Disclaimer: I own nothing of real value. Including FFCC.
Warnings: Shonen-ai, maybe slight yaoi here or there. If you cannot accept the fact of two boys in love I suggest you leave immediately. I will accept no flames on this factor, mainly on my writing styles and what-not. I also warn of the adult language I'm probably going to use. Curse words, etc,. This I will not accept flames of as well.
Chapter 1: Rose.
So what. Life isn't always about butterflies and magical rainbows. It isn't always about finding out that just being yourself makes him fall in love with you. It isn't always getting what you want. I learn that as I trudge along the drenched road, shoes slipping from my feet with each step in the mucky earth, my chocolate locks glued to my icory face, realizing the true meaning of 'better off alone'. The once azure sky is hidden beneath a gaudy cloud extending from horizon to horizon, diamonds of raindrops clashing down on our withered caravan and bodies. There are only a few of us, reaching four now. Since the suicidle death of Montrial, a strong Yuke who usually saved our lives more than we have his, it's reached four. His death wasn't brave, nor was it noble. He had lived his life dreading the water, fearing it's flemsy surfice, beckoning him near in it's soothing, serene ways.
So, of course, he drowned.
Jumped straight clear into the water. Fool, he was. For he was afraid of the water, thusly swimming never occured to him. Monrtial was like that though, always jumping to conclusions. He wanted to overcome his fear, knowing that living that way was not living at all. And technically, he didn't live. He's dead now, and all know that. The rain streaming down out faces merged with the tears rafting in our weary eyes, lips sending out light drones as we continued to stumble. I was the youngest. I was the weakest. I was hurt the most.
I never knew my parents; they never knew me. I was a ghost, nothing more but a forgoten thought wandering around with no purpose. My father had died before I was born, and my mother died the instant she gave birth. I was taken away from her cold, lifeless corpse, and fluttered my eyes open elsewhere. The first thing I saw was not a loving mother but the canopy of the dark, emerald forest. That's where Montrial's father found me. At the time, I was cradles in a hand-weaved basket, blankets smothering my soft frame. I was quiet, silence erupting from my bright, hooded sapphire eyes. My skin plush to the touch, and cheeks, still to this day, a rosey flush of pink.
So I grew, a quiet and self-conscience Clavat, in a family of Yukes. No doubt I felt odd and unwanted, weeping in my 'Mother's' arms just didn't sit well with me. I had two brothers and one sister, all older than me. So that didn't quite make matters better. I remember trying to put helmets over my head, ashamed of who I was or what I was. I was accepted by neither Clavat or Yuke. To the Clavats, I was a traitor who served only the other kind. And to the Yukes I was an outcast and different. Never the same. Never the same.
Obviously I was a weakling. Normally, Clavats are still taught the art of the sword and weapondry, although they still don't posses enough strength. Which is the base of their power and defense. But Yukes... Let's just say I was never taught that way. And although I am satisfied with magic, I am still incompleted. I was never the type to fight pure off instinct. To be honest, I hated fighting. Based on the fact that I wasn't really fighting, merely being faught and beat up.
The fact of me going through this adventure was still unclear. I usually just guessed it was because they wanted me out of the town, maybe I'd get eaten by a monster or killed by one. Some said, although lieing was quite known by these people, that it was to find my parents. Or to find myself. Whatever the hell that means. So there are four of us, including myself. Satoshi Ni, A Wolfie male Selkie. Shuu, An Shark Eyes female Selkie. And Tomonori, A Black Mage male Yuke. Then there's me: Jin Lee, No tribe male Clavat/Yuke. I'm still not quite sure what I am, but I just say Clavat or Yuke. Sometimes both. (Itsuki: Tsukasa came up with the names. They're basically all Korean, and we're to lazy to turn on the game right now. But whatever --;)
(Tsukasa: I always pictured him as Tsukasa Amou from Juvenile Orion, and I suggest you check him out. :P) I look Clavat, and at heart I probably am. I appear delicate, as if the very pain and misery locked away witihin my heart had merged into a tangible form, becoming that of which my flesh contained: A tattered soul. Like the tremmbling flame on our torches, fragile in the heavy darkness. I'm somewhat feminine-like, but not to my consent: I'm petite, slender, and frail. Blonde, almost chocolate locks frame my heart-shaped face and deep, azure eyes rimmed in thick black lashes. My skin is still pale and an ivory colour, a tinge of raw pink usually blending in placed like cheeks and fingertips.
