Honestly, I'm new to writing fanfiction, but I figure that it's good practice. Rorn here, just sayin' that I don't own Final Fantasy or its affiliates, Square Enix does. Luso, Cid, Adelle, and other characters from the game are included in this particular story, but it doesn't focus as much on them.
Chapter 1 -
Rays of sun fell through the gaps in the foliage, bathing the woods in a surreal half-light. Small creatures skittered across the ground, and in the farther distance larger creature's outlines could been seen slowly moving. Suddenly, from out of one of the taller trees, a young hume hunter dropped down on a rope. The hunter straightened up, looked around and grinned.
Sigmund slid his unstrung greatbow off of his back, and began to whack his way through the underbrush toward the clearing where his clan – if one could call four people who disagreed on everything a clan – was waiting for his intel. Their mark, the crushatrice known locally as Klesta, was notorious for sneaking like a ninja and striking like a drunken bangaa.
Speaking of drunken bangaas… Sigmund was close enough to the meeting spot to hear Hektor rambling about how his sword needed polishing, so it looked good as it killed things. He chuckled softly to himself. That bangaa's drunken antics always made him laugh.
As he entered the clearing on the opposite side as his clan, he saw Natalya, the clan's only female member, smack Hektor, knocking him to his bum. He had probably deserved it. Natalya was a rather no-nonsense viera with a uniquely scary way with a rapier.
Cid, the motley crew's de facto leader, was standing to the side shaking his head sadly. The Revgaji, though the leader, was quite soft on his clanmates. Therefore, while he was quite respected, he was unable to maintain order.
Not that I contribute to order Sigmund thought. In fact he was the hell-raiser of the group. His small size had gotten him rejected from several clans, and until Cid had let him into clan Gully, he had been a highwayman to gain reputation. Unfortunately, his plan worked too well, and instead of being welcomed into any clans he had been hunted down by the clans he wanted to join. He still had a rebellious streak, though under the guidance of Cid and the other members it was kept in check. Sigmund shook out of his temporary reverie and ran toward his clan.
"Hey guys. No sign of Klesta anywhere," Sigmund said.
"Curses," grumbled Cid, "though 200 gil for bringing down this beast was far too little."
"Ah, but we needed that money for our rent. The pub won't let us stay on credit forever," said Natalya. Her ears then pricked up. "But our luck just got either a lot better or a lot worse."
As she spoke, a piercing shriek shattered the relative silence. Cid and Hektor drew their blades and looked warily around, unable to discern the source. Sigmund strung his bow and nocked an arrow, nervously waiting for the inevitable attack. Natalya drew her estoc from the baldric on her back and calmly assumed a ready pose.
Suddenly a bright light filled the sky. All four of the clan members shielded their eyes. When they opened them, a kid with strange clothing was lying in the middle of the clearing. He groaned and winced.
"What – huh? Where am I? What is going on!" the kid cried out in fear.
Sigmund winced as another shriek rent the air. This time the direction was obvious – the cry came from the woods directly behind the prone stranger. The kid shot to his feet when he heard the cry, and looked around with wide eyes.
A third shriek tore through the air, and with it appeared the source – Klesta had arrived. Sigmund dryly noted that it had brought friends – a few dozen smaller cockatrices were around the crushatrice's feet.
The kid was petrified with fear until Cid, doing as leaders do, took charge and cried "Child, we'll protect you! Hurry, join our clan!"
"What is going on? Why should I trust you!"
"Because the massive monster behind you won't extend the same offer!" Cid yelled. "Fight with us and you won't be killed."
Klesta shrieked again, and the boy came running toward the clan. "That's incentive enough for me. What do I do?"
"Just say that you join the clan," said Cid. "And you may want to hurry!"
The cockatrices were getting antsy behind Klesta. Suddenly, one of the larger ones shrieked and began barreling toward them. Sigmund loosed his arrow, then cursed under his breath when it narrowly missed.
"Alright, I-I join the clan!" said the kid. Time seemed to freeze for a moment, and the kid was covered in bright light. When it dissipated, the young boy was clothed in what seemed like random bits of armor.
"Bu-Kaw!" The rushing cockatrice reached them and ducked under Hektor's slashing blade. Hektor swore and attacked again, but the cockatrice knocked him down and viciously slashed at his torso.
Suddenly the new member, wielding a shortsword, stabbed the preoccupied cockatrice it its rotund belly. The dying beast screeched horrendously, then fell over dead, with its blood already beginning to soak the ground.
The remaining cockatrices and the massive cluckatrice were whipped into a frenzy by the death of their fellow beast. With more horrible screeches, the remaining monsters flooded foreward with Klesta shaking the ground with each step.
Sigmund loosed shot after shot, bringing down beast after beast, but they just kept coming. Soon the small group was embroiled in a bloody hand-to-hand battle.
Natalya was moving rapidly around the battlefield, her blade taking life after life in a whirlwind of crimson death.
Hektor had recovered from his attack and was howling like a madman as he hacked to pieces one of the braver cockatrices.
Cid and the child were staying together. Despite his obvious inexperience, the kid was actually doing quite well, dealing grievous wounds upon several cockatrices while remaining unscathed. Cid as usual was decimating entire groups of enemies.
Sigmund shot the remainder of his quiver, the rushed into the fray, pulling from his boot a tapered dagger and swinging around his bow like a stave. He stabbed a cockatrice in the back and strangled another with the strung bow, then felt a menacing shadow pass over him. He dove to the side as Klesta slammed hard into the ground, narrowly avoiding crushing him.
Sigmund looked up at the enormous bird in front of him and attempted to scramble to his feet, but the dive had twisted one of his ankles. Dammit, damn, damn, damn! This isn't how I'm supposed to go out! Not killed by a giant frikin chicken! he thought as Klesta rose high above him.
Suddenly, miraculously, Klesta screamed and didn't attack. Instead it spun around, flinging the boy from the sword buried to the hilt in Klesta's leg. Klesta screamed again, and began flapping it's oversized wings and flying away. The surviving cockatrices fled the field at their leader's retreat.
"We have won the day, though that was definitely a close call…" quipped Natalya. She turned to the kid and continued, "with much of our victory due to you, stranger. I would assume that you have a name?"
"It's Luso. Luso Clemens. Now a question for you. What is going on? Did I die or something, 'cause no way is any of this real."
Cid chuckled. "It's real enough. The blood on your sword, that scrape on your leg, all real." To prove this point, Hektor slapped Luso on the hack and laughed with gusto.
"Y'see, boy? Real as can be." The bangaa then winced. "Ah, that still stings. Siggy, do me a favor. Bandage me."
Sigmund complied, pulling strips of gauze from a pouch on his belt. "There you go. Don't do anything too stupid, or your wounds will open again."
Natalya, who had been mostly silent during this time, suddenly spoke up. "Well, this has been eventful. Let us get back to the pub. Boy, or Luso, or whatever you are called, you have some explaining to do."
Aaaaaaaaaaaand… Cut! I feel that was pretty good for my first chapter of my first story. Still, what I think doesn't matter since I'm extremely biased. Please review, either to improve my writing or to boost my ego. For the record, Luso's arrival will be done in a flashback in the next chapter (which shouldn't be TOO long in coming).