Author's Note: This is just an alternate version of that fated duel between Marche and Ritz's clans. Yes, another one of my 'light-hearted' fiction experiments. Enjoy? EDIT at 8/21/17: Had to fix the formatting since everything looked wonky years after I originally posted this.
In the cloudy night upon the grassy plains that was Deti, one lone Moogle sat comfortably under an oak tree, his beady black eyes surveying the troops that were sleeping before him. He yawned, half-sleepy as he normally was in night watch, but suddenly propped his head up and aimed his rod at movement in the bush beside him.
He let down his guard, however, upon seeing the intruder's tip of unkempt blonde hair. The Moogle looked up at him. "So how did the scouting go, kupo?" Montblanc asked the human.
Marche Radiuju plopped down next to the tan Moogle, laying his sheathed knight sword next to him on the grass. He smiled wryly at Montblanc, replying, "You want to hear the good news or bad news first?"
"Umm… say the good news, kupo?"
"The good news is," Marche began, "is that there's only one small clan of Viera that's blocking Siena Pass."
Montblanc tilted his head, a little confused at what would be so wrong with the lack of resistance. "And the bad news?"
The blonde human sighed, considering the question for a moment. Then he turned slightly away from his friend, finally replying in a low voice, "That clan is Ritz's."
Blinking in surprise, the Moogle slowly nodded in understanding. "…I see, kupo." He was no fool; in the many 'chance' encounters that Marche and his fellow clan mates have had to work together with Clan Ritz, there was something about his ward's change in attitude that suddenly made him self-conscious.
'I wonder if last week's training engagement got to him, kupo…'
One knight sword and rapier clashed together, their clangs of battle echoing throughout the empty plateau. Their users were locked in combat, staring evenly at each other.
Marche grinned at his 'rival'. "You're showing a lot of improvement," he remarked, backing away slightly. "Have you been fencing before we got here?"
The red-headed human smirked back at him. "You could say that," she replied, barely able to dodge a well-aimed thrust from the blonde's weapon.
"What do you mean by that?" He raised his eyebrow in interest, then sidestepped her counter attack and smiled, having found a moment of weakness. Marche flipped up his sword, the force of his strike knocking the girl's weapon away.
She gasped and swore to herself. 'This is how it ended up last time! Well, I'm not making the same mistake again!' To the golden-haired paladin's surprise, the girl leaped high and retrieved her rapier in mid-air. She grinned wryly as she extended her arm for her air attack, forcing Marche to back off once more.
Snatching the advantage, the fencer unleashed a flurry of thrusts with her blade. The paladin gritted his teeth, using his knight sword to parry the best that he can. 'Ok, so she finally learned how to recover properly,' he thought in his mind, 'but there's one more mistake she made!'
As if mimicking his enemy's movement, he suddenly leapt high in the air, barely feeling the graze of the rapier below him, and landed behind the girl successfully. She spun to face him, only to find the blunt end of Marche's sword knocking away her weapon again.
The diamond rapier was then caught by the paw of a tan Viera. She looked at it for a second, and then smiled at the two combatants.
"Game," Shara announced.
Ritz Malheur sighed, as her partner returned the human's weapon. She sheathed her Femme Fatale, glancing at Marche shyly. "Looks like I lose again, hmm?"
He blinked for a moment, believing for a moment that the scarlet-haired teenager was blushing. "Ritz? Is something the matter?"
"N-nothing," she said a moment too quickly. "Come on Shara, we have to go." Dragging a confused Viera along and avoiding the curious stares of both Marche and his Moogle comrade, Ritz hurried out of sight.
A moment of silence passed over the area. The blonde knight looked worriedly to where she disappeared, and then looked down at Montblanc's expression. "What… just happened?" he questioned, although he wasn't too sure that there would be an answer.
The Moogle looked thoughtful for a second, then his eyes widened as he put two and two together… and got five. He didn't look back up at Marche, but only sigh wistfully and mutter to no one in particular, "Ah, young love…"
Love?
Ritz yawned loudly, not too used to having to wake up at the crack of dawn for a mission. She glanced over to Shara, who was adjusting the strings of her bow, and then to the rest of her clan, finding them making last-minute preparations as well. The red-haired girl wiped her sleepy green eyes and sat next to her close friend.
"Shara?" This made the white-haired Viera pause for a moment, but she didn't look back up at Ritz. "What do you think is going to happen in today's battle?"
Tightening the string for her gold-rimmed bow, Shara put down her weapon and met her friend's worried gaze. "Depends," she replied, "if you're willing to raise a sword against 'him' or not." The Viera knew exactly what she meant by 'him', 'and I'll be damned if she doesn't admit that she knows, too.'
