My love of Final Fantasy IX has been re-kindled! Hope you enjoy this re-telling of the game, through Blank's perspective. You'll find it takes a surprisingly DIFFERENT turn than the original storyline.

That Damn Rat

He was so full of crap.

Granted, I'd always told Zidane that his hopeless heroic personality would be the death of him. I never thought it'd come to this, though. I was sure at that point that we were goners, all of us, and that we'd die in that forest. To this day, I don't know how we survived. But we did.

No thanks to that asshole.

I practically helped raise that kid, taught him everything he knows, even vouched for him when Baku said he couldn't feed the kid, and now here he is throwing away everything. Abandoning his crew when they needed him the most. And what are we left with? A couple of thieves and an inadequate orchestra.

God, I hate music.

Now he's gone off to save some stupid damsel in distress. A princess.

Whatever.

"He'll come back, kid," Baku said, walking into the entryway after he left. I rolled my eyes.

"And then what?" I mumbled.

Baku only laughed. Sometimes, his laugh could get really annoying. Though I'd never dream of telling him that, of course.

"You really think that little brat could best me?" he said, smiling. I looked at him through the corner of my eye and slowly grew a grin.

That old bastard threw the fight; I should have known. No one escapes Baku's wrath that easily. I remember this one rival thieving group that started to rally up against us when we were just getting started in Treno. That old man had those little bastards on the ground faster than a nobleman writes a credit at the Auction House.

"Part of your master plan, I assume," I suggested.

"Of sorts. I knew he'd go after her. Truth is someone had to."

He wasn't lying. I'm sure Baku was only thinking about the consequences if he returned back to Lindblum empty handed. News of the attack spread pretty thick and I'd imagine that the Regent already has it on good authority that the Tantalus Ship was attacked and run aground in the Evil Forest. If all of us made it out but the Princess, Baku would definitely have some questions to answer.

And Baku never was really that good at being articulate.

"He's gonna get his rat tail handed to him, though, I'll tell ya that. I don't much like the state of this place. Smells funny."

"…sir?" My eyebrows furrowed.

"I need you to go after him. He's carryin' dead weight with that boy and the knight. He thinks he left but he didn't really and I don't leave my own behind. You know that better'n anyone."

Leave no man behind. It was the one thing that led me to this group so many years ago. There was a huge error I made many years ago in Treno that, while we don't ever talk about it, comes up subtly in conversation. While it's not my proudest moment, it was the milestone between our relationship. Not even Cinna, who's known Baku for decades, has a better relationship with the boss than me.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked, wishing I didn't really have to go.

"Yeah, don't worry. We'll be outta here soon, too. Here, take this map. It's gonna be a long trip back to Lindblum."

"Alright," I said, reluctantly. "I'll see you later."

"I'm countin' on you!"

Hmph. As always.

And so there I was, yet again, on a mission to keep the retarded cousin of the group out of trouble. Good 'ol Blank here to save the day. Again. Why am I always helping this kid?

Trudging through the forest was no easy feat and my good daggers were in a kit all the way in Lindblum forcing me to make my way with a mere Mage Master. That's about as useful as drinking a pint upside down with your eyes closed. It just doesn't work. Trust me, I've tried.

I finally found the skirt chaser at the end of the line, quite literally.

"Whew, looks like I made it here just in time," I grinned.

I wasn't entirely fond of nature and, let me tell you, if I didn't like flowers before, I sure as hell don't like them as one's trying to suck the life force out of me. New rule. Never buying flowers for Ruby again. Ever.

The damn thing finally went down, with yours truly delivering the last blow, and we managed to find a small amount of time to celebrate before the whole forest started to shake.

"Oh, man. What now?" I grumbled.

Piece of advice. When a bunch of flowers come to life and start chasing you, there might be a problem. First there were two, then there were three. I wasn't going to have us stand around and wait for six more to show up.

"What are you waiting for?!" I screamed at everyone. "Go!"

I followed the group in the rear with the damn roots at our tail. I wasn't necessarily worried for my life, but I'd have liked to have left with my limbs attached to my body. Zidane was in front of me, anxiously looking around. Once the group got a fair distance ahead of us, he stopped for a bit and looked behind.

"What?" I asked, wondering why the hell he would stop in the middle of a chase.

"The entire forest is coming after us…" he said. My eyes felt so heavy all of a sudden. "Blank…take care of everyone." And then he ran off.

What the hell did he mean by that?

Thirty seconds later, I figured out exactly what he meant.

I was shocked. Literally all I could do was stand there as I recapped the entire scene in my head, Zidane pushing me out of the way, getting trapped by the monster instead of me and screaming for me to keep going. To not stop and help him.

