Okay, my first story ever! It takes place between when the party leaves Mt Bur-Omisace, and head for Archades. Each chapter will center around one or two characters and their adventures in and around Rabanastre, though they will be heading to some of the other places too.
Enjoy!
-PROLOGUE: Rabanastre, Here We Come!
"Better go prepared."
Those three words, spoken by the sky pirate Balthier, resonated through Vaan's head as the young orphan and his five companions arrived in the Nomad Village in Giza. They had trekked from the holy Mt Bur-Omisace, through the frigid Paramina Rift and verdant Golmore Jungle, traversed the wide Ozmone plain and had finally arrived in Giza, barely missing the Rains. Their destination? The seat of empire, the Imperial Capital of Archades.
"Penelo, I'm so tired." Vaan moaned groggily to his friend Penelo. Ever since their home of Rabanastre had been occupied by the Archadian Imperials, Vaan and Penelo were almost attached at the hip. Penelo was like a sister to him, her blonde locks reminiscent to Vaan's late mother's. In a way, Penelo almost was a mother. She guarded over the young orphans in Lowtown when Vaan went on errands for their eccentric friend Old Dalan. She watched over Vaan and always tried to keep him out of trouble, not unlike a mother Cockatrice keeping her chicks out of the path of an enraged Slaven. Though she had become quite chatty since the journey had begun.
"I know you are Vaan, I am too. But look on the bright side; we're almost back in Rabanastre. I'm sure that the others wouldn't mind if we stopped to rest a couple of days or so in the city. It'd give us a chance to rest and restock on supplies so that we'll be ready for anything we might face on our way to Archades." Penelo retorted.
"I guess…But I still don't see why we couldn't have just used a Gate Crystal…"
"Using a Gate Crystal would've been the quickest and safest way, but walking is so much more fun! Not to mention the huge amount of loot we collected. Think about all of the gil we'll make selling this stuff in Muthru. Slaying all of those undead in the Stilshrine of Miriam and selling their remains is sure to earn us something. Those Malboros in the Golmore Jungle also dropped a lot of vines, which I know is of some value in the bazaar. We'll be gillionaires before you know it! I also feel stronger and more experienced. Y'know? I've also gotten pretty good with fighting. And if you think about it, that License Board thing is really quite--"
"Penelo, may I request a helpful hand?" called their Viera companion, Fran. Fran used to keep to herself and talk only when her extensive knowledge was needed, but she had begun to warm up to her new traveling partners and had grown to become quite fond of them. Swapping battle stories with Basch, telling tales of great wyrms and others of the sort to Vaan and Penelo, even swapping beauty tips with Ashe.
"Sure thing!" Penelo called back to Fran. Fran was having trouble adjusting her newly equipped accessory, the Jade Collar, and everyone knew Penelo had a knack for fixing accessories. Secretly, Vaan was happy that Fran had diverted Penelo's attention away from him, as he grew painfully bored with Penelo's occasional long-winded speeches, and he was sure that she was about to erupt with one.
"Vaan," called out a familiar voice "I haven't seen you in ages!"
Vaan turned around and saw the young boy, Jinn. The boy ran up to Vaan and jumped up and down in excitement. This boy, Jinn, was a friend of Vaan's who lived in the Giza Plains. Before Vaan's journey began, even before he had met his sky pirate buddies, Balthier and Fran, he had helped Jinn make Sunstones by siphoning energy from the dark crystals that dotted the Giza Plains.
"Hey Jinn! How's everyone been?" Vaan asked in a delighted tone of voice. He was always fond of younger kids, they made him feel important and authoritive, like the captain of an army brigade or something.
"We're doing great! When I first heard from Camina that you guys were back in the village, I didn't believe it, but she wasn't kidding! Kytes came down here and told us that you were on some big adventure; that you even went all the way to Bhujerba! You have to tell us about your adventures!" Jinn exclaimed. By now, all of the children of the village were forming a crowd around Vaan, each asking Vaan questions almost simultaneously.
"Did you go to Kerwon?!"
"Did you really fight a wyrm in the Golmore Jungle!?"
"Did you meet the Marquis Ondore guy!?"
"Is it true you got stranded in the Paramina Rift?!"
"Did you meet the Gran Kilti-Kilti...!?"
"How many Imperials did you kill?!"
"Uhhh…Well, let me see…" Vaan muttered, not knowing which questions to answer first. He then heard the soft, but authoritive voice of the Giza resident, Elder Brunoa.
"Children, that'll be enough. I'm sure our guest is too busy right now to tell stories. Run along, he'll be back and when we see him again, I'm sure he'll have even more stories to tell us. Right young man?" Elder Brunoa asked.
"Y-Yes ma'am." Vaan answered back. The children pouted in disappointment, and then scattered off to play. Elder Brunoa nodded her head and headed back to her small hut near the Cockatrice stables.
"C'mon Vaan, we're heading towards the city!" Penelo called out to Vaan. Vaan turned to Penelo and ran off towards the rest of the group.
"Well Vaan," Penelo said, "we're back in good ole' Rabanastre. Migelo is gonna be so happy to see us! And I can't wait to have a nice cold drink at the Sandsea, non-alcoholic of course! And maybe Tomaj has some hunts for us to complete! Do you think that when we see Old Dalan that—"
Penelo's constant babbling did not hamper Vaan's happy attitude. He was just glad to be back home in Rabanastre.
Well, I hope you like it. Please R&R. No flames please, I laugh at them. Also, if you all like it, i'll continue the story.
