Hi all! Surfingpichu here. Here's a little oneshot I did on a whim after playing way too much FFT. Man I love this game.

The entire story behind this one was me sitting with my controller in my hand and thinking: "Man, I wonder where all these generic baddies for the random encounters come from. Are they just Death Corps rejects or what?" I went with that explanation for long enough and then I figured I wasn't happy with that. So what did I do? I wrote a little fic, and this is it.

Enjoy! n.n

Evanescence

"Our lives are as fleeting as dreams, what a somber thought."

"So that should do it for camp." Wiping his brow, a now very winded looking warrior stood back, gazing at his handiwork, and smiling, looking rather proud of himself. He whisked a few flyaway locks of blond hair behind his ears, and at once turned to join the rest of us, taking off his forest green cape to call it a night.

The night was young , but the five of us were exhausted to say the least, but we all held an optimistic feeling in our hearts. We were almost to Dorter trade city. As soon as we cleared the Sweegy Woods we would be home free and earn a well needed rest while hopefully coming into some form of work. We were a small mercenary group, the five of us, all put out of jobs after the 50 year war with nothing but our swords to rely on. It was truly a blessing that we'd found each other, and I had to thank St. Ajora for watching over us all in this time of need, so that we could support each other.

Our company was a small one, but we were all skilled enough in our professions to get by. Our Knight, Raoul Reinhart was the leader of our small group, and why wouldn't he be? He was a commoner, but a commoner fit to be named noble, it was a shame he had been born with common blood running his veins as his mind was always full of plans and though he spoke in a commoner's tone, his manner of words could entice even Duke Larg himself, as I thought.

Aside from Reinhart there was a priest named Rebecca, an old friend of mine from before the war who lost everything to Ordallian forces during the Fifty year war. There was a wizard among us that went by the name Tim. We suspected he was at one point part of the Death Corps judging by his manner of speech and style of fighting, but we knew little of him because of his quiet demeanor. He was a valuable asset to our team, though, and for that we were grateful. Then there was Little John, an Oracle who was a friend of Tim's but unlike the wizard, he was kind and friendly. He wasn't charismatic like Reinhart, but he could be nice to talk to on occasions. Our group was certainly a motley one, but that was just as well. We were needed for more tasks that way.

It was getting dark now, in the time just between dusk and night. Tim had set a fire, and we all crowded round, talking about the day just passed. We were tired, that was for sure, but it was for a good cause. We'd made about 10,000 gil just doing odd jobs in Gariland. I'd lent my bow to quite a few tasks, being paired with Tim and Little John, a unit for physical attacks was often needed when dealing with Atheists and the like. It felt good to be needed, to feel wanted.

"Some day, eh Eliza?" Little Jon had set away his studies for the night, and now sat next to me, friendly as ever. He was a skilled Oracle, I knew that, but I also knew his true ambitions lay in a path beyond that of battle. He wanted to be a scholar, and conducted himself as such, saving any share of extra money he got to buy spare books. Sometimes he even managed to bring them into battle with him, using them as a form of defense.

I nodded to the spellcaster smiling. "It's hard work, but it pays off well." I replied. "I thought I was a goner when that bomb self-destructed like that. I'm glad you had my back there."

"Not a problem." Little John replied, idly plucking one of his books out of a small pile. "You rarely ever get into trouble, not like our ever valiant leader. Constantly in need of high potions, constantly."

"Well I don't see you getting your hands dirty out there." Reinhart huffed, obviously a bit offended. "You just stand back, weaving your spells."

"The spells that save your life time and time again Raoul." Little John emphasized.

"Will you two stop it?" Rebecca cried out now, blushing as the two men turned to her, near bewildered. Rebecca wasn't usually so outspoken, but she did hate fighting, having a very strong devotion to God. "Please, don't fight."

"Don't worry Becca." Reinhart immediately melted into his suave counterpart. "We were just playing." Little John gave a little grunt, scowling as he delved back into one of his books.

Out in the distance I could hear faint voices, just beyond the cover of the trees. In the lapse of silence, they became more prominent, and my curiosity was piqued. Who could be all the way out here? I wondered, creeping over to the brush to peer out at the new arrivals.

A team of about ten or eleven men and women, with a good couple of chocobo in tow dismounted, and had begun to prepare a fire. Among them were some lowly servants and mercenaries like my group, but the rest of them looked a bit off. There were two who stood out immediately as foreigners. Dark skinned, and weaving white robes, I had to wonder what such people were doing with a group like this.

