Disclaimer: I do not own FFXII or anything related to it (That belongs to Square Enix), I also do not own Clan Infamous (That belongs to K Entertainment). Though I do own Neyva and her entire village.

This story was written as a back story for my character Neyva in a story written by "K Entertainment" here on , though my character has yet to come into the story I really wanted to write this and personally thought it too good to wait! If my character doesn't make the cut for the story though, I'll probably write my own story for Neyva; so no worries if you like this character, either way there will be more from her! With all this said, on with the story!

Many years ago, in the Salikawood…

At one time, I lived among the sun-dappled pathways of the Salikawood in the hidden Viera village of Xerys; and by the time I began my Wood-Warder training many would consider me to have been around ten years old by Viera reckoning, and my sibling Ni'ari had been born two years prior. We are long lived beings and in what would be considered two "Viera years" I had completed my training. I spent the next two years slaying the monsters that preyed upon the travelers that passed through our wood. Though one hunt in particular changed my views on life.

A Hume merchant and his family traveled through our wood every year from a simple village in the south to the prosperous and rich city of Archadia in the north. Though this year there was a notable rise in numbers of the powerful Antares that could easily be found across the Grand Bower Bridge, and normally we could keep them in check… but this year there had been too many for us to handle and occasionally several would slip by our patrols. We found the family hiding in one of the small huts that dotted the forest paths; the mother and two children were distraught as the father was on the brink of death. Unlike our Golmore cousins, we had no qualms against welcoming outsiders into the village, though we mainly brought only the injured and any accompanying family; as such we swiftly brought the dying man to the Salve-Makers. I had done my duty and attempted to leave the treetop hut so that the healers could work unhindered by my unnecessary presence, but a small hand grasping my wrist caught my attention. I turned back slightly to see the tear-streaked face of a little girl, the man's seemingly youngest daughter.

"Is daddy gonna be okay?" She asked me earnestly with pure worry in her eyes. My heart cried for the girl and I turned to her fully, crouching to her level

"I- do not know, little one. Though our healers are very skilled, I will not lie to you… his wounds are deep." I said tentatively, knowing it was better to tell her the truth now rather than lie to her. The child looked to the floor and thinking I was once again no longer needed I stood again to leave.

"Wait! Could… you stay with us?" This time the voice was older and obviously the voice of the mother. "Please, just until the children fall asleep. They are afraid the monsters will return no matter how much I tell them they are safe now." She continued as I turned back to see that what she said was very true, the children still gave off an air of fear.

So I stayed beside the frightened children and their worried mother, and though I'm not sure why… I stayed throughout the night. By morning light, as they day began anew so did the families tears. Sometime in the middle of the night the father had slipped away, so slowly that even asleep I did not feel his spirit pass. As I comforted the mother and children, assuring them that for him to leave so silently he had to have been at peace and in no pain, I began to realize that there had to have been more we could have done for him. I soon began to dabble in the healing arts, finding myself far more proficient in saving lives than I had been in taking them. I began to train under one of the Master Salve-Makers, and for the next three "Viera years" I considered myself a Salve-Maker; even donning the silver circlet of the profession. Now in my "seventeenth year" I had mastered our ways of healing and have begun learning the healing magick's; though to learn as much as I wish… I would have to leave the wood.

The Present Day…

"Sister, why do you wish to leave?" Asked Ni'ari as she stood in front of the village gates, hoping to somehow deter me from my path. She was very young and stood no taller than 5 feet tall, with light blue eyes like my own and her white high pigtails looking comically like a second set of ears. I sighed, Ni'ari had never seen the horrors of combat or seen the fear and worry in the eyes of those children so many "Hume years" ago. As much as leaving the familiarity of the wood frightened me… it also made me anxious to see what I might find outside the living walls of the wood. To hear more than the ever present song of the forest, and to learn what I may of the healing arts outside of our small village.

"I leave because I must Ni'ari, there is more to the world than our wood and that means there is more to know than what can be learned here. I will come home one day, that I can promise you… though I am not sure of when." I assured her as I placed my hand on her shoulder, now slumped in defeat. I continued walking and soon her voice rang out,

"Then let me come with you!" She exclaimed as she took a few steps to follow me.

"NO!" I shouted with more force than was probably necessary, "Your place is here, with mother and the village. Please don't follow me… Mother could not bear to lose both of us." I said as I fought the tears that I could feel forming in my eyes. I must not cry! Tears could end my journey before it even begins! I did not turn to look at her though I could hear her collapse to her knees in utter defeat as I walked out of the village of my birth into the area known as "The Diverging Way".

As I traveled the familiar paths of the Salikawood, I fought back the memories that could very well keep me here. Though some memories are too strong to will back once they are brought to the surface. I remembered the day Ni'ari was born… I had just begun training in the ways of the Wood-Warder. My mother sat up in her bed holding the small child, her long usually free-flowing knee-length hair was up in a messy bun between her long and darkening ears; though by now they were nearly completely darkened. As Viera age, our ears grow longer, though after a certain point they stop growing and slowly the usually white fur begins to turn brown from the tips down; seven "Viera years" after the birth of my sister, in the present day, my ears have only just begun to turn a light shade of tan in a small tuft on the very tip of each ear. My thoughts came back to the present and I began to wonder… where was I to go? I could not go to Archades, as they did not usually accept Viera or any other race besides Humes into the city- and even then they were particular about who they allowed into the sprawling city. Perhaps I might travel to Nalbina and see what the once grand palace-city might hold for me?

My journey through the Mosphoran Highwaste was pleasant, as I avoided fighting the stronger flying monsters and thundering Humbaba that dotted the landscape, and arrived in Nalbina within a day. I looked upon the city that I had heard from travelers to have once been a grand palace fortress with a city surrounding it's base; now, though it was still standing it truly seemed to pale in comparison to what I had heard it had once been… the war had not been kind to Nalbina. Within the day I began to realize that one needed something called "Gil" to gain things in the world outside the wood; and to acquire Gil I would need something called a "job". My only skills were combat and healing, which I told the tavern master who was understanding enough of my ignorance to allow me a free meal and a place to stay for the night; though before I retired for the night, the Tavern master gave me a few words of advice:

"For someone like you, the Hunter Clans are the way ta' go Miss! Now in my opinion Montblanc's Clan Centurio of Rabanastre is the best Clan ta' join… though there is Ghost Sec, nasty folk those guys, and this newly formed clan started up by some fellar wots been kicked outta Clan Centurio! Though either way the choice is yours." I thought about the Tavern master's words as I drifted of to sleep; a newly formed clan? Perhaps they would be in need of a talented healer? Though perhaps I should rethink what I call myself, as the Tavern master had quite some difficulty pronouncing my birth name. Yes, from now on I will call myself… Neyva.

So what does everyone think of Neyva? Does this shed some light on who she was before she joined Clan Infamous? I'm thinking about writing more about her history, let me know what you guys think okay?