Ah, all right! Since my good friends Yuki Minamoto and Qwerty91 convinced me enough to post this, here is the first chapter of my Final Fantasy Versus XIII fic, "Tsubomi". Tsubomi translates directly to "Flower Bud" in English, but the meaning behind this title will shape itself out as the story progresses. Please enjoy, everyone!

Side Note: Here are the names that I've given to the unnamed characters in FF VS XIII:

Shot-gun Guy: Vidal ("Lively" in Latin)

Scar-Over-Eye Guy: Adelais ("Noble" in Latin)

Glasses Guy: Ezio ("Like an Eagle" in Latin)

Kono saki ni tsuzuku michi ni wa

Hana ga saite iru darou ka?

Will there be flowers blooming

On the road up ahead?

Magari michi ookute mayou koto...

Konna koto aru darou ka.

There's so many roads you can take...

It's easy to get lost sometimes.

Tsubomi

~Chapter One~

"Ugh," Vidal groaned, side-stepping from yet another bloodied corpse of an armored man. "This is horrible... What kind of place is this?"

"A dead one," Vidal's good partner, Adelais, answered. He was fingering at the vertical scar over his left eye tenderly, which usually signified an increasing tension within.

Vidal ran a hand through his mussy blonde hair. "Then why the hell did we stop here? This isn't exactly the best pit stop..."

"Quit whining," Ezio, the bespeckled leader of the trio, snapped. "There's something strange in this place...Something... powerful."

"Well, the only thing I'm sensing around here is degrading flesh!" Vidal retorted, tapping his trusty shot-gun over his shoulder impatiently. "And what's with all of this concrete and steel? There's not a single spot of green around here! I'm getting claustrophobic!"

Adelais and Ezio sighed. They knew that once Vidal started complaining, he wouldn't stop until justice was served. Simply ignoring him for the moment, however, the two of them continued their reconnaissance of the area, in search of the disturbance Ezio had claimed to have perceived.

"Hey!" Vidal called out. "You're just gonna leave me behind here?!"

"Go back to the car," Ezio replied simply. "We'll all meet back there in a bit."

"Hmph," the gun-toting blonde huffed, turning on his heal. "What am I? Chopped liver?"

Kicking a stray piece of rubble with his foot, he sullenly started back towards the vehicle in solitude. If there was anything Vidal hated more than being surrounded in an area that made him uncomfortable, it was being in such a place alone. It wasn't so much that he was scared, either--he was perfectly capeable of defending himslef when the time for battle came--but it was more that Vidal was the group kind of person; he could act and respond more naturally when among others.

He chuckled apathetically to himself. 'I'm just overreacting again... It's not like I'm permanently alone. Geez, Vidal, pull yourself togther!'

Slapping his cheeks for reassurance, Vidal then walked more confidently and even whistled an off-pitch tune that had just popped into his head.

'Easy,' he thought, 'there's nothing to worry about... This place is practically a wasteland of steel and buildings anyway...'

And at that moment, he heard a gun shot sound from his right, followed by the clashing of steel and several battle cries and grunts.

"What the...?!" Vidal gapsed out, rushing towards the commotion.

Turning a sharp corner, the blonde's eyes grew ten-times their normal size at the sight before him...

A young man, no older than he, with jet-black hair and gleeming crimson eyes, was magically deflecting a raid of bullets from an armored figure, who was well equipped with a type of gun that Vidal had never seen in his life. But as exciting at it seemed, the battle was short-lived, and the black-haired fellow quickly slew the armored figure with the haste handling of his single-edged blade. Speechless, Vidal stood dumbfounded, not able to look away from the black-haired young man, whose incredible crimson eyes unblinkingly observed the dying armored figure at his feet.

'Wh-what was that?' Vidal gulped dry air. 'Was that... magic?"

But before he could even begin to contemplate what he had just saw, a sluggish shadow appeared behind the black-haired fellow and Vidal let out a reflexed, "BEHIND YOU!"

Whirrling around quickly, the black-haired young man was met with another shower of bullets, which were, again, negated with an invisible shield that surrounded his being.

'It is!' Vidal found himself smirking slightly. 'This guy can use actual magic!'

In the midst of his admiration, the latest opponent was brought down just as rapidly, but there had been damage delt to the black-haired fellow this time around. His reflexes had been slightly off and several bullets had managed to penetrate through his barrier, the wounds bleeding sluggishly from his chest. Despite the fatality they could bring, the young man grit his teeth and bared the throe, walking off without question.

"W-wait!" Vidal stammered. "You're wounded! You shouldn't be walking around so casually!"

The black-haired young man failed to respond and continued to walk off, his arm applying pressure to supress the pain.

Vidal sighed in aggrevation and stormed towards him, gripping his shoulder. "Are you even listening to me?! You'll be dead in no time with those wounds!"

But as the black-haired young man tried to wrench himself free from Vidal's grasp, he faltered and fell limp, the bloodloss getting to him.

"Hey!!" Vidal exclaimed, holding the dying fellow upright. "Hang in there!"

Cussing to himself, Vidal had no choice but to sling the black-haired young man over his shoulder and rush back to the car.

~...~

Ezio and Adelais were waiting for Vidal beside their car, rather perplexed that he hadn't been there when they had arrived back several moments ago.

"First he complains, and now he's somewhere out there fooling around..." Adelais rubbed his aching temples. "That guy is seriously the living embodiment of hypocrisy."

Ezio shrugged. "Maybe he has an acceptable excuse... Though that's highly doubtful."

Silence engulfing both of them, they leaned against the car's chilled metal in anticipation.

"Ah, speaking of," Adelais mused, "there he is."

"Wait," Ezio stated sternly, "there's someone else with him..."

Rushing towards their friend, they stared perplexed at the wounded young man slung at his shoulder.

"He was wounded in combat against those armored men we've been seeing around this place!" Vidal explained. "I couldn't just leave him to die so... We need to help him!"

Adelais nodded. "Agreed. I'll get out the medical kit we have stashed..."

Ezio adjusted the glasses slipping down his nose. "Besides... he could hold some valueable information as to what's happended to this place..."

~Chapter One Finis~

And that's all for chapter one! It was extremely interesting to try and write a story where I knew absoultely nothing about the characters or how they should act... All I could really do was assume their actions by their appearance. It's more challenging that way, but fun to do as well. To me, Vidal comes across as the high-spirited young man with an amiable air, where, in contrast, Ezio is the cool, calm, and collected type. And Adelais really seems like the strong, just, and kind older brother type to me. (Or possibly even the mercenary type? ;3) I can't wait to show more of Noctis' attitude and personality though... But that's in the next chapter, of which, I hope you all return for!

Until then, please drop in a review with your thoughts, comments, questions, suggestions, and flames!