Esca Fantasy
Hello to everyone that has decided to see how good or bad this story is. This is my first attempt at a fan fic, I've been reading peoples fantastic work on ff.net for about a year and have always wanted to write my own, but I was always too lazy. Oh well, better late than never! I decided to do a cross over thing of Escaflowne and Final Fantasy 8, as the story line in FF8 is really good, and no one has done this before. If anyone finds it a bit slow in the first few chapters I apologise, but stick with it as anyone who has played the game will tell you, it gets much better, I promise. The characters in this fic will probably be a little bit OOC but I'll try my best to keep them as close to how they are in the series. However the situations that they are put into often calls for them to have a bit of a personality change in order for the story to work. Also for those of you who have played the game, I hope you agree with the way I have paired the characters of esca and ff. But I'll explain my reasons for the pairings as the story progresses. I have given this story a PG-13 rating as there are one or two mild swear words, and I'm not to sure if I made the fighting a bit too graphic?! So anyway, with out further ado, here it is
Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne or Final Fantasy 8 and am making no money from this.
Chapter 1
Rivals
I'll be here…
Why…?
I'll be waiting…here…
For what?
I'll be waiting…for you…so…
If you come here…
You'll find me.
I promise.
On a day of clear blue sky and warm sunshine there was a field, a beautiful field full of lush green grass, and wild flowers of every colour. Small birds sung and flew playfully among the trees bordering it and the flowers and tree leaves swayed lazily in the gentle breeze.
In the centre of this beauty and serenity stood a girl, her honey-coloured hair danced in the breeze that caused hundreds of pink petals to float delicately around her. One adventurous petal made its way to her outstretched hand and she closed her fingers around it, when she opened them again the petal had turned into a pure white feather. The feather left her palm as a strong wind swept it up high into the sky, she stared after it with emerald green eyes as it disappeared from sight.
***
Lightening flashed over head as two young fighters stood amidst a harsh and rocky terrain, with only the angry, early morning thunderstorm as an audience to their battle of strength and skill. The first young fighter casually leaned against his gunblade, smirking to himself while the other stood unarmed, watching the dark clouded sky with intense brown eyes.
Van Fanel and Allen Schezar, rivals from birth were engaged in an intense training battle. Both had the most exceptional fighting skills out of all the students at Balamb Garden, and both specialised in the use of a gunblade; a strange sword like weapon, with a large blade and a gun shaped handle. The only time they could ever find a challenging battle was when they fought each other. And right now Allen had the upper hand; he had successfully knocked Van's gunblade out of his hand and sent it flying into the stormy sky above.
"I'll give you another chance Fanel", he had said tauntingly with a smirk adorning his handsome features. Van could feel his blood boiling, and his eyes sharpen with infuriation. Allen knew that saying that would get beneath Van's skin. Van hated to lose to Allen, but if this had been a real battle scenario, then Van's mistake would have resulted in his death. Allen was in control of the battle now and he knew it. He could easily finish Van off at anytime. But here he was, giving Van another chance to try and beat him, he was so sure of himself that he was allowing Van to continue fighting.
"Damn him!" Van thought angrily, as a large bolt of lightening flashed overhead and a loud rumble echoed all around them, reflecting Van's mood.
"As soon as I get my gunblade I'll wipe that smirk off his face, I'm stronger than he thinks". Then as if on cue, his gunblade came buzzing down from the dark sky spinning wildly and slicing through the air until it pierced the stony ground. Van's gloved hand quickly grasped the gun like handle and pulled it out of the ground. He turned to face his rival with his weapon held out before him. They shot each other dangerous glares as their eyes met.
Allen Schezar and Van Fanel were both students at Balamb Garden Military Academy who had spent most their lives there training to become SeeD cadets. Allen, the oldest at 18 years old stood at 6'2", with long blond hair that was tied back, and harsh, steely blue eyes. He was always seen wearing a long grey trench coat, simple black trousers and boots and leather gloves. Although Allen was a naturally gifted student, his inability to follow rules and orders has earned him the reputation of 'problematic' among the instructors at Garden, where as the students saw him as being intimidating, but also very handsome too and is known to have strong charms over women. Allen recognised and praised Van's fighting abilities and regarded him as his ultimate rival.