I was cloathed in white robes, worn from the past years, to depress a pure sensation on anyone's mind. My hands, delicate like a girls, are bare and soft usually bearing books from things like Alchemy and Wicca. Which is my one true hobby: Reading and writing. I was never one to judge people, mainly because I knew I never liked to be. Which ever the case, the reason for my joining the caravan, I'm happy I was apart of it. These people, the ordinary people who hold such a heavy responsibility, I am greatful for. They accept me. When we're in the caravan, there are no Lilities, no Clavats, no Selkies or no Yukes. Instead, we are people. Tomonori is Tomonori, not just a Yuke. Satoshi was Satoshi, not just a Selkie. And, you guessed it, I was Jin. Jin Lee Im. Just that.
Just a boy who liked books and watching the Sun's reflection bore a vague replica in the ocean, it's foam-skirted edges drawing near with each wave. That's it. That's all we needed. We know each other like the backs of our hands. Not just our strengths or weaknesses, but our feelings, past, everyting. From the vibrant past of Shuu, her mother a wealthy widow, to the vague one. Mine. We know exactly what makes each other tick, and what makes us happy. We're a family of misfits. Shuu, although a brat sometimes, was usually the Mother or the older sister. Satoshi would be the playful but caring brother, and Yeon was the respectful Father. Me? I was the baby.
We know exactly how each other react in different places. Like, for example, Marr's Pass. Which is where we were going. Satoshi had bad experiences here, but we all had some good ones here, too. Actually, I suppose, the good outweigh the bad. And that always seems to work.
"It's...raining so hard." I said, my voice quiet and gentle.
"Yeah. Like it'll never stop." Satoshi said. "Never."
"It will to stop." Shuu said, matter-of-factly.
I glanced at her, then at the ground. "..It has to."
Tomonori stayed unusually quiet, his eyes crossing everyone's with a reassuring smile. It helped. No, it didn't cause the rain to stop, nor did it sooth our weariness. But it helped...Somehow. I could see Marr's Pass on the peak of the horizon, gloomy and cold in the remorsfull weather. I blinked away the droplets. Each step uncovered the now familiar town, growing nearer.
"We have enough Gil to stay there for a night, if you guys like." Satoshi said. "Not that it's really up to me."
I felt a wave of sickness pass over me, my stomache churning and a headache pulsing through my head. I could barely see clearly, the colours around me melting into one another untill I blinked, my presence was slowly slipping away. They're voices eventually drowned out, and I continued to stummble like a drunken man in the rain untill I could no longer bare it. My fingers reached the strands of my hair and pulled as I felt the ground beneath my feet slip away. I collapsed.
I could hear light, faint voices as I slowly emerged from the darkness in my mind. Faint, and the words were muffled, but they became clearer as my conscience returned. Memories flowing back into my hallow frame. Like peeling away the cloudiness, their conversation became clearer. But I never figured out what they were talking about, because I sluggishly slit open my eyes, and all fell silent.
"Thank heavens." Tomonori released a breath of relief as my eyes continued to blink away the blurriness. My throat was dry, and words were not exactly useable at the time.
I just looked over to them, each one, and suddenly became confused.
As if she read my mind, Shuu quickly answered, "You collapsed from fevor...The illness was obviously a common one, but it was repressed, so it became fatal. Why didn't you tell us?--"
The words came. "To be honest...I really didn't know." Although my voice was rasp and bloody, it was still kind. "..I was so involved with going to Marr's Pass, I really wasn't thinking about it."
"More like not thinking at all." Satoshi took a step back, arms folded neatly across his chest.
"W..Were are we?"
"Marr's Pass." Shuu explained, "We were going to carry you all the way there, but we just let you rest in the caravan instead."
I burst up, "No! You shouldn't have done that!" Now it would seem like I didn't do any of the work at all. I didn't want to be seen as the weakest. "You should have woken me up!"
Shuu pushed me back down, "And have you die? Not likely!"
"I'm fine!" I pushed against her arms, a deathly pain striking through my chest. I winced. She gasped, quickly removing her arms and brining them to herself.
"I'm so--"
Satoshi put two fingers to my forehead and pushed me back down, softly and gently, onto the bed. "Don't be like that. If any else of us were deathly ill, we wouldn't make them work either. So shut up, and rest. We can't have you like this all the time."
I blushed, rosebushes forming on my cheeks. "I--Uh, okay."
He grinned. Winning.
"So...I take it we're spending the night here, huh?" Shuu said sheepishly after a while. Satoshi nodded, and another shock of pain and guilt shot through my body. It was clearly visible because shortly after Satoshi gave me one of those looks. One of those looks that say, 'What the hell!' and sighed.
