A/n: Eats previously said words No worries. I've never not finished a story. Did anyone else know that Bathier's real name is Ffamran? I WTF'd at that earlier…

Disclaimer: The stuff and characters in this story belongs to Le Square Enix. Yah dig me?

In many years past…

Fran walked the path of the Golmore Jungle. Her armored boots let out a hallow thunk on the twisted thick branches that served as a path for the wood dwelling Viera. Fran looked up at the holes in the treetops where sunlight struggled through. An airship blasted above the treetops making the birds flutter from the branches and leaving a white tail behind it.

Hume airships had been seen flying over the wood on a regular basis these days. Her mother told her stories of a time were the skies were left undisturbed by Humes. She spoke of a time when the Viera would not have to hide their village from the adventurous Humes.

Fran continued on her duty to protect Eruyt Village from any fiends that would pose a danger to the barrier. That was what her job was, but her real duty was to shoo off any Hume who dared enter their sacred forest. She heard the boom of another Airship above her.

"Fran!" Mjrn called out as she rounded a curve in the path. "It's mother, you must come now!" Fran slung her bow over her back and took off through the forest with her youngest sister.

Fran's mother was the leader of Eruyt village and the eldest among the Viera. Jote, Mjrn, and Fran were constantly told that they were blessed to be bore from such a wise woman. However, age had caught up with her. Even though Viera lived long lives they were not immune to the effects of time. She had been slowly dieing, and Fran suspected that today she would lose her battle with time.

Fran and Mjrn walked through the majestic Viera village and arrived at their mother's side where Jote awaited them.

"She grows weaker with each passing minute." Jote said averting her gaze from her two sisters. Their mother weakly beckoned them to her side.

"All…my girls…This may be the last time I see you with these eyes." She spoke weakly smiling at them. Jote moved a piece of white hair from her dark sweaty face and placed her hands on her mothers'. A tear slipped from Mjrns' larger brown eyes.

"Do not cry my child. I only return to the forest to keep watch over my children." Their mother reached up and dried Mjrn's face with her hand. Fran sat at the foot of her mother's bed and listened to the forests' words. Her mother would soon join it. The forest wanted its most favored child back.

Fran watched her mother cringe. Her eyes seemed to be slowly closing each minute. The voices of the forest seemed to grow louder until it was a dull roar in her ears. Outside the other Viera gathered around after hearing the words of the Wood.

"My children…Ivalice changes around us, I pray the Viera grow well with it." The elderly woman whispered with her last breathe. Her body stopped moving and her eyes remained shut. Jote rearranged her mother's hands so that they rested on her body. As Jote was the eldest of them she was now the leader of Eruyt village.

The three sisters exited the hut and went away from the Viera group. Two young women went in to prepare the body to be returned to the wood. None said anything to each other for a long while. Jote, Fran, and Mjrn looked at each other, the sadness evident in their eyes. Fran turned away from her sisters and went back to the wood.

"Fran?" Mjrn called out suddenly. Jote placed her hand on the smaller Viera girl's shoulder.

"She will deal with this as she wills. It has been her way." Jote felt her sister's arms wrap around her. "As this is your way."

Fran walked to the wood and sat on a small tree branch. The funeral for her mother would be held in the evening, and all Viera would spend the day grieving. Fran, however, did not know how to grieve. Nor how to deal with this aching she felt. The one thing she did know how to do was to protect the entrance of Eruyt Village from any beasts that dare go near it on such a solemn day.

Fran shot down a beast and it fell within three arrows. An Airship rustled the leaves above her. Fran looked up at the blue cloudless sky. At this time she began to think of her mother's last words. The sky above her had changed since she was born. The first day she saw an airship she was but a small girl. It had frightened her greatly. Her mother had taking her in her arms and told her to not be afraid. She told her that the world was changing and it would lead to a better tomorrow for Viera.

"Fran." A voice called her name. She slid down from her tree branch and faced Jote. "It's time."

Fran returned for the funeral at the centre of town, which was filled with light pink and white flowers that the wood as blessed them with. A hole was bore into the ground where they now lay her mother. The Viera stepped back and watched the branches of the wood leach over her body. The branches completely consumed it and flowers began to grow from them. The Viera started to go home to their huts one by one. Fran soon found herself the only one there. The sky was growing darker by the minute. The words of the wood calmed her greatly. They soothed her of the pain of her loss.

Fran looked to the sky and shut the words of the wood out again. In the silence she began to feel that ache again. Listening to the wood she had felt nothing. It hypnotized her.

"Ivalice is changing….I pray the Viera grow well with it."

The words echoed in her head. What was happening in Ivalice? How was it changing? Was it good? Or Bad?

The Viera were sheltered from finding out the answers to these questions. Their forest protected them, but it also sheltered them.

" It's time to come home." Jote said to her younger sister, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Fran looked at her.

"Jote, have you ever wanted to venture outside this forest?" She asked her older sister with genuine curiosity.

"It was a passing curiosity. It is the Viera whom protect the wood." Jote said sternly worrying about the thoughts in her sisters' head.

"But there is so much of the world we miss." Fran said almost frantically, grabbing hold of her sister. "It is changing, but for the good, or the bad?" Jote looked away.

"As I thought…" Fran said quietly releasing her sister. "Jote, my sister, I will be leaving tonight after Mjrn sleeps." Jote studied her. She was truly worried about her sister. If a Viera were to stray from the wood for too long the voices would abandon the wayfarer. Her sister would not be allowed to return if this happened.

"You know this means…" Jote started.

"I know." Fran said. She walked towards the hut that the sister's shared. "I must find out."