Also among their group was a regally clad knight. She was a woman, holding herself high and proud, and moving with a level of grace I'd never seen before. She smiled to a young man beside her as he helped her off of her chocobo. Something seemed strange about this boy too, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. At first glance he looked as most other mercenaries do, his armor was dirty, a strange blue color, but his face was fair and his eyes soft. He moved in the same manner the woman did, the manner of a noble. That was when it struck me. They're highborn. Nobles. The Hokuten from what I can tell.

"What's up Eliza?" Reinhart had given up on subtly trying to woo Rebecca and had apparently taken notice of the voices beyond the clearing as well.

I motioned for him to be quiet, pointing to the people beyond. They had begun to converse among themselves, but there was a tension surrounding them, as if all was not quite right.

"Mustadio, I really think we need to get Boco neutered." The blond noble said turning to a second man, who sat polishing a strange contraption, like a crossbow with no bow or bolts. "Another egg has turned up, I don't know what we're going to do with all these Chocobo."

"Don't worry about it Ramza." The boy's companion dismissed him, not looking up from his work. "We can always just sell them at the market place if we need to."

The name struck a chord in my mind. Ramza? I repeated. Ramza of the house Beoulve? It couldn't be, he couldn't.

"My God," Reinhart rose to his feet, his face suddenly growing pale white. He staggered back, looking near ready to faint. "It's him.. the.. the heretic! Ramza Beoulve!"

All heads suddenly turned as Reinhart uttered the name. Tim jumped to his feet, stirred more than I'd ever seen him in the year I'd known him, his eyes suddenly growing very wide. Little John followed suit, his face looking very grave as he heard the words spoken.

For a second all was silent, the tacit question being asked by everyone in our group at once. What do we do?

"We can get a lot of gil for that head." Reinhart said at length, the paleness of his face slowly receding.

"Those men..." Little John was near shaking with fear, his eyes wide with horror. "The last time we saw them... Tim and I barely escaped with our lives. Reinhart I don't want to face them again."

I looked back at the boy, hesitating. He didn't look like a heretic, not as he was pictured on the wanted posters. Even in pictures his eyes were soft, but up close he didn't even look menacing. On the contrary, he seemed a bit shy, and gentle. The way he conversed with one of his soldiers, a mercenary with no more class than I myself could have had, despite that gap talking as one might talk to a peer. He couldn't be the man who slew the Cardinal, and so many others.

"We'll ambush them then." Reinhart said at length. "He'll never see us coming, before he can cry out he'll be dead." He turned to us. " Tim, start a spell, any one you like, Rebecca, get us shielded, Little John, do your silly Oracle thing, Rebecca, you take aim. I'll get the heretic."

A nod came from the rest of our group, and I followed hesitantly. A lump formed in my throat as I readied my bow, aiming at the young noble's neck. My hands were shaking, I noticed, and it was suddenly very hard to aim. I was never very good at assassinations, especially to one so gentle.

I heard Rebecca chanting softly beside me. "Precious light, be our armor to protect us. Protect." A sudden rush filled me as I felt the air around my body harden. By now I was used to Rebecca's spells but it still sometimes caught me by surprise.

" On my word." Reinhart whispered, slowly creeping around to the other side of the encampment, his sword drawn. We waited for a couple of tense moments, not knowing what to expect. I could tell from the look on Little John's face, and Tim's strained speech during his chant that neither of them wanted to enter this fight. Truthfully, neither did I. After a few tense seconds of waiting, I saw Reinhart's figure emerge from the brush on the other side, just behind the Beoulve boy, his sword poised just above his unsuspecting form.

I bit my lip, readying my bow again, and for a second everything was silent. The seconds seemed to draw out into hours as Reinhart's blade came down, a wild, triumphant look on his face. He celebrated all too soon. With the knight's sword was within inches of his breast, Ramza sprung to his feet, striking at Reinhait just below the arm, shearing through chain mail, and puncturing him in the side. I gaped, my bow nearly dropping from my hands as Reinhart gave a cry, dropping to the ground.

"Bernard! Sage! Agnes! To me!" Ramza cried rising. Gone was his gentle air now, and he'd near immediately transformed into a hardened warrior. "Mustadio, scout the area, Rafa, Malak, search for warriors, get the.."