"It's not your fault! Shut up and go to sleep!" My eyes were soon blanketed by the lids, black lashes brushing my flushed cheeks. I pretended to sleep peacefully, so I could continue to eavesdrop on their conversation.
I heard Satoshi sigh, "Man, what're we going to do now?"
"Isn't it obvious? We're going to wait for him to recover."Shuu explained.
"But we only need a small emount of myrhh before we can head back. Can't we just..Y'know..Leave him here to recover and then retreave him?" There was a slap.
"Satoshi! How could you even think that way?"
"I was only thinking about him!"
"No way. He just ignored a fatal illness to help out the Caravan. If we leave him here, imagine how he would feel. He would probably not recover, or we'd have a suicidle act on our hands." Tomonori decided in a calm, collected voice.
"I..I guess you're right."
"..But what should we do?"
"We have four. We could seperate."
"I don't..What if Jin still feels bad about making one of us stay?"
That's all I heard. I slowly found sleep calling me, and slumber came quietly.
No one's POV!
"We..We could say that we left you two behind. Both of you."Tomonori said.
"Lie to him? That's wrong!"
"Shuu! Quiet down!" Satoshi hushed, "You're going to wake him."
"Uh-" Shuu placed her hands over her mouth.
Tomonori dunked a plush, damp rag into a bucket of cool water several times before grabbing it by either end and wrining it practically dry. He smoothed it out then folded it nicely, placing it on Jin's burning, ivory forehead. The boy stirred in his sleep, blonde locks damp from his sweat and flared out on the pillow. His eyes, narrowed, shown an obvious nightmare haunting his sleep. His breath came unevenly.
"He's getting paler. Whatever we decide. We should do it now." Tomonori decided.
"Sigh. We really can't leave him here all alone like this."Shuu said desperatly.
"Too much stress on him already, both physically and mentally. He's unstabel as it is, we can't afford for him to have any doubts." Satoshi said.
"Shuu...Why don't you go?" Satoshi said.
"Huh? Me? Really?" Shuu said.
"Yeah. Tomonori's good with the medications and I...Well...I just want to be there for him when he wakes up." Satoshi said, eyes glancing elsewhere.
Shuu grinned, "Aww..You have a crush on Jin-chan, don't you?" She giggled.
"I-I do not!"
"Makes sence. Anyways...I guess I should." Shuu said, walking over to their bags and rummaging through them. "I was the srongest. With the exception of Montrial."
"Yeah. Just make sure you come back for us when you're done." And with that, he brushed her away.
The room was cool. A light draft rushing through the open window, finger-like cracks crawling upon it. Jin shivered. His eyes slightly peeled open, his vision cearing away as he circulated his palm into his eyes. He sat up, and Satoshi grinned.
"'Mornin'!" He said, chirpily, hand son his hips as he walked over towards him.
Jin's eyes were hooded and still glazed in dream and sleep, "...What happened?" His voice was cracked and heavy.
He sighed, "Duh. You ran a fevor. Slept. Woke up, got all pissed off. Then fell back asleep." He explained.
Jin blinked.
"That was...quite the explanation." Tomonori said from his place by the wall, arms crossed. Satoshi sent him a glare.
Jin took a second to glance around, "Hey...Where's Shuu-san?" He said.
Both Tomonori and Satoshi responded at the same time:
"Bathroom."
"Store."
Tomonori sighed and Satoshi rummaged frantically through his mind for an answer for that one. "Uhm..She...She...Had to go to the bathroom. Then she's going to the store!" He grinned and Tomonori slapped his forehead.
"...C'mon. Please, tell me." Jin said quietly, bringing his legs up along with the blankets up to his chest and hugged them. "I know when you're lying, Satoshi-san."
Satoshi sighed. "She went to Mushroom Forest."
"All on her own?"
"Yep...Don't worry. Our girl can handle herself."
"I'm sorry. This is all my fault..." Jin said, burrying his face in his knees and sighing. Satoshi wanted to...He wanted to hold him. So he paniced, unsure. Tomonori, knowing his situation all to well, walked over and sat on his bed and rested his hand on Jin's head.
Jin lifted his slightly damp sapphire eyed, "Tomonori-sama---"
"Don't worry. You can't always assume everything's your fault. Really. You have to have some confidence in yourself."
Satoshi glared at him, but Tomonori ignored it. "He has confidence! He just doesn't brag about it! Unlike some people..."
"Yeah. I know you do. We really need to work on that." Tomonori said with a satisfied smile and Satoshi almost blew up.
...And Jin was oblivious to their little fight. Even if it was over him.
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