I don't own Final Fantasy VI. Square Enix owns it.

-X-

Shadow walked up to the house. It looked more like a ghost town than a place someone resided in. 'Goes well with my theme song,' Shadow chuckled to himself.

The ninja pulled out a note that he wrote for himself when he was asked to do the job. Apparently, the old man who lived there was a crackpot. The anonymous man who wanted to off the old fart had said that he was just passing by and wanted something to eat. The old fart snapped, calling him a monster and kicking him out of his house. The traveler, who also must've snapped, paid Shadow 30 gil to assassinate the old man. At first Shadow refused since assassinating a man for 30 gil because he kicked someone out of his house sounded idiotic, but he realized he had nothing better to do (besides drinking at the pub in South Figaro). So he set out on the quest.

That was about three days ago, and he was itching to earn his pay. "Stay," he told Interceptor as he entered the broken down home.

The old man looked up. "Are you here to fix my bed?"

"What?" Shadow asked, surprised he was even caught, let alone mistaken for a repairman. "No!"

Before Shadow could react, the old man continued. "Then you must be here to cut my grass! Good. It's getting pretty big out there…"

"No…"

"Oh! You're here to fix the stove, aren't ya?"

Shadow twitched under his mask. "This is definitely not worth 30 gil." He walked out of the house, being greeted by Interceptor. "Well, I guess we won't be getting paid this time."

Suddenly, Shadow's throat became dry. He walked over to a nearby well. "The old fart probably won't care," he said as he lowered the bucket into the well.

A merchant on a chocobo then rode up to the house. "Howdy! Would ya like to buy something?"

"Uh…no," Shadow replied. He pointed to the house. "What's up with the old fart?"

"The guy's a loon, that's fer sure," the merchant said. "Someone once told me that about twelve… maybe thirteen years ago, he dumped his newborn son off in the Veldt ta die 'cause he thought his son was a monster or somethin'."

"You don't say," the ninja said with interest.

"Yep. Just left him there ta die like he was some beast. Now, what kinda father would just abandon their child like that?"

Shadow fell silent. The merchant couldn't see it, but the ninja was biting his lower lip. Hard. In fact, he was tasting blood after a few seconds.

"A coward, that's what. A low-down, no-good, dirty…"

"Yeah, I… get the picture," Shadow finally found the strength to say.

"Glad ya agree with me," the merchant said. "Don't tell the old man I said this, but the world would be a better place without cowardly fathers like him. They no better than that Kefka character."

Shadow twitched again. 'Am I really no better than that twisted psychopath?' he thought to himself.

"Now don't tell his clownliness I said that neither, or I be as good as dead," the merchant continued. "Oh, by the way, didja see that falling star that went by a few minutes ago?"

"In the middle of the day?" Shadow asked skeptically, though he was happy that the man dropped the subject about cowardly fathers.

"Yep! I saw it a few miles west of here. It looked like it came from the river, but that'd just be silly, don't ya think?"

"Interesting," Shadow said sarcastically.

"Yep! Uh…I'll be right back. I'm afraid of what the old man will do if I whiz on his trees, so I'm gonna ride to the south a little ways." The merchant rode off.

Shadow just stood there for a few seconds before bringing his attention back to the well. He pulled the bucket out of the well and took a few gulps of water. Then he let Interceptor lap up what was left.

The assassin thought about what the man said. Lowering his head, he said to himself, "Am I really that bad? Sure, I kill people for a living, but I'm no Kefka."

Just then, he saw a blond man appear over the horizon. The man looked familiar, like someone he had seen a few days ago in South Figaro. This guy, however, had shorter hair and was drenched in water, despite the fact that there was no rain for miles. The assassin decided not to worry too much about it.

The blond man walked into the house, possibly to ask for food or something. At least that's what the ninja assumed.

The merchant came back. "Now where was I? Ah yeah. Something about a falling star or something… I wonder if it's an omen…"

"What kind of omen?" Shadow asked, though he didn't seem amused.

"Well, I heard that the empire's planning to overthrow Doma. Maybe the falling star was an omen that they'll succeed, eh?"

"I doubt it, but that doesn't mean they won't," Shadow replied.

"Or, it could be something pretty darn bad," the merchant continued. "I hear Kefka's down there. That won't end well, that's fer sure."

The blond man from earlier quickly left the house, panting. "Geez! What the heck's wrong with that guy?"

The merchant rode up to him. "Howdy! Yer not from around here, are ya?"

"No… I can't say that I am," the blond said.

"So, wouldja like ta buy something?"