Part One
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy IX or it's characters.
A/N: This is looking to be a five part (plus epilogue) focusing on Zidane's character. Each part will consist of five drabbles focusing on a certain point of his life. Zidane/Dagger big time later on. This was a matter of inspiration of a song and the character himself. It's been fun to plan and write so far. So enjoy.
Contains mildly suggestives themes and some vulgar language so if you think this may offend you, be aware.
Chances are when said and done
Who'll be the lucky ones
Who make it all the way?
Though you say I could be your answer
Nothing lasts forever
No matter how it feels today
-Chances by Five for Fighting
Discipline 1/3
"Geez!" The boy yelped as he dodged yet another sickening blow. His tail flailed frantically in sporadic fluid motions, as if desperately attempting to channel the hostility he was receiving to elsewhere.
The older man cackled. "C'mon kid," He snarled, mismatched teeth gleaming through an unkempt beard, "You can do better than that."
Zidane's eyes narrowed. Old man definitely had a sick sense of parenting sometimes.
Baku continued, "Next time you shoot me those smart-ass comments it's only gonna get worse than this, you hear?"
His blow directed towards the boy's abdomen was precisely aimed. So he still wasn't so quick after all.
Zidane hunched over. This was it. This was the end. He could only groan in response.
Several onlooking chuckles were his only applause.
"Right." He croaked.
First Time
Julia Archibald was a relatively good-looking girl. Not beautiful or anything like that, but she sure was cute. But she was also rich, older, and experienced. And that made up for the not-so-beautiful part.
Bright blue eyes spread wide as he dumbly scanned the girl before him. She smiled back at him as the last remaining garment dropped to the floor at her feet.
His heart was pounding violently. Was it still with the rest of his insides? He couldn't tell.
"Well?"
She took a step towards him.
"Oh-right!" He blurted, and his nervous fingers began their comical fumbling with his trousers.
'Play it cool,' He reminded himself, 'Everything's cool. Everything's cool. Everything's cool…'
He was right. They had flirted with one another for weeks. When the noble born heiress invited him to sneak into her room that night, it was more than a typical social call. He had recieved all kinds of support and tips from his Tantalus brothers, but like most thirteen year old boys, he didn't exactly have much of a chance to use them.
Belonging 1/3
"What's up?" Blank nudged his friend lightly. The kid had been quiet a lot lately. It was funny- he'd thought that a kid like him that had just started getting laid would have a lot more to say to the world.
Zidane shrugged. "No idea."
Blank snorted. "So you're spending all this time thinking about nothing?"
"Where did I come from?"
His words were thick and blurted in such a way they took the older boy by surprise. He inhaled sharply, unsure of how to reply. Men in Tantalus rarely got that kind of deep. And when they did, things got ugly for their feelings. He scratched the back of his head in thought.
"Man, I always wonder the same thing."
Zidane turned towards him, squarely facing his companion. "You wonder where you came from too?"
"No I'm well informed of that." The red haired adolescent rapidly shoved the images of prostitutes and shady alleys from his mind.
"I mean, where the hell did you come from?"
A loud, deafening thud resounded as the blonde boy impulsively swung himself around, meeting the brick wall's impact with his fist.
Theater Script
Tantalus was best known for it's shady contacts throughout Lindbulm. Some considered Baku a wise investment, and others an unwanted obnoxious menace. But all parties agreed that the otherwise unlearned man knew how to put on a show.
All Zidane ever bothered reading were scripts for plays. Round pools of cerulean darted across one page after another, paper scorched with wear of human hands. He sometimes sat cross legged in bed the whole night through, sometimes memorizing, sometimes simply studying. The boy unknowingly rocked himself slightly, as if in a trance.
Sometimes Baku witnessed it himself. And he had to admit, it was a little disturbing. But if that's what it took for the kid to get his part straight, then that was fine by him.
Thief in the Night
"Who're you?"
The blonde boy froze. This wasn't supposed to happen. He was to sneak in the great Baron's home through his daughter's window, and obtain the key to Treno's sewers. Something valuable was rumored to be hidden there, and Tantalus wanted in.
Of course he was given the task of sneaking. He was the fastest- and smallest. The iron key's chill in his warm, coarse hands provided no protection from the little girl's frightened gaze.
He raised a finger to his lips softly.
She sat up in the elegant bed- too elegant for a child her age he decided.
"Are you a thief?"
He shook his head.
"A monster?"
Her big green eyes wandered to the furry tail waving before her.
He shook his head again.
The iron key was starting to feel warm now. He had to leave quickly, before the girl's parents woke at the sound of her voice.
"Gotta go." He hopped lightly to the grand chest before her open window that he had so tactfully crept through earlier that night- the only open window in the house.
The movement startled her. She watched as he glanced over his shoulder in her direction one last time, and leaped into the night.
She scrambled out of the bed and climbed onto the chest where the older boy had been a moment before, her soft padded feet slapped at the hardwood floor sweetly.
Chubby hands gripped the windowsill as she leaned out into the night air.
"Wait!" She called. Her eyes scanned the streets below frantically, desperately searching for the lean, yet subtly muscular form she had only just discovered.
A door down the hall opened and closed. Someone was coming. She gasped and scrambled quickly back to bad. Father and Mother hated it when she wasn't in bed after bedtime.