Hello everybody! So, after years of reading and enjoying many stories on this site and wanting to post one of my own, I have finally found the time and drive to get it done. This is my first story ever, and I hope that people will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy or any of the characters, locations, or ideas associated with it.
Gran Pulse, Location:?
PSICOM Captain Lightning Farron trudged through the dense, wild jungle region of Pulse she currently found herself in. Having finished surveying this particular area for PSICOM's latest development project, the young captain was currently making her way back to her unit's campsite. Given how dull and uneventful the day's expedition had been, Farron did not see the need in pushing her entire team through the last hour of exploration, so she opted to finish up on her own. Her soldiers had wanted to object, but those under Farron's command knew better than to question her judgment. As expected of one of PSICOM Academy's top students, there was virtually no situation Lightning Farron couldn't handle; had there been anything to handle of course. As promised by Pulse's council of village chiefs, the land deeded to PSICOM for the Cocoon settlement project held little to no threat. This was of course a good sign for an area soon to be populated by Cocoon citizens, even if it did make for an agonizingly boring assignment.
The whole reason Lightning had agreed to this assignment was for its promise of adventure. A tad childish perhaps, but Lightning had always wondered what it would be like to experience the fabled Pulse wilds firsthand. Like practically every Cocoon born child, Farron had heard the many stories of Pulse's hazardous terrains and devilish creatures. Such tales only worked to fuel her curiosities. Given her experience so far, however, the captain was quite disappointed. If Pulse truly had any devilish creatures, she had yet to witness any. And while the areas she had tread so far were indeed unpredictable, hazardous seemed a bit of a stretch. There was no doubt that Pulse was truly a sight to behold, but where in the name of Etro was all the excitement?
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKK!"
Captain Farron's ears suddenly picked up on a strange high-pitched shriek somewhere to her left; in an area her team had yet to survey. Could this be part of that Pulse wildlife she had heard about? Surely no human could make such a shrill noise.
"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLP!"
No mistaking that sound!
Without so much as a moment's hesitation, Lightning Farron sprinted toward the source of the cry, hand braced to draw her gunblade at a moment's notice. As she ran, the trained soldier listened intently for more cries of distress. Soon, her ears pick up some rather ragged, panicked breathing, followed closely by thundering footsteps and grotesque snarls. Then suddenly, things got quiet; a very bad sign.
Lightning crossed to where she had last heard the sounds and found herself atop a small ledge overlooking the scene. There was a young pigtailed redhead and judging by her rather unusual looking clothes, she was clearly a Pulse native. The girl had clearly hit a dead end and was now curled up before a rock wall just a few feet below where Farron stood. A quick glance revealed that the girl was cornered, with the rock wall behind her and three of the most nightmarish creatures Lightning had ever seen on four legs staring her down; all with rather hungry expressions.
Lightning had to act fast. Drawing her weapon, the PSICOM captain switched her blade to gun mode, steadied her breathing, and lined up her sights. The frightened girl cringed as the lead creature barked, bounded toward her, and then … BANG! In a feat of marksmanship Farron had never even thought herself capable of, she had punctured the beast's skull midair, its lifeless body falling to the dirt.
Hardly the time to pat herself on the back, Lightning switched her weapon back to blade mode to engage the remaining two enemies. While the other two beasts were still dazed over their friend's sudden demise, Lightning had leapt from the ledge and charged. Having never faced such creatures before, Lightning had no way of estimating their cunning or agility. The two regained their composure rather quickly and bounded out of the way, Lightning only managing to catch one slightly at the side with her blade; not enough to hinder it unfortunately. "Damn!"
The two began to circle Lightning, having thankfully forgotten about the girl in favor this new threat. Lightning took a stance and steeled herself, waiting for the inevitable attack. She didn't have long to wait, as the animal to her right lunged at her with flailing claws. Lightning had barely managed to dodge the attack as the claws tore through her uniform jacket and grazed her right side. Farron then felt a sharp, crushing pain in her left forearm where, while in the confusion, the second creature had decided to latch onto her arm with its jagged teeth. Seeing no alternative, Lightning switched her blade to her right hand and drove it straight into the side of the beast currently trapping her arm. The monster's grip loosened, and Lightning swiftly flung it into the trunk of a nearby tree; it did not get back up. Two down, one to go.
Lightning scanned the area for the creature that had tried to claw at her only minutes ago, and found nothing. Dropping back into her fighting stance, blade at the ready, Farron honed her senses to her surroundings. No sign of her final enemy; she didn't like it. Then she caught the faintest sound of a tree branch rustling, somewhere above her head. Apparently these bastards knew how to climb. Lightning rolled out of the way just in time. The monster landed right where she had been standing, and without missing a beat, the PSICOM captain struck. One second later, the beast collapsed, its head about a full foot away from its body.
