Hey all, just a note before you start reading! While Memoria de la Batallia is set in the world of Vana'diel and based on Final Fantasy XI, I've taken some liberties in making things up to help the story flow better, while keeping its authenticity as a FFXI based fic. Just thought I'd let you know so nobody got confused!

Standard disclaimers apply - Final Fantasy XI and related titles are copyright Square Enix.

Collision! A Meeting at the Markets
In preparation for his journey to Jeuno, Lt. Ezekiel "Rally" Pender heads for the auction house in the heart of Bastok Markets. Travelling to Bastok to learn smithery had been a waste of time and money for Chay Vanderhaben, and so she proceeds to the Markets to rid herself of excess wares to earn enough for her airship fare to Jeuno. Our heroes collide – what trouble ensues?

It was a letter that inspired many emotions. For his father, it inspired pride, his sister, worry; for Ezekiel "Rally" Pender, officer of the Republican Elite Armed Forces and son of the notable and high powered Gareth Pender, former Bastokan Ambassador to San D'oria, the letter, which was really more of a note, gave rise to an overwhelming sense of exasperation.

"The Venerable President Karst and Gen. Nahdj, Head Ambassador to Jeuno, request the presence of the honorable Lt. Ezekiel Pender for an important briefing at the Bastokan Embassy, located in Ru'Lude Gardens, Jeuno. The briefing will occur upon the second Lightningsday of the sixth month, reigning Year of Altana. Promptness is desired."

So they wanted him in Jeuno again, did they? Zeke had done a brief stint as an aid to the previous Ambassador Liude in his teenage years, thinking that his destiny lay in the grand City of Bridges, but had returned home not soon after the appointment, disgusted by the pathway the city had taken after the influx of adventurers had hit. Now, at the ripe old age of twenty-six, Zeke was grateful for the excuse to leave the family home in the center of Bastok, but had no desire to return to the city of Jeuno, sure that its once glittering streets were now tarnished with the mud of adventurers' boots.

"This is a great honor, son," his father prattled on, as he had been for the past hour. Zeke shifted, slouching down in an attempt to get comfortable in the cushion less, straight-backed chairs of the Pender dining room. "You are being called upon to represent the Pender family in a city of great renown. I hope you treat this mission with utmost care and respect. Are you listening to me boy? Sit up straight!"

His father had been picking at him about the assignment since the note had arrived an hour and a half earlier, during their breakfast meal. A now retired politician, Zeke's father had been waiting avidly for the government to call upon his son, in hopes of re-living his glory days through the younger Pender. Such a note probably filled his father's mind with fancy parties and great honors to be heaped upon the family name. Zeke had no such aspirations; he would go, receive his assignment, and get it over with as quickly as possible. Praying his father was done, he pushed back from the table.

"If you'll excuse me, Father, I have – "

"Sit down, boy! I'm not through with you!" and so commenced the lecture on his utter lack of respect for authority and how if only he dedicated himself to his work, he would be much happier. Zeke had heard it hundreds of times, but his father never seemed to tire of lecturing him nonetheless. As his father began to wind down, his sister stepped in for him.

"Please Father, I'm sure Zeke has errands to run before he leaves. Would it be so terrible to let him prepare now, and speak with him later?" Shooting his sister a smile of thanks, Zeke used his father's angry silence to slip out of the dining room and away from the house, towards the marketplace.

The crowds around the Bastok Markets auction house were as bad as ever, people shoving and crowding into the small areas where items and recent bids were posted. He moved over towards the delivery service, struggling to push through the heavy throng of bodies. A friend from his Jeuno days, a renowned silversmith, had recently forged him a new great sword on commission, and he had been notified of its arrival along with his call to arms in Jeuno.

"Package for Pender, please." He shifted, waiting as the bulky Galka moved back into the room to find his package. "It should be fairly long," he called out, leaning slightly over the counter.

"Excuse me sir…" came a soft, feminine voice from somewhere nearby. He glanced briefly over his shoulder at the petite girl standing next to him.

"Please sir…a moment of your time?"

"What?" he snapped angrily, wanting the kid to go away so he could deal with his shopping in peace.

"I was just thinking, was all…" What was this girl getting at? If she wanted to get to the delivery counter, she'd just have to wait in line. And since when did asking anyone to step aside warrant the sharing of thoughts? He glowered down at the young woman's face, trying to make it clear that he didn't want to be bothered. Her smile faltered momentarily under his gaze, before strengthening into a full-fledged beam, white teeth bared in a happy grin of camaraderie; what was she up to?

"You just looked like you could use some metal ores, is all. Real cheap, if you like. I could even –" He groaned, grabbing his package from the recently returned courier and pushing her roughly aside. He didn't have the time or the desire to listen to her lame sales pitch. He wasn't even in the market for any metal ores.

"Hey! HEY!" She was chasing after him, ducking and swerving around the horde of people gathered around the auction house. "That was pretty rude there mister! Hey! I'm talking to you!" She reached out to grab his elbow, her fingers just barely brushing the sleeve of his royal blue aketon. "C'mon mister! Just one lousy ore?" She had latched on to his package, dragging him backwards. Goddess, she was strong! He wheeled on her, in no mood to be toyed with, jabbing a scolding finger in her face, just as she gave a violent tug on the package, sending him reeling in to her as wood splintered in her small hands.

"Listen, I don't want your stupid ores no matter how cheap they are. Now if you'd let go of me, I'd like to be on my way." he snapped as he pushed her away once again. She wasn't paying any attention to him; instead, she was staring inside his package, which she had accidentally ripped open in their little tug of war.

"Hot damn, that's a pretty sweet great sword! Lemme guess, Skimbleshanks smithed this, didn't he? Man he's getting better by the day!" She tugged the sword gently out of the sawdust mess that filled the package, inspecting the blade. So the girl knew her weapons masters; it still didn't make him want to stop and have a casual conversation with her, even despite the fact that she wrinkled her faintly freckled nose in the cutest way as she bent over, running her thumb gently along the glistening blade. "You know," she murmured, glancing up at him mischievously, amber eyes clashing with his icy blues, "a bronze ore would go a long way in keeping this beaut sharp." He sighed; she obviously wasn't going to give up.

"Alright alright," he sighed, "how much for one bronze ore?"

"Oh, let's see" she mused, biting her lower lip, "how's about 250 gil?"

"Two fifty. For an ore?"

"Right?" she looked hesitant, realizing that he knew she was cheating him. She should have figured a well-dressed guy like him would know what a simple bronze ore should cost.

"I can just go to the guild and get it for ten. What makes yours worth two fifty?"

"Well two forty is a donation to a non-profit organization," she lied through her teeth. "The Vanderhaben Airship Ticket Society. I'm sure you've heard of it." She was blatantly cheating him out of two hundred and forty gil, an amount that could probably buy him food for a few days in the outlands. Or, as she had hinted at, an airship ticket; she was trying to get out of town. Sighing, he dug in his pockets, tossing a few gold coins into her outstretched palm; the desire to leave Bastok was something he could sympathize with. She beamed at him, handing over the ore, and further rewarded him with a rather bone crushing hug.

"Thanks a boatload mister!" she called over her shoulder as she practically skipped away towards the rapidly growing crowd. He shook his head in bewilderment, tucking the ore into his pocket and doing his best to put his package back together, all the while hypnotized by her retreating back. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts of how nice certain parts of her anatomy looked as she sashayed her way through the throng of people, Zeke turned, heading once again for the drafty, near-empty mansion his family resided in.

Hope you enjoyed!

..:Puddles:..