Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! and its characters are not my property. The RPG references also used in this fic are not my property either. So, don't sue, I'm not gaining any funds for writing this.
Warnings: ... um, right... shounen-ai? Dub!Names, too. Bear with me, I doubt I'll update this that fast either. I just wanna get something done, y' know? Hai hai...
Go away, I really dun like you (throws cookie at Slump)... Moving on...
Chapter 1, Of Intros and 'Ferns'
Tristan tilted his head thoughtfully, as he folded his arms. After a moment, he studied his surroundings. Then he nodded slightly, as he grinned wryly to himself. What he had in mind would have to do.
It was a plain day; there was nothing overly exciting happening. Or anything overly boring. It was just a day. The skies were average, the wind was average, everything about the day was average. It wasn't peaceful, nor was it violent. No, it was just an average day in the small town of Mojzis.
Tristan Taylor was your average young man. He wasn't bad to look at, but he also wasn't one to catch one's eye, right off the bat. He didn't do anything, at least not anything that would show a typical person his skills. What sort of skills, one might ask. Well, certain skills that would define Tristan from others.
And defining oneself was important, especially if one had a complicated journey ahead of oneself. One also had to prepare oneself for rather poorly concealed foreshadowing.
Tristan only sat there, on a large stone, staring out at the landscape. He was on a large bluff overlooking the small town of Mojzis. A single blade of grass was clenched lightly between his teeth, as he closed his eyes, enjoying the very small average breeze that blew past him. He was average, but there was small differences from his 'average' than most would realize. For one, he was taller than average. But everything else about him wasn't as intriguing. He had brown hair, hazel eyes, and a rather strong build, yes, average.
After a long, quiet, and uneventful, moment of just staring at the landscape, Tristan got back to his feet, and straightened his regular tan cloak, while heading back down the trail, back to the town of Mojzis.
As soon as the young man entered his small house, he was grabbed by his shoulders in an urgent way. Tristan blinked in slight confusion, not at all surprised. No, nothing unexpected ever happened in the average town of Mojzis.
"4th cousin?" Tristan blinked.
"Uh, don't you mean 'mom'?" the woman asked, with a scowl.
"... That's too common," shrugged Tristan. "Now you're my 4th cousin."
"Wouldn't that make me younger than you?" the woman asked.
"Maybe."
She pointed at the crows' feet at either corner of her eyes. "Then how would that explain my obvious seniority over you?" she demanded.
Tristan tilted his head thoughtfully again.
"Are you immortal?" the woman asked, eyes wide with surprise.
"Well, n-no... no, no, no... th-that would make me above average," Tristan answered with a quick shake of his head.
"Then, why..?"
"Never mind... why're you holding me?" Tristan asked, laughing nervously.
"Oh... right," Tristan's 4th cousin stepped back, and gained an expressionless expression. "Tristan, you need to go on a journey," she said.
Tristan blinked, "why?"
"Because I said so."
"What am I journeying for?"
"Doesn't really matter, does it?"
"Well, I'd say it's kind of essential to know what I'm journeying for..." Tristan pointed out. "Y' know, just for reference on which way I should go."
"Look, it doesn't matter what your beginning journey is, you're just gonna end up needing to take another journey somewhere else right afterward, anyways. Right?" the 4th cousin pointed out.
"... I guess?"
Tristan's 4th cousin then pushed him towards the door again, shoving a satchel in his hand. "Here y' go, some medical supplies."
Tristan blinked, accepting the satchel, as he opened it to peer at its contents. The basics..? "25 Potions, 10 Mega-Potions, 25 Ethers, 50 Elixers, and 50 Phoenix Downs?" Tristan blinked several times. "Uh, isn't this a little much?"(1)
"Shut up, I'm trying to help you out here."
"If you wanna help me out, you can tell me where I'm going, and what exactly I'm looking for."
"Shut up, and get going," Tristan's 4th cousin replied shortly, then shoved him out the door.
Tristan blinked many times, still holding his satchel, while watching the frontdoor, very confused. Then the frontdoor opened again, bringing a grin to Tristan's face. "Great, you were kidding, now how about--..?"
A sack of gil was thrown at Tristan, which he quickly caught in his other hand. And again, as the door slammed shut again, Tristan could only blink over and over. Then he looked into the sack, his eyes widening: 50,000 gil?(2)
"Hey! 4th cousin! Where'd you get this kinda cash?" Tristan shouted at the house.
"Get journeying! Or else!" 4th cousin snarled.
Sweatdropping, Tristan stepped back, then hooked the satchel to his belt under his cloak. Then he tied the sack of... downright 'wow-like' amount of loot on his belt, alongside his medical goods. Then he turned, looking left, then right; or east, then west, if one wanted to get technical.
Shrugging, Tristan just started heading south-west. Rather than decide to allow the wind to lead him, Tristan decided to just follow the trail.
ooooXXXoooXXXoooo
"Okay, I'm journeying..." Tristan muttered to himself. "I've no idea why I'm journeying, but it's what I'm doing. I have plenty of cash, and enough medical supplies to open a small clinic, so..." he paused, looking up further at the trail.