The threat neutralized, Captain Farron made to check on the Pulse girl still crouched against the rock wall. However, the second she turned around, a wave of dizziness struck her. Feeling a rather persistent throbbing at her right side and left arm, Lightning made to check her wounds. The skin around her injuries had started to discolor, which could only mean one thing: venom. On top of everything, the fucking bastards had been poisonous! What the hell where those things? When Lightning made to take a step, she promptly collapsed.
Her vision went blurry and she could scarcely hear anything but the blood in her veins. She could barely make out a light tapping sound as the girl she had saved ran toward her. All she saw was a blob of red standing over her. She closed her now very heavy eyelids and then heard two very choppy voices.
"...nille!"
"..ng! … over 'ere! ..lp!"
More, slightly louder, tapping as someone new quickly approached the scene.
"Wha … ell appen … 'ere!"
"... aved me! … afta ..elp her!"
The last thing Lightning could remember was the feeling of her body rising off of the ground as a pair of fairly muscular arms cradled her and began moving. She opened her eyes and saw only a blue, fuzzy blob, and then everything went dark.
Cocoon, Location: PSICOM Headquarters in Eden City
PSICOM Lieutenant Colonel Jihl Nabaat was exhausted, to say the least. For her, the past two weeks consisted of nothing but paperwork regarding the development project on Pulse. Requisition forms, building permits, time-off requests. The poor woman had signed on so many documents that the sight of her own name began to disgust her. Her eyes throbbed, her hand cramped, and for the fourth time today, she actually contemplated jumping from her twelfth floor office window to escape these blasted forms.
After seven long months of negotiations, the elders of Pulse had finally agreed to allow for a Cocoon settlement to be built on their land, to help foster integration between the two races. This was by no means a small feat. Being a proud, hard-working people, there were very few Pulse natives that supported the idea of harmonizing with the technologically dependent denizens of Cocoon. As such, many of Pulse's tribes wanted nothing to do with this new colony, demanding that, if it had to be built, it would not near their villages. This resulted in the settlement being built practically in the middle of no where, far from Pulse's major cities like Taejin, or the capital of Paddra. Pulse's village leaders had made good on their word to grant Cocoon an area with scarce wildlife, but civilization was equally as scarce, with the expectation of a few sparse villages. Still, progress was progress. Cocoon was granted its colony and, as per their agreement, the tribes received bountiful amounts of building material which would allow them to fortify their own settlements.
Naturally PSICOM, Cocoon's leading military power, was given the honor of spearheading this historic project. Contracting construction companies, providing protection for said companies' workforces, finding citizens willing to make the colony a reality, and various other important tasks were all PSICOM's responsibly. And all of the honor and prestige of this immense undertaking was placed in the hands of PSICOM Colonel Yaag Rosch who would oversee the project. Of course, as Colonel Rosch's second-in-command, all of the honor and prestige of the immense paperwork to make all of this a reality was placed, or rather thrust, into the hands of PSICOM Lieutenant Colonel Jihl Nabaat. Oh, the honor!
Jihl had just finished reading a rather lengthy proposal about why a dry cleaner would benefit the new colony, and signed off on it. Frankly, if the small business owner had gone through of the trouble of thoroughly researching the possible dangers of tree sap on military uniforms, perhaps he deserved a shot. She was preparing to read the next ludicrously long proposal when a commotion just outside her office door caught her attention. Paperwork was taxing enough without being constantly interrupted, which is exactly why a guard was stationed outside of her office. However, at this point, a little distraction was more than welcome, so she decided to listen.
"I'm sorry, Miss, but I cannot allow you to enter." Her door guard firmly stated.
"But I need to speak with Colonel Nabaat!" replied a rather distressed female voice. "It's an emergency! Please!"
"The Lieutenant Colonel is extremely busy and has expressly asked not to be disturbed. Now I will have to ask you to leave."
Her curiosity peaked, Jihl exited her office to see what this so called emergency could possibly be.
"What is going on out here?"
"Jihl!"
Nabaat's gaze immediately fell on the petite figure trying desperately to peer around the burly guard nearly three times her size. She would recognize that head of soft pink hair anywhere.
"Serah?"
Seeing an opportunity, Serah darted around the muscular man and ran straight up to Jihl. The guard moved to detain the rather brazen girl, but Jihl waved him off; there was no threat here.
"JihlpleaseLightning'sgonemissingyouhavetohelpplea se!" The girl's words came out in one very panicked breathe.