"Starfire, awake and deliver your judgment!" Tim cried at once, thrusting his arms out. "Fire 3!"

Fire rained from the sky onto the previously unsupecting warriors, bowling Ramza, a Geomancer, and a Summoner over onto their backs, cutting off the young noble.

"Ramza!" The one named Mustadio cried out in a distressed voice. Gritting his teeth, the young warrior shook his head as he rose to his feet.

"I'm fine Mustadio. Help Agrias, we have to find out where these attacks are coming fr-" The twang of my arrow being released caught even me by surprise as it flew from my bow, hitting the noble in the side of the neck. Perfect aim. I froze, my blood going cold as Ramza Beoulve fell to the ground, clutching a fatal wound.

Horror melted into a faint feeling of pride. I killed him. I thought. I killed the heretic! Relief clouded Tim's face, as well as Rebecca's. Now all we would need to do was get over to Reinhart and help him before he bled to death.

"Mindless, Spiritless, hear the immutable beat, Paralyze." Little John finished his spell now, alerting me to the fact that thought their leader was dead, the battle was still very real, and wouldn't be finished until all the other warriors had fallen.

Immediately, the Geomancer, the Summoner, and the one named Mustadio seized up, freezing in their tracks. Silently I rejoiced, this battle was going better than I'd expected.

"There they are!" No sooner had Mustadio cried out, I felt a white hot jolt like a bolt on lightning hit me in the shoulder. A cracking sound like thunder irrupted from the strange contraption he held in his hands. I gave a cry, stumbling back, and darting out of the way.

"Eliza!" Little John rushed over to me, reaching for a potion. I accepted gratefully, drinking the potion quickly.

"Come on, we need to get out of here." Little John said, pulling me to my feet. "We can't stay here, we..."

Little John never got to finish his sentence. A cry of pain irrupted from his lips as a sword slashed into his back once, sending him to his knees, and then another half severed his arm. His entire body went limp, his eyes suddenly becoming wide with pain as he fell over, bleeding, still wide eyed. I staggered back, realizing at once that a ninja stood before me, literally from out of nowhere.

My voice caught in my throat as I choked back a sob, staggering back in disbelief as I stared at the red clad woman before me. I readied and arrow, shooting at her as quickly as I could. The arrow struck her, and she staggered back, pain evident on her features, but nevertheless she wasn't hurt much by the blow. What surprised her more was what came after the initial blow, as the arrow I shot began to spark in her body, and at once sent a crippling amount of electricity through her body. I was glad I'd stopped to pick up a lightning bow, right now I didn't know what I'd do without it.

"Spirits of life, return to us, Raise." I was relieved to hear Rebecca's voice chanting a Raise spell for Little John. The boy's once dead body twitched, reanimating at once. He lifted his head, groggily, at once rising to his feet, behind the ninja.

"Keep going, find them!" Much to my dismay I recognized that as Ramza's now strained voice. He stood next to the summoner now, relying on her heavily to stand for a moment, but a moment only. Reinhart was also standing as well, clutching his wounded side.

Ramza now rushed at the knight, who parried his blow my inches and gave a rather feeble repost. Near out of nowhere a strange feeling in the air surrounded me, like an electric prickling. Suddenly lightning was searing through my body, a numb feeling spreading through my body and stilling by breath for a few seconds. What? I thought. I didn't hear a spell called, how is this...

Beside me I heard Rebecca cry out as well, falling to the ground, alive, but badly wounded by the blow. The same spell, but Little John, Tim, and the Ninja between us hadn't felt the attack. What? I wondered. What kind of magic is this.

I caught the glance of a girl hiding behind a tree with a pen in her hand, her eyes hard , and her brow furrowed in concentration. She mumbled to herself, but not in prayer or in chant. Instead her words were the steady ramblings of a professor gone mad, a mathematician. My breath caught. What kind of people does this man keep in his company? Upon catching my eye the girl retreated into the brush again.

I retreated again, taking aim at the Ninja again, who had decided to pursue a still chanting Tim. I let my arrow fly, catching her off guard, and rushing forward to warn Tim of the attack, but at once felt the world fall from under me. Only now did I notice a vine that had worked it's way around my leg from seemingly out of nowhere. I moved to right myself, but more strings of ivy similar to the first caught me by the arms and the legs, holding me to the ground. The vined constricted like a cobra around an unsuspecting victim, tightening about me body, and I looked up just in time to see a Geomancer just beyond my reach. My bow slipped from my hands as I was slowly wound into the cocoon of vines, slowly being crushed.