And I didn't. I ran, like the selfish being I was. I ran until I reached the clearing, joining the remaining three just before the forest hardened shut.

"God damnit!" I screamed. I fell to my knees, my head hitting the petrified trees hard, banging on them with my fists and screaming as loud as I could.

My head flashbacked to the first time I'd ever met the kid. I was just a few years older than him, and hadn't even been with the Tantalus group for a year. I hadn't even built a reputation. It was raining that day in Lindblum. Zidane was sickly thin and dressed in rags, his hair soaked. I remember him burrowing as far into a corner as he could get, squinting every time the rain would hit his face. I felt for him that day and even pointed Baku's attention towards him.

"We can hardly feed our own, kid," he told me.

I didn't listen. Later that night, I'd snuck out and went up to the kid. He cowered at the sight of me. I suppose with my cuts and stitches I did look quite terrifying. But I pulled out a loaf of bread and, like I was luring a duck, I placed one piece of bread on the ground and backed away. Zidane crawled forward and devoured it, then looked at me expectantly.

I placed another on the ground and backed away. Then again, another, and again until I had lured him into the safety of our hideout.

Baku was standing at the door waiting for me as I did so. His arms were folded and his eyebrows furrowed…but then they softened.

"Alright," he grumbled. He held his hand down for Zidane, who slowly grasped it. "You got a name, boy?"

Zidane…

How could he have done that?

And what the hell was I supposed to do now?

As the day grew dark, the knight started to set up camp. Vivi worked on starting a fire while Steiner tended to the Princess and I spent the entire time staring at the petrified wall a fair distance away from the fire pit, mumbling obscenities at just about any God that would listen.

"Have you nothing to say, you filth?!" I heard in the background. I declined to answer, pretending like I hadn't heard him. This didn't concern him in the slightest.

I didn't care about any of these people. Even Vivi, who didn't even ask for this quest, I held no moral obligation to. Hell, I didn't ask for this quest either. I had one mission and one mission, alone—to get Zidane out safely. A mission, in which, I'd failed and now Zidane would forever be encased in stone in the depths of the worst forest to cross the planet.

"Oh." It came from a feminine voice and all of a sudden the knight forgot that I was even there.

"P-Princess!"

"…Steiner?"

"H-how did we survive?" she quietly asked.

"It is my sworn duty to protect you at any cost!"

I rolled my eyes, but said nothing. If not for Zidane's stupid hormones and skill, we wouldn't be standing here right now. The huge gap of knowledge between the higher and lower class always baffled me. Sure, they may be well educated, but I'd never known anyone to grow up with such ignorance on my end of the short stick.

It must be exhausting.

"None of this would've happened if you and your band hadn't abducted the princess!" he suddenly yelled. A this, I turned around.

"I'm sorry, this is all my fault, now? We wouldn't be sitting here if it weren't for me and my band," I retorted.

"How dare you claim you rescued her! When we get back to Alexandria, I will personally see to it that-"

"Oh, I do would love to see you try, fat man."

"H-how d-dare y-"

"Steiner-" she interrupted. "I left the castle of my own will."

This man knew nothing of suffering. The colors of rust on his armor suggested that he'd never seen a real war or battle in his entire life and his weaponry had just stood there as a symbol – not for an acknowledgment of any power that he hypothetically possessed. The weapon is only as strong as its master.

This sprouted an argument with the pair so I stood up and made my way back towards the wall. This little spat was of little interest to me. All I could think about was the gang. If there was any way to save Zidane…if the rest of the group made it out before the forest got petrified…were they alive….was I alone…again?

I couldn't sleep and instead volunteered to be on guard duty. After a decent amount of arguing, we'd all agreed to stay together for the time being. It didn't make much sense to split up, after all, with all the monsters lurking in the mist.

I'd have been fine on my own, I think, but I made a promise to a friend.

"I'm so very sorry," I heard and saw Garnet standing next to me. She was slightly withdrawn, carefully cautious. As she should be. For everything that happened, I had every right to kill her. Every desire. I was not as noble as Zidane though for his petrified sake I suppose I could try to be. I squinted a bit, sizing up the wall, and sighed.

"He's an idiot."

"He was very brave," she insisted, which made me scowl. She spoke of him as if he were gone already. He wasn't dead. I wouldn't accept that. "He saved your life."

"Well, I didn't ask to be saved," I snapped. "My job was to protect him, not you…and I failed."

It sounded worse than I'd meant it to. Thieves come first. Always. It's just how I was raised. Zidane was my best friend…and that should always come first. And now he's gone…and for what? A girl. It didn't make any sense.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "It is my fault he got put in that situation. If I hadn't insisted you take me. none of this would've happened."