"Serah, calm down and come with me." Jihl wrapped an arm around Serah's shoulders and lead the pinkette into her office and closed the door behind them.
Guiding the distressed girl to sit down on her office couch, hands firmly on her shoulders. "Deep breath." Serah obeyed. "Now, calmly, tell me what's wrong."
"It's Lightning!" So much for calm. "She's gone missing!"
Ugh! Lightning Farron; Serah's older sister. Jihl pulled off her glasses and began massaging her temples for the already forming migraine. That was the last name Jihl wanted to hear; at least right now, with all of her current stre-, wait!
"What do you mean, she's gone missing?"
"She was leading a survey team through the development site on Gran Pulse." Serah began explaining. "She dismissed the team to finish up on her own, and nobody has seen her since!"
Typical. That hothead was always pulling stunts like this; choosing to do things on her own instead of having others slowing her down. "Serah, we both know that Lightning does stuff like this all of the time. I'm sure there is nothing to worry about."
"It's been four days!"
That was new. In all of the years Jihl had known her, Lightning had never gone more than a day without checking in with someone in PSICOM while on duty, be it a superior or fellow soldier. And for her to go more than two full days without contacting her sister was completely unheard of. Now Jihl was concerned.
"I'll contact the soldiers down at the site and have them double their search efforts." Jihl was already preparing to establish a comm-channel.
"They'll never find her! You have to go Jihl! Please!"
"ME!?" Jihl eyes went wide with incredulous. "I'm a ranking officer, I can't just up and leave on some search mission at the drop of a hat. Besides, I don't know the first thing about Pulse."
"But you're the only one smart enough to find her. Nobody knows my sister like you do. You would be able to find things an entire search party would never even think to look for."
"All valid points, but it just isn't possible Serah." Jihl deadpanned.
"Please Jihl!" Serah begged with a slight hitch in her throat. "I know you still care about her. Even after what Lightning did, I know that you still -"
"DON'T!"
Jihl's entire demeanor darkened. Serah was not going to bring that up. Not after all the time Jihl had spent trying to get over it; her one moment of weakness. She could tell from the look in Serah's eyes that she knew she'd gone too far. The girl was upset enough, so Jihl collected herself.
"She's my sister, Jihl." Serah tried again, unable to hide the sobs in her voice any longer. "I can't lose her." She openly cried, her tears falling in streams down her face. "She's all I have left."
That did it. Just saying no to someone like Serah was hard enough, but seeing the girl so legitimately broken and scared was simply heartbreaking. There was no way Jihl could refuse her again.
Jihl began to consider her options, eyeing a particular stack of paper on her desk. PSICOM protocol for foreign projects dictated that in the event a commanding officer went missing during a foreign assignment, the project overseer was granted discretion to do whatever they deemed necessary to find said officer. Jihl should know, she had to the entire protocol manual cover to cover and summarize it for Colonel Rosch; whom she was certain hadn't so much as glanced at her summary before tossing in his desk drawer. Lightning was not the commanding officer of the PSICOM unit at the project site, but she was one of PSICOM's most decorated field operatives, and viewed as an asset by many of her superiors; that should be enough. And while Jihl may not be the project overseer, it was highly doubtful that Rosch would risk his skin to look for a survey team leader, asset or no, so getting his approval to go herself shouldn't be too much trouble. The man would sooner do his own paperwork than trudge through a bug-infested jungle.
Taking in the still sobbing girl, Jihl expression softened. "Okay."
"What?" Serah looked up at her hopefully.
"I'll do it." Jihl paused. "I'll get a team together, and I'll find Lightning."
"Oh thank you!" Serah threw her arms around Jihl as tears continued streaming from her eyes. "Thank you so much!"
Jihl gave the girl a reassuring pat on the back and let out a deep sigh. To think that she would be leading a search for Lightning Farron of all people; this should prove interesting.
So that is Chapter One of my first ever story. If you liked it, I'm glad that you did and you can expect to see more. If you didn't like it, well then you don't have to keep reading now do you? Regardless, thank you for reading and see you next chapter.
Before I close, I want to give a HUGE thank you to Prudence Chastity, who is, without a doubt, my favorite author on this site. Not only is she a major inspiration for this work, but she has helped me immensely by critiquing my story ideas and making this story a reality. Also, added thanks to Prudence's friend, who wishes to be known as Prudy's Little Helper, who has also contributed to the development of my story. Seriously, if you have not read any of Prudence Chastity's works, then I urge you to check them out right now.
My recommendations: Start with 'Smoke and Mirrors' or 'Only As Expected.' Just a heads up though, read 'Smoke and Mirrors' if you really want to hate Jihl, and 'Only As Expected' if you really want to love her.