"Ahh!" I cried out against the vines. "Help me!"

"Eliza!" Little John's voice cried out as he bounded towards me, worry gracing his face, but as he approached so did another figure.

This time it was the female knight, and before anyone could even think the girl cried out in an even, strong voice.

"Life is short, bury, Steady Sword!" At once a peal of light burst from the sky, striking Little John, square down the spine. He gave a shutter, pitching forward, and at once falling dormant before me.

"Rebecca help!" I cried again, looking around for my spellcasting friend. I caught sight of her at once, recovering from some unnamed wound. My heart gave a leap. She's okay!

"Rebecca come on!" I cried. The girl didn't move. "Rebe-.." I stopped at once as my voice died in my throat. I blinked looking closer at the girl. A trick of the light? No, it couldn't be. Suddenly I felt my limbs grow weak as I realized the girl had entirely turned to stone, her body now encased in a shell of solid granite. I gave a small cry as the cocoon tightened again, crushing my ribs.

I watched in horror now as my two remaining teammates were torn to shreds before my eyes. Reinhart, over at the other side of the clearing had a sword driven through his middle now, and he knelt gasping now, clutching Ramza's sword weakly as he stared up at the Beoulve, gasping, blood trickling down the side of his mouth. He fell to the ground seconds later.

The ninja had by now crept up behind Tim, who turned at once, putting up his staves as a defense. In seconds he was on the ground as well, blood flowing from two deep wounds in his frail wizard's body.

Now all attention was turned on me. I looked up, white faced as Ramza approached me, at first looking hard, but at once his eyes softening as he approached me. He signaled for the geomancer to release me, and at once the vines retreated, leaving me gasping and shaken on the ground. He offered a hand to me, smiling.

"Don't be afraid." He said softly. "You can join us if you want."

"Ramza, what are you doing?" The female knight cried. "Are you insane? That girl nearly took your life."

Ramza ignored the girl, continuing to extend a hand towards me. "Will you join us. I assure you, I mean you no harm."

I faltered, for a second flushing as I realized I was being given a second chance, but as I looked at the carnage around me, my throat tightened. Little John lay before me, a look of shock plastered on his ashen face. Beyond a statue stood in the place of my childhood friend, and Tim, the silent wizard, lay not quite dead, but presently breathing his last breaths. I could still hear Reinhart's cries of anguish as he was struck down not once but twice, and now I looked up at this boy, this heretic, with more loathing than I ever could have held for any other human being.

How could he think to turn to me as an ally after slaughtering the ones I held most dear before my eyes. Did he mock me? Did he think of me so low as to take the hand of the one who held his sword to the people I loved as brothers and sisters? I backed away, glaring at him and grabbing for my bow.

"Get away from me!" I cried, a feral growl irrupting from my throat. "Begone Heretic, I'll kill you all one million times over before I'd set up camp with any of your lot." I spat, readying my bow, aiming to kill with shaking hands. For a second my hands lingered, and at length, I released the tension on the string, collapsing into bitter sobs. I'd lost everything, everyone I loved was now dead. My entire body shook with sobs of anguish as I grieved for the ones I'd lost.

I felt a hand rest itself on my shoulder. At once I tensed. Now he thought to console me? What kind of person was this boy? Without thinking I pulled back my string, and the whisk of an arrow hitting the one named Mustadio square in the stomach filled my ears.

"No you don't!" A woman's voice cried out, and at once a piercing flame shot through my body. A metallic tasting liquid filled my mouth as I double over, crying out with agony. I felt the cool grass beneath me now, slowly being coated and died crimson. A drew a labored breath as my eyes fluttered shut, pain spreading through each of my limbs. I fell limp, watching as the world began to fade around me. A cold feeling enveloped my body, and I once I felt peaceful and numb.

Evanescence... Such a sad word.

So there we have it. I am officially messed up, but that's okay! Not sure if I'll continue this or not, I'll have to think about it. If this randomly updates at one point or another you'll know. The ending seems pretty definitive, but there are always phoenix down.

That said for right now I kinda like the gritty "That's life" sort of feel to the ending, so I don't really know. Eh.. whatever, I'll figure it out.

Well.. with that said, while you're here could you make a Pichu happy and click the shiny green button below? n.n

~Surfingpichu over and out!