This is the first fan fic I've written and the first story I've tried writing in a few years. hopefully it ends up being enjoyable for whoever reads it. Please let me know what you think.
"Kupo-po!" The moogle knight said sing-song. "We have another quest!"
"Well, let's hear it then Kupugsly," barked the clan leader, a bangaa known only as Griever. He was a stern man, always concerned with business and head hunting and little else. That's why he surrounded himself with people skilled in battle but also those skilled in other things. Kupugsly was the clan orator, tasked with gathering quests and bartering with those who deal with information.
"Well, kupo...There's a request for a clan to clear out a monster infestation somewhere around the Zedlei Forest. They're supposed to be violent and mischievous!" Kupgsly exclaims again in the same sing-song tone. He was always happy to talk about a new quest. "The pay is good but I don't think it's the monsters you're hunting for."
"Is that so..?" Griever toyed with his sword's hilt thoughtfully. "How is the clan doing for funds, Phillip?"
The thief Phillip was the book keeper, in charge of the clan's finances. He pulled a stack of papers from a pack and laid them out on the table. He examined the latest scratchings on the paper. "Well, the clan currently has 2,450 gil, so we can use any jobs we can find. Plus we're not even well known as a head hunting clan so we won't get the big payouts quite yet. The more gil we make, the more gil we can make."
"We haven't done much fighting lately. Seems we are mostly busy with the odds and ends of clan business as of late. I am in need of more practice for my craft if I am to become the caliber of Red Mage I strive for." Lonilotte was a beautiful viera. But her gracefulness and her beauty hid the most skillful of huntresses. She was a master of stealth and rapier and one of the most formidable warriors Griever had yet recruited. She insisted she could be better and fights with the clan to practice her newest craft and to find the legendary Madu, a blade capable of unlocking the potential to double cast.
"I think them two has got the idea, Griever. We need treasure! And battles!" Quo the seeq was just a simple minded viking. He wanted to swing his ax and decorate himself with the best, most expensive armors, weapons and accessories he could get his hands on. To this end he joined the clan. He was always quite jolly and loved to tell jokes. "Battles lead to treasure! snort"
"This is true," Griever nodded his head in agreement. "Let's go then, lads!"
The five headed out of the pub, nodding thanks to the bar man as they passed. Camoa was beautiful this time of year. The sun was bright, the breeze was cool and the streets were bustling. On a day like today it would be great to visit the shops around town, but Clan Griever was nearly broke.
Their journey would take them along the Baptiste Hill high road and along the coast. It would be mostly uneventful and would only take a few days. Griever was always glad that he made sure to take interesting people along with him, it made the journeys more bearable. Griever was a gladiator and fighting was what he truly enjoyed so sometimes a long journey would bore the man to tears.
After two nights journey the crew found themselves beside a brook just outside the forest. They set up camp for the night to rest up for the coming battle. The four sat down beside the fire to talk a bit and have some food before sleeping.
Phillip sighed. "This food is horrible." He slumped down nearly in tears.
"Well, you did buy the provisions," Lonilotte said, examining the food.
"I know" Phillip cried. "But it's all we could afford!"
"Well, at least we have something in our tummies! Kupo!" The fatally optimistic moogle once again tries to make the best of things.
"I think I'll just sleep..." Griever sneaks away.
Phillip sighs again and puts down what he can't finish. He grumbles as he shuffles off to where he's set up to sleep. He flops down and shifts around trying to get comfortable.
"Nighty night, kupo!"
Lightning flashed, followed closely by the raging roar of thunder. The skies poured so much that streams of running water flowed this way and that on the plains. The hills were slippery, wet and muddy as they tried to battle their way through it.
The beast wasn't slowed down in the least, its massive limbs wading through the muddied ground without even a stumble. It reared up onto it's hind legs and threw it's right fore limb in a sweeping arc at it's prey as it howled viciously. The pair swiftly dodged back and made for a large tree some ways back from their target.
"This beast seems more than we bargained for," the female bangaa says between heaving breaths. She adjusted her plate armor back to protect her proper. She double gripped her sword and stood ready to re-engage their attacker.
"Aye," Griever replies, wiping the rain from his eyes. "I don't think it wise to fight this thing further."
The beast charged, a guttural howl bellowing from it's maw. The two readied themselves to counter. It leaped into the air, barreling forward. Lightning flashed.
Griever sits up, growling in anger and fear. The dream again, seems it always marked the day of battle. Oh well, he figures, all the better to be awake and prepare for the day.
Lonilotte was gone, as usual. She always made a habit of scoping out the area to get the lay of the land. Phillip was asleep with his mouth wide open and sprawled out, while Kupugsly was poking at the dead fire with his sword making sure it was fully extinguished (as any dutiful moogle knight would).