Then he took out his sack of 50,000 gil again, staring at it with a quirked eyebrow. "Yeesh, that's a load of money to haul around so early on a journey..."
"You bet it is!"
Tristan blinked, looking around in confusion. "Who's there?" he asked.
"Please, just drop the sack of money, and leave. Please choose, your money... or your... life? No, um... your money, or your... shoes? No, that's mean... um, your money or your... oh, just please leave the gil and go away."
Obviously, whomever was trying to steal from Tristan, he was an awfully polite and timid sort of... thief? "Oh, you're after money..?" Tristan asked. "Well, uh, just come here, and I'll give you some. I have plenty."
"Really?" the voice asked. Then paused, "wait, that's not right. I have to steal it from you."
"Why?" Tristan blinked.
"It's the right thing to do."
"To steal?"
"No, I mean it's the right thing for me to do."
"To steal?"
"Yes... uh, no! I mean, uh..."
"You mean, 'you're a thief, and stealing is what thiefs do', right?" Tristan smiled.
"Exactly!"
"Well, I think if you wanna steal my money, thief, you'll have to fight me for it."
"... B-but, that's mean..."
"Fighting?"
"Yeah."
Tristan raised an eyebrow, then laughed a bit. "You're a crazy thief, I think," he commented good-naturedly. "It's not a bad thing... but, uh... if you wanna be a thief, you do have to rely on violence, every now and then."
"But... I don't want to... fight."
"Then just lemme give you some of my gil."
There was slight rustling among the leaves, then a funny black and dark red fern popped up. Tristan's eyes bulged a bit, as he stared in shock. "Ah! You're a thief fern!" he choked out.
"Don't be silly," the black and red fern said, turning to face Tristan; the front of the fern had golden vines hanging from its black and red spiky fronds. Then the fern blinked large and impossibly innocent violet eyes at our average-man-as-hero.
Tristan could only stare in surprise at the sweet angelic features of the black and red fern. "Wow... uh, what're you?" he asked, perplexed.
"A thief," the large violet eyes blinked again.
"N-no, I mean... just... yikes. Thieves shouldn't look like you! Thieves are dirty, ugly crooks!" said Tristan, pointing at the black and red fern, his eyes still wide with shock.
"They are?"
"You're no thief!"
"I am so!" the thief argued.
"Nope, you're not."
"Oh, you just watch!" then in a sudden burst of speed, the little fern posing as a thief darted at Tristan, then swung his arm out, and in a flash, he was suddenly holding Tristan's satchel. "See! I can steal!" the 'fern' started to say with triumph, as he leapt back. "I stole your items from you, and..."
Tristan could only stare again in surprise. Wow, the little guy was fast.
"... And with your items that I stole, I can... leave you... to keep... journeying... without them..." the 'fern's voice trailed off, his eyes welling over with guilt. He darted forward again, before bowing his head, holding out small slender hands, along with the satchel, in a timid offering. "I'm sorry, please take them back."
Tristan blinked many more times. "Huh?" he mumbled in confusion.
"You might get hurt in your travels," the 'fern' murmured. "I can't have that. Your items will help you feel better if you get hurt."
Tristan burst out laughing, while accepting the satchel again. "I told you you're no thief," he said warmly.
The 'fern's lower lip stuck out, "I'm trying my best here."
"You are pretty fast though," commented Tristan, as he rested his hand against the little 'fern's shoulder. "I'm travelling alone, so why not join me? I could use some good company like you."
"... I am?" the 'fern' asked. "You are? Can I? You could?" the fern suddenly smiled widely. "Oh, that'd be great! I'd love to!"
"Alright then," Tristan grinned, as he gave the 'fern' an approving thumb's-up. "The little Fern-Thief joined my Party!"
The 'Fern-Thief' sweatdropped, "I'm not a fern. And my name's Yugi."
"Oh, Yugi..." Tristan smiled and shrugged. "Well, if it were up to me, I'd call you 'Fern-Thief'..."
"Yes, well..." Yugi cleared his throat. "Let's be glad that it isn't up to you."(3)
"I guess... so, you're a thief?"
"Yep."
"Cool, I have plenty of items, but it doesn't hurt to have my thief steal more stuff," said Tristan, with a nod.
"Um... okay," Yugi smiled weakly. "I'll do my best."
"Alright then!" Tristan grabbed Yugi's hand, and proceeded to march ahead. "Come on, Fern-Thief! Onwards, to continue our journey!"
"I'm Yugi! You can't change my name!" protested Yugi, but followed obediently nonetheless
! TBC !
(1) FF items. Ether and Elixers, my personal favorite. Can never have enough of the stuff.
(2) Gil, FF's form of currency. Definitely can never have enough of the gil.
(3) Name Changing, FF, fun fun fun, renaming characters.
ooooXXXooo
Yeah. I dunno either v.v;; But I laughed while doing it, so maybe that's a good thing XD