"You have all been brought here to help at Lady Yuna's wedding. Some of you will be

doing more than others, and many of you won't even be riding on chocobos at all."

Some people smiled, being that many of the chocobo knights weren't all that skilled at

riding chocobos.

"As many of you know," Captain Lucil continued, "Spira hasn't been the happiest over

the last year. Why, with the Machina Revolution, and all of those Yevonites, the world hasn't

been too happy as of late. And without proper maesters, there hasn't been too much a system,"

Lucil paused then, as if thinking, "But now things will get better, as it is said that the Lady Yuna

is wedding the late Maester Mika's youngest grandson. However, being that it is the Lady Yuna,

Summoner of Yevon, and the Maester of Yevon's grandson, there may be some unhappy people.

We are to make sure that the wedding gets under way without any interruptions. That means that

we will all be heading to Bevelle in two days and begin keeping watch. All of your assignments

are posted in your barracks. Now, have a nice day, as the day is yours."

Lucil smiled then, and the entire caffeteria went wild. The Song of the Chocobo Knights

was being sang, and people bounced up and down excitedly.

I sat back and observed everything. It's just a wedding, I found myself thinking, It's not

any big deal. Still, no matter how much I convinced myself that it was no big deal, I knew it

was. As I watched the people jump up and down, it became more and more clear of why this was

so important. The people needed something to look forward to, and this was the perfect thing. A

wedding. A nice, happy wedding, with the great Maester's grandson and the High Summoner

who defeated Sin. What could be better, after all? A blitzball game, I nearly laughed to myself,

Heck, even a chocobo race would be more exciting. I didn't realize, that after what was about to

happen, even chocobo races and blitzball would seem incredibly dull.

"Welcome to Bevelle!" Captain Lucil said, as she rode a ways ahead. Following closely

behind her were Elma and me, followed by Clasko, and the rest loomed behind a ways.

"And I always thought Clasko was bad!" Elmo had jokingly said to me earlier. The truth

was, that everyone was so excited and nervous at the same time that they weren't in too much of

a rush.

Bevelle loomed in the distance, but only a short distance. The noise level of the place

was huge, and it seemed, even from a distance, that everything was amazingly bright and happy.

"Okay troops!" Lucil said with a smile, "I'll lead you on ahead, Elma, Vance, stay back."

The tired troops and their chocobos headed off, following their commander. Elma and

me stayed behind, cheering the troops on as they went. I didn't understand why we where

standing there, but, I realized that Elma would probably fill me in as soon as all of the troops

passed.

As soon as they were all out of the way, Elma smiled at me, and said, "Have you ever met

Lady Yuna?"

"No, I haven't," I replied.

"Well, we'll be right up there with Yuna, and all of her friends. Sound okay?" Elma said.

"Sure," I just said in return.

"Lucil, you, and I will be the more, uh, personal security. Get what I'm saying?"

I nodded my head. "Yeah, I do," I said.

"Look, she has her friends, or, who were her guardians, okay?"

"'Kay," I said, nodding my head.

"But, we're a little worried about either Anti-Yevon people pulling something, or Yevon

people pulling something. Got it? Keep your eyes, and ears open." Elma looked at the ground

and smiled, "But it's mighty exciting, isn't it? I mean, the Lady Yuna getting married!"

"Oh, yeah," I said, trying so hard to hide the sarcasm in my voice, "It's incredibly

exciting."

Elma laughed again, and said, "Come on, we're going to meet the High Summoner! I

haven't seen her since before the calm! How exciting is this?"

My eyes rolled as soon as Elma was gone. I didn't know why, but even if she did bring

the Eternal Calm, I just didn't see why we needed to go way out for her wedding. Maybe I was

just cold-hearted. I didn't know. I looked down at Sheea, and then followed swiftly behind

Elma, and her giddy chocobo, not really feeling too over excited about the High Summoner's

wedding. I was excited though, and smiled broadly to show it. After all, this was my first

assignment. And I had already become so high up. In fact, I was the third most important, and

just over a few months! I was so full of pride, but was definitely doing my best not to show it.

Happily, almost giddily as well, I followed Elma at full speed, heading closer and closer

to Bevelle.