Quo, well, he was probably by the water admiring his reflection.
Griever walked over to Phillip and gave him a nudge, and then another, until he roused from his sleep.
"Why's it you always do the kicking?" Phillip whined wiping the sleep from his eyes.
"You'd sleep all day if I let you."
"Bah! I'd wake up eventually!" Phillip pouted.
"Kupo, we should really get moving! I heard the monsters are wandering around the forest, they could be anywhere."
Lonilotte suddenly appeared out of thin air in the midst of the three. "I have news of the mark. They are just beyond the stream, in a clearing not far. We should make haste."
Griever nodded. "We'll run into Quo on the way. Let's move."
Phillip muttered complaints as he quickly packed up his gear and trotted off after everyone.
They ran into the monsters in the clearing Lonilotte had told them of. They appeared to be fairy creatures, mostly, with a bomb mixed in. Only 6 in total.
"This is all? Hmm I hardly see how so few were able to cause such a problem,"
"Ah well, Griever, let's figure that out after we take care of them!" Quo bellowed and charged forward brandishing his ax threateningly.
The fairy creatures looked startled as the seeq barreled towards them, but they quickly calmed down and began to giggle.
"Tee hee! More fun!" One creature said. The lot of them all began to move towards the group.
"Spread out! We fight!" Commanded Griever.
Lonilotte begins to chant something, wind gusts around her as she turns invisible. The sound of her feet hitting the grass was all one could hear and even that was barely audible.
Phillip drew his two krises and charged off to the right. He didn't seem it but he was a master assassin and his fighting skills were top notch. One of the fairies immediately followed after him, leaving it's group.
"Kupo!" the moogle knight charges off to the left of the monsters, paraiba blade and shield at the ready.
Griever gripped his adamant blade in both hands and surveyed the battle. Phillip and Kupugsly had drawn off two monsters, one each. Lonilotte was getting in behind and Quo was charging straight into them. He watched as the seeq's lunging swing knocked back the fairies and then charged in himself.
A fairy lunged at Phillip, swinging it's tiny fists violently. He blocked with an upward swing up his left hand and stabbed at it with his right hand. He nicked the creature and he was thrown off balance, startled and frightened by the wound. Phillip used the confusion to sneak in behind it and in a flurry of gleaming silver and blood the monster was diced and fell lifelessly to the ground.
Kupugsly had engaged the other monster himself and was trading light blows. The two were roughly the same size but the moogle was equiped well and was skilled in the blade. The fairy flailed it's arms harmlessly at the moogle's shield, trying to find some weakness in the defense. Kupugsly pushed forward with his shield and then jumped back.
"Kupo! Moogle lance!"
The paraiba blade glowed as it was held ready and as it was thrust at the fairy a fiery beam of light burst from the tip and slammed into the monster. The stench of scorching flesh permeated the area and the creature burned from the attack.
Quo raged, swinging his ax with such fury that it would cleave one of the creatures in twine, if he could only hit. The creatures dodged his imprecise attacks and countered with brutal small fists to his bulging stomach.
The bomb belched fire with such force that it knocked the raging viking off his feet. Griever leapt over the downed seeq and cleaved one of the his attackers in half with a vicious downward strike. Still two fairies stood as well as the bomb and they quickly returned to the offensive.
Lonilotte appeared silently behind one of the fairies, drawing her blade she pierced the creature twice, once through the neck and once through the stomach, lighting quick and extremely precise. The thing had never even known it's own demise.
Quo had returned to his feet joining Griever. Phillip dashed in from the right, Kupugsly from the left and Lonilotte stood in behind. They had successfully surrounded the monsters. This battle was over now.
The fairy creature panicked and tried to flee only to be caught by a quick thunder spell from the viera and a follow up moogle lance. Now only the bomb remained.
The bomb began to breathe heavily, puffing itself out more and more with every breath.
"It's self-destructing!" Phillip yells.
Suddenly the five are themselves on the run for their lives. Leaping behind small hills and large boulders in an attempt to shield themselves from the explosion.
The explosion shook the forest and set a ringing about in the ears of the clan. Griever and Phillip looked at one another, nodding to show that they are both fine. As the smoke cleared they all returned to their feet to check out the damage done and to gather together for the journey back.
"Kupopopo!" Kupugsly shouts triumphantly. "We won, kupo!"
From the epicenter of the explosion there were some loud groans and moans. Something was alive and in pain. They all moved in on it, weapons at the ready, as the smoke blew out of the clearing.
"Ugh...that hurt..." Quo cried.