The Grass Is Always Greener On The Other Side
The air in Ozmone Plain was heavier and wetter than Larsa was used to in the grand heights of Archades or Bhujerba. It was a small price to pay for the secret elation he felt in his current situation. Surrounded by a small group of the most unlikely combination of characters.
With them he felt so free, unwatched and full of anticipation for the road ahead and it's adventures. He was by no means ungrateful for the position life had given him as a son of the Empire, but he often wandered what it would be like if his family were that of the usual in Ivalice, if he was a child with nothing more expected of him but to play nicely with his friends. He was swiftly becoming a man, after all, and beginning to realize all he had missed.
He sensed that the others had let down most of their prejudices against him, and he had gained their trust. So he relaxed and listened to the friendly banter of Vaan and Penelo.
"I am not going anywhere near Vaan if he so much as lifts a giantsword," Penelo was saying.
"Hey! At least I could lift one. No wonder you prefer daggers-" he scoffed.
"Well Basch isn't about to let any one of us within a square inch of that sword, so you are wasting your breath," Larsa intervened, amused.
Vaan and Penelo's discussion about who should be allocated which new weapon had been becoming more like bickering as the evening went on. Jahara and it's weapon store was miles behind them now.
"That's right," a gruff but amused voice said behind them. "I will teach you in time to wield a great sword if you wish it, but at present you are not trained and it would be a safety hazard to us all." The corners of his lips twitched upwards at that.
Penelo changed tack. "Yeah, Vaan, don't think I haven't noticed how you hide behind Basch as soon as a brown chocobo so much as glares at you."
Larsa knew she was really talking about herself there.
Vaan resigned with a sigh, "I'm cool with the axe, it's pretty lethal." He pulled it out and took a swing at the air. Ashe stopped dead in her tracks behind him. Balthier snickered.
"Mind what your doing, Vaan. The bounty on our heads is large enough without slaying our future Queen as well," he said with a glance at Basch.
"Here," Basch reached out for the axe. "Hold it like this," he said and demonstrated a proper swing. It looked impressive to Larsa, who had only been trained with a sword.
"I got it, I got it…" Vaan exclaimed, slightly abashed and taking back the axe.
"Say, Vaan, here comes a Python," Penelo gazed over the plain at a large green snake slithering through the grass. "Why don't you take care of it instead of Basch for a change?"
Vaan shot her a look Larsa couldn't't read. Penelo looked back innocently, but also a little smug. Larsa knew she was being unfair- they normally fought in groups, but he was too occupied deciphering their silent communication to offer him help.
So Vaan rolled his eyes, sighed again in exasperation and ran towards the snake.
Penelo gasped. "No! Vaan I didn't't mean it! I was only teasing!" She panicked, gathering her own weapons.
"Penelo?"
"He's allergic to snake venom! It affects him worse than other people!" Balthier groaned and they all ran after him.
Larsa drew his sword as he reached Vaan and the snake. It was dodging his attacks and lashing at him with it's tail.
"Vaan, what are you doing you'll get hurt!" Penelo shouted at him. This only distracted Vaan enough to being on the receiving end of a heavy blow in the stomach from the colossal tail of the snake.
A gun sounded along with the twang of a bow from Balthier and Fran. Ashe stood with them, searching the bags they'd dropped. Basch and Larsa began to attack the snake as Vaan bent double, winded and Penelo rushed to his side.
The snake writhed, evading their every attack. Bullets and arrows were no use, the great sword too slow.
Larsa thrust his sword gracefully as it's head whipped around to thrash at Vaan. Everyone froze as it's fangs pierced his shoulder, making him gasp.
Penelo roared and rose to the attack. Dagger in hand, she started a fierce flurry of attacks that caused Larsa and Basch to retreat a few spaces. Balthier and Fran stopped shooting for fear of hitting her.
Her dance was a deadly one of rage, her dagger working so fast it blurred. It was all the snake could do to dodge it.
The snake let out a piercing hiss as the dagger finally found it's mark above the eyes. It collapsed and grew still on the ground.
The fire in Penelo's eyes remained as they all turned to Vaan. He knelt on one knee, head bowed and gasping. Penelo hurried over to help him to his feet.
"What will happen to him?" Fran asked.
"I'm fine," Vaan gasped pathetically.
"I'm not sure," Penelo answered quickly. "I was six when he was bitten last time. I just remember they took him to the doctor."
"Nothing a good antidote can't cure," looking towards their bags.
"There are none," Ashe spoke up. "We mustn't't have bought any in Jahara…"
"Do I have to think of everything, Vaan?" Penelo rage. Vaan responded with a grimace and sank to the ground. Penelo's face went from angry to anxious in a second.
"We will go back," Fran proposed. "It will not take us more than a few hours at most."
It was clear that Vaan wasn't't about to walk anywhere. Penelo let him lean against her on the grass as his gasping grew louder.
Basch took pity. "We will stay. You go with Balthier and fetch some Antidote… and whatever else we missed. Be quick," he added, his eyes returning to where Vaan sat with Penelo.
"I will go with them," Ashe said. "Arrows and bullets clearly don't work on everything out here," she looked at Basch, who looked torn but nodded once.
"Don't worry, Captain. The Princess is safe in my hands…" Balthier said in a bored voice as he turned in the direction of Jahara.
They made camp for the night near the wreckage of a fallen airship. Basch had carried a weakly protesting Vaan and he lay now, restless, in blankets by the fire. Larsa could tell that Penelo could not stand to see Vaan like this, and that Vaan was trying not to show the agony he was on for the same reason. She sat near him and tried to take his mind off it, teasing or talking about their home.