Van, although younger than Allen by a year and only 5'8" tall had skills in battle of the same level and quality as Allen. Van had deep brown eyes and thick, unruly black hair with tanned skin, giving him an extremely dark and sexy look. Being best described as a 'lone wolf', Van was very aloof, stubborn and anti-social, and disliked having others involved in his affairs. His usual out fit was made up of black trousers with three buckles around his right thigh and two large leather belts that held his gunblade. As well as that he wore a simple white T-shirt with a short black jacket over the top with a white fur collar and black leather gloves.
Both fighters gazed at each other for a few moments before charging fiercely. Allen at the last minute spun around before striking, Van blocked the unexpected attack just in time and retaliated with a swift blow that Allen dodged easily. Sparks flew as the two blades scraped against each other harshly. They lunged at each other again, both dodging the others attack. They spun around and their swords met, the clash of metal ringing out through the battlefield, they pushed away and Van brought his blade up and around to strike, but Allen was already there, ready to block the attack.
"You're making this far too easy for me", Allen taunted. Angered by Allen's remark Van swung his sword around, advancing swiftly towards the blond haired soldier. He struck again and again, hitting every move perfectly and dodging all of Allen's assaults.
"I've got him now," thought Van. Allen frowned at Van's sudden come back and finally managed to hit back. He swung his blade upwards, striking Van's blade so hard he almost lost his grip on it again. Van stumbled back, but quickly recovered and attacked again, each hit being more powerful and accurate than the last. Then Allen found another opening and took a wide swipe at Van's head. Van managed to duck just in time and stepped back.
"What an idiot, he's gonna end up killing me with attacks like that!" Van thought to himself.
Allen smirked as he rested his gunblade on his shoulder and raised his other hand, beckoning Van to take his best shot. He was taunting him again.
Van rushed forward, full of fury with his blade raised, ready to strike. As Van was running towards him Allen raised his hand and a ball of fiery light collected in his palm.
"That bastard, he's going to use a fire blast against me!" But Van realised Allen's plan too late as the fiery light hit him square in the chest and flung him back into the hard, dusty ground. Dazed and disorientated from the hit, Van groggily sat up, his eyesight was hazy and his head was spinning, those were some of the effects that a special attack like a fire blast could have. He struggled to pick himself up from the ground and gain his bearings before Allen could win, but despite his efforts his damaged senses meant he could no longer fight. He looked up to see the shadowy form of Allen standing in front of him and could clearly imagine the look of triumph that Allen would have plastered on his face.
"Damn him!….that cheater is going to win" thought Van angrily.
Van managed to push himself up onto one knee and his eyes focused so he could now see Allen clearly. He expected him to end the training session there as Van was in no position to attack. But his eyes suddenly widened as he saw, and felt, the sharp blade of Allen's sword strike him across the face, slicing a gash from the upper left side of Van's nose to the lower right. The cut ran deep and red blood splattered onto the ground as Van's head whipped to the side, while more blood continued to run down his nose.
He turned his head back to face the ice-eyed soldier, with fire burning in his eyes. He raised his gunblade, and yelled half with fury and half with pain as he sliced the air fast towards Allen, slashing from the lower left of Allen's nose to the upper right. Surprised by the swift and ferocious attack, Allen dropped his weapon as he fell back. Blood trickled down his face from the attack, although the injury that he received was just a scratch compared to the matching wound that he had given his opponent. Van was now the last man standing. He stood for a few moments, taking in short, sharp breaths, and wincing at the pain on his forehead. Feeling the little strength he had left leave him, he dropped his gunblade and fell to his knees.
"I…win…", he proclaimed, before collapsing onto the ground, unconscious, with blood still pouring from his brow.
From the still stormy sky above, a pure white feather, gently drifted down to the battle field and landed softly on the blood stained ground next to the passed out form of Van.
Ok, so what did you think? Good/Bad, Fantastic/Terrible. I would really love to hear your thoughts and opinions, they would help me so much, especially as I'm a newbie, so your reviews would be very very much appreciated. For those of you who did enjoy this (there must be someone!) I will update it as soon as possible. I've already got the next chapter half written, I just need to brush it up a bit. In the mean time go take a look at my favourite stories page, there are some fantastic stories there by some really talented authors, and I highly recommend checking out 'A Countries Hope' by Jounichou, it's an amazing fic and I don't think she got enough credit for it, so please, go read it and give her the support that she deserves.
Oh and anyone who has played the game, do you know what that blue thing that rinoa wears is called? If not what would you call it? Thanks for reading!
Natalie xXx