"O-of course!" Ritz raised her voice a little too high, causing her clan mates to look up at her in surprise. Embarrassed, she added in a lower tone, "He'd… I know he wouldn't like me anymore if I gave any less than my best effort…"
Shara chuckled, ruffling the human's fiery hair playfully. "I think he feels the same way about you," she whispered. "He tries so hard for you, too."
Ritz felt her face almost match the color of her hair. 'Does she like embarrassing me like this?!' Before she could retaliate, the scarlet-haired clan leader sensed movement behind her. Instinctively, she drew her rapier and peered down the hill…
…and not to her heart's surprise, her opponents approached in sight, oblivious to Clan Ritz's presence.
The brown Moogle looked up worriedly at his human leader. "You sure you want to do this, kupo?" he asked.
Marche did not respond immediately; his attention was focused on the silhouettes on the top of Siena's hill. He narrowed his eyes upon one particular shadow, knowing that one to be the leader.
'There's no mistaking it.' He halted his approach, stretching out one arm for Montblanc to stop as well. His fellow clansmen behind him blinked, wondering what the golden-haired youth was up to. Marche turned his head partly toward them, not wanting to fully break his attention with the enemy ahead.
"I'll go it alone from here," he said to them.
Montblanc looked taken aback. "Kupo?! Are you sure?"
"Don't worry about me," he replied, looking down at his long-time friend with a gentle smile. Then he fixed his gaze upon the lead shadow upon the peak of the hill.
"I trust her. I know she wants it this way, too."
As Marche began to stride up the rest of the way on his own, Montblanc only looked after him in both wonder and bemusement.
'He's so reckless when it comes to her… but then again, he probably knows she's the same way.'
Shara snorted in amusement as she watched the lad walk up to meet them without any aid from his clan mates. "He thinks he can take us on alone, Ritz," she commented wryly.
But her red-headed human 'sister' did not reply. Wordlessly, she slowly walked toward her, stopping at a respectable distance away. Shara looked alarmed at her leader's blank yet knowing expression. "Ritz?"
"Don't worry about me." She looked back only partially toward her Viera followers. "I know exactly what he wants."
"But…"
Shara gave her fellow clansmen a serious look. "She said she knows what we're doing," she told them. "Let's just give our fearless leader our full support, all right?" She gave a soft grin at Ritz as she added, "Go get him."
The fiery-headed fencer grinned back and gave a thumbs-up.
'And you know what I mean by go get him…'
At the base of the hill, both fighters stared at each evenly. The paladin maintained a calm grip on his sheathed knight sword, and the fencer did likewise with her own weapon.
"So, this is how it all ends," the taller warrior said.
She nodded. "It's just like how we promised, right?"
He looked complacent for a moment. Then he nodded in reply as well. "Yeah. We're the ones that started this mess; we'll be the ones to decide how it all ends."
Ritz sighed wistfully, unconsciously brushing a piece of her hair away from her face. "And I take it you still want to change everything back?"
Marche gave a lopsided smile. "It's just how I feel," he said. "You still feel like staying?"
"You have to ask?" She smiled back a little, slowly walking toward him. "I know I can't really stop you from doing the right thing… But before I wake up, there's something I have to tell you…"
"What's that?" But Marche was silenced when she put her finger on his lips and shook her head.
"I…" Ritz felt her face flush again, turning her head slightly as she hesitated. 'Damn it, Ritz! Just say it already!' She bit her lip and gathered her courage, to stare back at the youth's soft brown eyes. She put one hand upon his face, taking in the feeling of light scars that were barely visible on his cheeks.
'They feel rough… kind of like my own scars.'
The paladin felt his own cheeks blushing, but felt unable to turn away. 'What is she doing?' he thought as Ritz was still staring at him. 'Although this does feel nice…'
Before she completely lost her nerve, the crimson-haired fencer pulled Marche's face closer and kissed him deeply on the lips.
Several surprised gasps could be heard.
A similar cry of surprise of "Kupoppo!" came from Montblanc.
The squad of Viera gaped at their human leader.
And Shara let out a small sigh, thinking it was about damn time.
But neither the fire-haired warrior nor her azure-armored paladin cared one bit for their reactions.
"If I have to wake up from this dream," she whispered in his ear as she gradually broke off the kiss, "I hope I wake up with you by my side."
They both smiled lightly at each other… then a thought came to Marche's head. "So… what now?"
"How about," the fencer suggested, pushing Marche away gently, "we fight anyway… and the loser has to take the winner out on a date when this is all over?"
He grinned impishly, preparing to draw his blade, at the time that Ritz was doing the same. "You're on!"
The clang of swords and bonded hearts echoed throughout the dawn at Siena.