"We were going to kidnap you anyway," Blank murmured. "At least we didn't fail at that."

The princess was silent.

"Look, the last thing he told me was to take care of you guys…and I will," he told her. "I will get you to Lindblum. I promise."

For a moment, she and I shared a sympathetic glance. While I doubted we would ever understand each other, she was less hostile than her pompous bodyguard. It wasn't much, but it was enough. For now.

"Thank you," she gracefully replied. "I think I'm going to retire."

You could barely tell it was morning six hours later as the sun barely showed through the mist. The only evidence of daytime would be that you could see five feet away from you. People underestimate the power of the mist. It is everywhere.

While fairly good at navigation and with a map in hand, I was not a compass nor did I possess one. The only way to measure exactly where we were was to get as high up as they possibly could so they could pinpoint a direction. I only knew one route to merit such a reward, though I was reluctant to suggest it. Of course, it wasn't the cavern itself that worried me but what laid beyond that.

"We're looking for a cavern," he told them. "I've been there before. It's not warm, though."

After tracing the way around the mountain from the forest, we finally found it. The blue entrance, completely encased in ice. Luckily we had a mage or we probably wouldn't even be able to open the damn door.

"You're hardly dressed for the temperature," the Princess noted as the door opened.

"Well I wasn't exactly expecting to trudge through the cavern of death this morning," I scoffed. She was silent. "Come on, we need to get through before dark…unless you'd rather walk through blind as a bat."

So, we went through the freezing city slowly. Not because it was difficult to make the trek up but because it was mind-numbingly freezing. Even the brave knight, who claimed to fear nothing and was heavily coated, was shivering the entire time. Of course, the only one to complain was Vivi.

It wasn't until we finally reached the top had I encountered a storm unlike any in my life. I'd never seen anything like it before.

The blizzard was almost as bad as the mist except the wind was moving with such revenge that one could not open their eyes without a hailstone cracking into them. I knew we were towards the top of the cavern but could barely see. If my memory served right, we'd have to climb at some point.

Just how exactly was I supposed to get these idiots up to the summit in this blizzard?

So help me, Gods, when I get up there, I'm gonna kick some ass.

First went Vivi.

Thud.

Then Steiner and the Princess.

Thud-d-d-d

I jumped down into the enclave and kicked the knight, mumbling obscenities. If I could get his sorry ass up, then maybe we could carry the other two out of the cave…but the old knight didn't budge.

I'm not gonna lie; there was a solid second where a thought popped into my head. It was so very tempting to just up and leave them. After all, there was literally nothing I could do and no one around to help for miles. It wouldn't be difficult to make it on my own, especially without waiting for her Highness duncing her way up the cliffs. Clearly, she hadn't been anywhere outside the comforts of her own castle and it showed. A Lady would never have to know hardships a day in her life.

Looking down at the three cripples in the snow, I closed my eyes and cursed. I'd made a promise. Damn monkey boy would be livid if he learned that I'd abandoned them the first chance I got.

So I was at a crossroads. Unfortunately, I didn't really have enough time to form a decision.

I felt my eyes go heavy with the blizzard and I, too, fell victim to its spell. My eyes closed and my feet caved in, falling right beside the princess.

Helpless.

It was the worst hangover of my life; at least it felt like it. Slipping in and out of consciousness, I got the strongest feeling of déjà vu. A feeling I had never been completely comfortable with.

I'd been under this spell before.

I've heard that bell before.

Ding ding.

I forced my eyes to open, fighting through a massive headache, and saw a massive robed figure in front of me, cowering over the princess. I opened my mouth to scream but there came no words. It was a miracle that I even managed to get on my two feet.

"W-wha-"

I started coughing uncontrollably and the figure turned around. Stunned by his appearance I fell backward into the snow, my head spinning until I finally focused my gaze again. It looked exactly like Vivi…only if Vivi had aged a generous amount and sold his soul to the demons below. I'd never seen anything like it before in my life and I was no hero. I had no courage.

I was terrified.

"Well, well, well," the figure sneered. "You're not dead yet."

Before I could say a word, the mage thrust a magic spell sending me flying backwards into the very far back wall. I groaned in pain as I slowly watched the mage throw the Princess onto his back. My teeth grinded and I forced myself back up.

"Put her down," I insisted.

Another magic spell hit me straight in the chest and I was knocked down again. This time I did not get back up, not because I couldn't, but because it was all in my strategy. With the princess tossed over his shoulder, he snickered at my helpless body on the floor and stepped over me with such pride. Like he'd achieved something. As if he'd won.