Larsa had never truly felt lonely until he met this pair of orphans. He half wished he's grown up with Penelo, though he was glad he hadn't't been through the horrors that they had. He admired them enormously for the way they dealt with it.
Vaan hadn't't spoken in a while and Penelo's distractions subsided. She looked anxious at his silence, though he seemed to be in less pain than before. Larsa wondered if he was unconscious. Penelo was easier to talk to without Vaan distracting her so he went to sit with her at the other side of the fire.
Vaan was not asleep. He lay watching the fire, face turned away from Penelo. He looked truly awful from this close up. Haggard and exhausted. His eyes were half shut, face much paler that usual, moist and glowing in the semi-darkness. Larsa noticed he was shaking despite the blankets and the fire they had built for him. Basch had said it would help to sweat out his fever.
"How are you feeling, Vaan?" Larsa asked him quietly.
"Cold…" he murmured. "Dizzy," his teeth chattered.
"You need to relax, Vaan," Basch spoke up, "it will stop the shaking."
Penelo leaned forward to lift Vaan carefully and raise a pouch of water to his lips. "Stop babying me," he mumbled, but drank the water like a dying man in the desert. She eased him back down with his head in her lap. He was too weak to protest. He just shivered and winced.
Larsa and Basch watched the two of them without realizing it. She stroked the golden hair from his hot face and dabbed Balthier's cold, damp handkerchief to his forehead. Vaan soon stropped shaking so violently and his eyelids fluttered shut.
Larsa registered a moment of panic in Penelo's eyes before she watched his chest rise and she released the breath she'd been holding. She was completely absorbed in taking care of him. Not because he was her master or because it was her duty, but simply because she loved her friend and wanted to ease his suffering.
Larsa envied this about Vaan. He welcomed this envy, was deeply happy these two street urchins- brought up on rats and stolen food and raised on the street- had something he, Lord Larsa of the house of Solidor, had not. He had all the riches, all the food he could ever want, all the finest boys garb in all of the Empire, yet he did not have a friend who loved him like Vaan or Penelo. One who would risk his life and cross the seas to rescue him from captives, or simply watch his back in battle as an act of friendship and nothing more.
Vaan groaned softly, bringing Larsa out of his thoughts. He looked away from him and mentally shook himself. There was no use in him taking his position fore granted. He was Lord Larsa of the house of Solidor, this was his lot in life and he embraced it with all he could give and his head held high.
His gaze came to rest on Basch. He was still watching Penelo, lost in his own thoughts. Curiosity burned in Larsa. What was he thinking about? The Knight must have lost any friend or family or lovers he had on that night in Nalbina. He had lost much more than that.
Larsa sensed that this man did not like to talk of himself to anyone. Whether because he thought it unimportant or because his memories were too painful, he could not tell. He decided to find out. He had spent most of his life with men like Basch. He was not as hesitant as a boy his age should be in probing the thoughts of an infamous Knight.
"You do not talk much about yourself, Captain," he said quietly. Vaan didn't't stir as Penelo started.
Basch looked at him, wary, frowning.
"Don't worry, I am no spy. Merely curious."
Basch relaxed slightly but the frown remained. After a moment he said tensely, "What has passed is unimportant. We will never see tomorrow if we are looking behind us."
Larsa nodded, admiring this perspective. Of course, how else would he have survived Nalbina Dungeon? He shuddered.
A silence followed, broken only by Vaan's uneven breathing.
"Did you have someone, Basch?" Penelo whispered, gazing intently at him. "Before Nalbina…"
Basch shifted uncomfortably, looked away from them into the darkness beyond the ring of light cast by the fire. "I…" he looked back at Penelo and something he saw on her face seemed to change his mind. "No," he said gruffly, standing and taking Vaan's axe to cut more firewood, though the pile was already large enough to last the night.
He stopped, his back to them. "Dalmascan Knights have no time for such things. They must devote themselves completely to defending Dalmasca and it's Masters… Vossler and I formed friendships enough within our everyday company." He left them with that, striding into the darkness so that they would not ask him to relive and more of his memories.
Larsa lowered his eyes, feeling slightly guilty. He was sure that Basch would have spoken more openly had they not been so young.
Penelo looked like she wanted to follow Basch but she still held Vaan to her. The boy looked white as a ghost and purple under the eyes. His long eyelashes fluttered and didn't't seem to rest.
"Penelo…" Larsa inclined his head to Vaan.
As she looked down at her lap, Vaan's eyes rolled open and he gasped in pain again. Beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
He sat up, trembling, Penelo rubbing his back. "Vaan are you OK…?"
He just pressed his lips together, stood up and swayed dangerously. Penelo jumped up to steady him and he shook her off, stumbling away from the fire. Larsa looked around for Basch but his eyes were blinded by the fire. He heard Vaan groan slightly, not too far away. He put an arm out to keep Penelo from going to him.
"Let him be. He does not want you to see him sick." For Larsa could see him now, bent over and clutching his stomach.
The grass rustled behind them and they whipped around, sword and dagger at the ready and Larsa still clutching Penelo's arm by the fire.
Balthier chuckled in the darkness. "Cute," he commented. Fran, Ashe and Basch were revealed in the firelight after him, looking around for Vaan. "Where is our damsel in distress? Don't tell me he's better already, the-" he began.
Penelo and Larsa looked back towards the darkness behind them where they could make out Vaan walking back.
Balthier hurried forward just in time: Vaan collapsed against him.
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Notes: This is my first fan fiction ever, so I'd really appreciate reviews to help me with future fics. Thanks for reading!