Hey guys . Hope you like this story. Now, Yoli for the disclaimer---->

Yoli: Hey guys, Miiake owns her original characters, but not Vana'diel, or a malboro. (you'll see)

Miiake: But I wish I did! that counts for something!

Yoli: Nope, not really.

Miiake: You really suck you now that?

Yoli: Yep

Ok, let the story of begin!


"Hey Mister?"

"…"

"MISTERRR!

"What?"

"Where arrre we going?"

"To Jeuno, you need to see a doctor. And stop calling me 'mister'! It's quite annoying."

"Sorrry Mister." The little mithra looked down at her feet and examined her brown shoes. Unlike most mithra her age, Yoli wore dark shoes instead of bright sandals. The rest of her attire was in the same fashion. After a moment of thought, she looked up at the older man. "But wait… I'm not sick!"

Another silence ensued. Yoli stamped her foot in protest and shook her head. Her blonde hair, which was mostly tied back in a ponytail, flew up. Her bangs did the same. "I won't go unless I know why!"

The older man shook his head and grumbled something inaudible. He ran his hand through his short black hair. Then he looked back over to the annoyed little girl sitting next to him. "Charming, aren't you?"

Yoli replied by sticking her tongue out and giving him her best death glare. "I don't like him… I REALLY don't like him. He doesn't talk to me. How boring!" She thought to herself.

The older man, who's name was Sunder, glanced over at her. When Yoli's mother introduced her and put her into his care, she appeared innocent enough. Obviously, that was not the case. She had a small frame, as did most mithran girls her age, which he estimated to be around 10, though her was never good at guessing details as unimportant as that. She was clad in a tattered beige robe-like shirt, far too large for her, so it was tied at her waist with a string, creating a sort of make-shift dress. The robe overlaid a crimson shirt, about the same size as the outer one too. Jeuno's climate was colder than Windurst, and he wanted her to be as prepared as possible for the journey.

Despite being as cute and childish as she appeared, she was quite the nuisance. He already caught her playing a dangerous game of hopping over one carriage of the caravan to another. She apparently enjoyed a game of chance and risk. "Innocent indeed. Oh, how appearances can be deceiving," He mused to himself, silently of course. Had he said it out loud, Sunder was sure it would evoke some sort of unnecessary comment from the pesky little girl.

Yoli, in the mean time, had crawled to the back of the carriage and began to look around. Sentries were posted around the caravan and at the end of each carriage, just incase she wanted to play her game of risk again. Yoli sighed. She was bored. "Why doesn't anything exciting ever happen? I bet after this I'll never have a chance to go to a city as big as Jeuno again," she pouted.

Sunder turned and faced her. He almost grinned at seeing her face. It was contorted, as if she was trying to frown and laugh at the same time. "Because if something exciting happened, you wouldn't be able to continue making faces at my back," he answered. This caused her short tail to twitch a little.

"I was not!"

Sunder only chuckled to this response. Yoli frowned and turned away from him. In the distance, a cloud of fog hovered over one spot. "Why would there only be fog in one spot? I've studied the Pashow Marshlands in school. It's so humid the fog would be everywhere…" Yoli pondered this. The absence of noise began to worry Sunder.

"Are you alright, Yoli?" he asked, his voice brimming with concern. A quiet Yoli couldn't be good. She turned and faced him.

"Mmmhmm… Err, I just thought I saw som-" Yoli was cut off by a sudden jolt of the carriage. A chocobo had slipped in the mud.

"Whoa!" Yoli yelped as she flew out of the back of the carriage and into the mud path. The path that the other carriages were moving on!

Yoli's heart began to race. "I can't get up, the mud is keeping me down!" She thought, panic flooding her mind. If she had been older and trained as a fighter, she would have thought enough to slowly try to pull herself out, but this was not the case. The chocobos pulling the carriages were coming closer and she was stuck in the mud. She closed her eyes and began to sob.

She wasn't ready to die yet! She wasn't brave enough for that. There was still so much she wanted to do. So much she HAD to do. She wanted to see her baby sister walk! She wanted to write a letter to Mama, describing everything she saw in Jeuno.

Luckily for her, that fearful death never came. Instead, the chocobos drew to a halt and one of the sentries helped her up. She nodded and mumbled a thanks shakily, then ran to the carriage and hopped on.

"Are you alright?" Sunder asked, noting how quickly she had stopped crying. Yoli nodded in answer. "Well, I hope you learned something about how dangerous these carriages can be when your not cautious."

"Humph! You'rrre still no fun! If I got killed you would have rrreally regretted not letting me have fun."

After that incident the ride went more smoothly for a few hours. It was then that Yoli noticed that same cloud of fog. But this time, a green plantlike figure emerged. It was enormous compared to a tiny mithran child.

"Misterrr! What's that green thing? Will it hurrrt us?"

Sunder quickly turned around and his eyes widened in horror. "Sweet Altana, that Malboro is headed right for our caravan! We must get everyone to safety!" With that he ordered the sentries to begin their assault on the monster.

"Misterrr! Where are you going?" Yoli yelled out as Sunder drew his sword.

"I'm a paladin! It's my sworn duty to protect these people. And I swear by Altana I shall fight til the death. I promise Ryukah I would protect you. I will keep that promise!"

Yoli quickly ran up to him. "I'll fight too!"

Sunder shook his head. "I can't allow that. I promised your mother I would keep you out of trouble."

She then began to sob. "But I'll miss you, and I'm scared. What's gonna happen to us?"

"My mom says you and her werrre best frrriends. We're friends too, rrright?"

"Of course."

"Then you'll come back and we can see Jeuno?"

"I promise. Take care of yourself! If I take too long, head northeast towards Rolanberry Fields. I'll catch up with you there! I promise!"

With that said she hugged him goodbye and ran. Being as small as she was, none of the monsters took notice of her. She soon stood at the beginning of the fields. The peaceful scene she saw didn't fit with what just happened. She could smell their blood. She barely knew them, but she cared about them. Yoli was scared, alone, and unable to protect herself. It made her angry. It was then she began to hate.

"It's not fair! I hate this! I hate being weak! Therrre was nothing I could do for them!"

At that moment a large galka, dressed in dark armor walked over to her with an offer. An offer for power. She would never forget that day.