Literally fifteen seconds later, the mage collapsed onto the floor, the princess rolling down the hill beside him. Something that this new group had little knowledge of was during my youth I spent a fairly decent amount of time as an alchemist. Not just creating potions and cures for injuries but for offensive reasons as well. One swipe of a blade soaked in paralysis poison was enough to get you flat on your face. It was all I needed.

I had just enough energy in me to slice the tip of my dagger into the chest of the devil. Traces of blue blood melted onto the snow beside his body and, as quick as the mage slipped into unconsciousness, the soft remaining lull of the blizzard and the multiple blows set my energy level to zero and I fell asleep right along with him.

It was calm…for a while.

"Blank?" I heard.

Slowly opening my eyes, I saw Vivi and Dagger on their knees next to me and Steiner impatiently standing guard beside them with his arms crossed. I looked beside me and the mage I had slain was nowhere to be found. Was it all a part of my imagination?

"Are you okay?" the young mage asked.

I shook my head a bit and accepted Dagger's hand in aiding me up, coughing and staggering a bit before finally retaining balance.

"Fine," I managed. "Just a bit confused is all."

"That was an interesting storm," Vivi noted.

"Indeed," said the knight.

We made our way up the cliffs to the exit of the cavern, finally. The sight of daylight was rejuvenating and refreshing. I could feel the oxygen in my throat as I breathed in anxiously. The mist had no presence here and nothing could quite beat the view of the mountains on a bright, sunny morning.

"I say we get as far away from here as we possibly can. What say we-" Blank started.

"Is that a village down there?" Princess Garnet said, interrupting them.

Looking towards the direction in which she was pointing, I sighed. Yes, it was a village. But there was no way in hell I was ever going back to that hell hole.

"Yes…that would be Dali," I said.

"It looks cozy," Vivi smiled. The kid crossed his arms and stared at the village, longingly. It is only natural for a child wanting to explore. He reminded me a little bit of myself. Those were my exact words upon first seeing the village.

"Looks can be deceiving kid," I replied.

"Sounds as if you've been there?" Garnet asked. I did not reply. "You seem to lead such an adventurous life. I wish I had the opportunity for such stamina and exploration."

"Believe me when I say you're not missing much. You're better off far, far away from that place."

"Well, if not there, then where are we going?"

I turned around and pointed in the direct opposite direction of Dali past some mountains that curved in a bit. It wasn't the greatest place in the world but it was much safer than an outline village that shared less-than-pleasant memories. Not to mention, I didn't trust a single damn soul living there.

"There. Treno. I assume you know it given half the population left to attend your birthday celebration," I said, almost begrudgingly.

"Half the population of Treno is nobles," the knight noted as if this was a useful fact that is unknown to many.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious, I never would have known that otherwise," I retorted. "But, Princess, we can't go around calling you by Garnet, obviously. Half the population of Treno is, unfortunately, nobles and have a significant response to your formal title. Or would you like to be taken back to your malevolent queen?"

"Malevolent?! How dare you?!" the knight bellowed. Blank only laughed.

"Enough, Steiner," the Princess insisted before turning to Blank. "Well, then, what should I be called? What about your weapon? What was the name of that, again?"

Blinking a few times, I unsheathed it and flipped it over a few times. "You really don't know what a Dagger is?" I asked. Before responding, she took it from me and began to play with it despite my horrified expression of me pleading with her not to.

"I always wanted to take up sword fighting," she said.

"Well, with your impressive vernacular knowledge, I'm sure you would've been a natural at the sport," I said, sarcastically. No one laughed. I miss Marcus.

"How about the name Dagger?" she suddenly suggested, looking at everyone for approval. Vivi smiled, insisting it was a great name while Steiner only admitted he'd still probably call her the Princess, given his not-so-hidden desire to bring her home to the castle. It seemed that the opinion she most valued was mine.

"That's a dumb name," I laughed. Garnet was speechless. "Anyone talking to you can tell that it's fake. No one names their child that; that just proves you have something to hide. It's suspicious. Besides, I'm not gonna call you that."

Her mouth was half open as she listened to me prove my point while the entire group remained silent. Not even the knight thought of an insult.

"Fine, what name do you suggest?" she asked, rather angrily.

"Margo," I replied. "It's my sister's name."

"You have a sister?" she smiled. "Where is she now?"

I didn't look at her and I felt my breath get heavy. I hadn't thought about her in a long time...I'm not even sure what became of her after the great fire.

"I don't know," I said uncomfortably. "It's been a while."

"I see…" she said, quietly. "Why didn't you bring that name up first?"

"Eh, I wanted to see what kind of dumb name you came up with. Can't wait to see the name of your first born child. I dare you to name him Ogre," I laughed.

"Ogre?"

I paused, looking at her. "Yeah, you would've been a great swordsman."

"Swordswoman," she corrected.

"Whatever."