Swiftly Moved the Mecha Horse
7 February 2007
a Star Ocean EX fanfiction by Tripleguess
Genre: Humor
Rated PG

Summary: Why he'd agreed to such lunacy, he'd never know. Leon-centric.

Why had he gone along with something so obviously pointless, irrational, and dangerous?

Maybe it'd been the prospect of amazing the rest of the party. She'd probably never considered that -- for her, the value of action was in the action itself, not necessarily in what others thought of it -- but it had occurred to him.

Still, amazing friends did little good if one's lifespan was now measurable in minutes. Leon squeezed the handlebars and swerved around a wide-eyed Yuki, who dropped her water bucket and gaped; the incriminating items in his immediate vicinity were clearly not lost on her. He wished he could snap a casual salute but knew he'd wind up eating dirt if he spared a hand from steering at this speed. That would amaze her, all right.

Precis had no such inhibitions; he heard her shriek something to Yuki, her voice a strange mixture of terror and hysterical laughter. The vehicle wobbled dangerously as she waved; he narrowly missed a patch of thornbush. He squinted against the wind and hair whipping his face, wishing he'd thought to borrow her goggles. It was the least she could've done after dragging him into this. Of course, they were welding goggles and not ideal for high-speed driving. Then again, if he was soon to die a violent death, it didn't really matter how well he could see.

As for the aforementioned inventor, she was obliviously restricting his oxygen intake with her pythonlike hold around his chest. The scissors were in that hand. She'd been kind enough to turn them sharp side down, but the handles jabbed him in the ribs at every bump. Her other hand clutched his shoulder, along with a fistful of long, silky hair. Really, for a girl, she had quite a grip.

She laughed again, and Leon realized that he was grinning. Sure, he'd just flouted every survival instinct he owned and might not get away with it, but the look on their victim's face (as seen in the rear-view mirror, of course -- even Precis'd known better than to stick around) had been priceless.

X X X

Claude hardly glanced up as Leon and Precis tore by on the Mecha Horse. It was a common enough sight these days, though Precis didn't usually let Leon drive. The campfire-to-be in front of him required his full attention just now, as the kindling simply refused to catch fire. In vain he wished for a lighter, a match, and various other fire-starting implements he hadn't seen since leaving Lacour. The twigs were too damp to ignite. Of course, the damp was the reason they needed a fire in the first place. It figured. He was ready to ask Rena for a piece of her handkerchief.

Rena tapped him on the shoulder.

"Claude," she whispered in horror. "Look."

Claude obliged, following the direction of her outstretched hand, and promptly forgot about the kindling. Precis and Leon had already been obscured by their own dust cloud.

Hot on their trail was Dias, a lone swordsman running like the wind, steely gaze fixed on the fleeing Mecha Horse like a wolf intent on his prey.

A wolf with the finest pageboy cut this side of Lacour.

Claude recalled a flash of silky blue in Precis' hand, the huge grin on her face, and the guilty glee on Leon's.

"They didn't." His voice, though, lacked conviction. A girl who'd once charged into the monster-infested sacred grounds of Linga with only her backpack was surely capable of other brash feats.

"Hmm." Celine cocked her head in consideration, studying the new style's effect on the warrior's stern features as he pounded off after the kids. "I like it!"

Dias, judging by his expression, shared no such opinion. The fact that his sword was still sheathed bore witness to the swordsman's self-control, as did the fact that no one had heard his deadly "Kuhazan!" Still, the eventual outcome of the chase did not bode well for the pair's future; they'd have to come back for dinner sometime, and Dias was not the type to forget overnight. Claude hoped the Mecha's energy stone was fully charged.

Bowman dragged a hand across his face. "Trust Precis," he muttered.

-The End

Disclaimer: This story not created, acknowledged or endorsed by Tri-Ace or Square-Enix, to whom all relevant characters and trademarks belong. Swiftly Moved the Mecha Horse itself is fan domain and may be freely recopied and archived. Reviews appreciated! No heavy critique please, this is just a oneshot.