Hi! Okay so I'm not sure what this is gonna be about but this beginning just came to me so... Hope you like it:)

Insufferable

Hope's POV

It was in one word excruciating. In another words it was insufferable. The utter agony of the pain ripped through me right to my soul. My vision slowly started to fade just as I saw a small circular hole on my lower abdomen. I wasn't sure what it was from but I know who exactly did it. I tried not to give up to the comforts of the blackness. I really did but my efforts weren't enough. They never are. As soon as my vision went completely black I knew I had failed yet again. It felt like I was in a deep slumber but I could here distant shouting. Where was it coming from? At that point I realized I was alive. I had a chance to redeem myself and I was ready to take it.

I opened my eyes for the first time in what felt like ages to see my friends sitting near a campfire. Vanille was crying quietly, Lightning had a frown, and Snow was pacing back and forth. I looked down at my abdomen to see a white bandage wrapped tightly over where the wound should be. I tried to speak but my mouth felt very dry and unnatural. I think I might be dehydrated but what should I know? I'm just a failure with know real purpose in this world.

Third Person POV

"Snow how could you do that! All he did is fall on top of you. Now he is passed out with a large amount of blood loss. The only reason Hope survived is because of Vanille here" Lightning gestured to their red headed companion who had red, blood shot eyes.

"Lightning it was the fruit that Snow ate! It must have been a star berry.

"Oh. That fruit? I remember learning about those during my survival training classes. Some believe that they have hallucinogenic properties. Am I right?" Lightning said while starting to get what really happened.

"Yes you are right Lightning. Now let's go tell Snow that it wasn't his fault he almost killed Hope!" Vanille started to return to her normally jubilant self knowing that everything was going to be alright.

"Snow we know what happened! The star berry you ate made you hallucinate causing you to think that Hope was a cie'th." Vanille said.

"But I still hurt him. I can't trust myself around him. What if I end up eating another one or hurting him again? Do you know how guilty I feel? I feel like the guilt is just eating away at my soul."

"Stop trying to act like you're the victim here. Hope is the real one. You are just the guy that almost killed him."

"I know that Lightning but that is why I can't stay here with him. Your all in danger. That's what I've been trying to say this whole time!" Lightning was ready to beat Snow to a pulp for what he did to Hope but Snow was getting pretty angry too. On the inside, Lightning thought of Hope as a son so she is willing to give her life for him. If anyone got in the way of her protecting Hope then they would have a great amount of trouble.

Hope was walking so slowly towards all of them that no one noticed him until he spoke. He spoke very strained and slurred but they understood him.

"When are we leaving?" Hope asked in physical and emotional pain. The bullet wound still hurt and it hurt him that someone he looked up to and cared about would do such a thing to him.

"Hope, Snow almost killed you and all you can worry about is when we're going to leave? I guess some of Snow's stubbornness has been rubbing off on you ehh?." Lightning replied while ruffling his hair with a small smile gracing the pinkette's lips.

"Tell him Lightning. Go on tell him what really happened." Vanille said while gently pushing Lightning towards Hope.

"Okay Hope so you know what a star berry is?" Lightning asked.

Being one of the medics in the group Hope knew exactly what they were. They were a pinkish-yellow(like where the yellow and red mix on a peach) fruit in the shape of a star that may cause the consumer to hallucinate.

"Yes I know exactly what star berries are and all about their hallucinogenic properties. The thing I'm wondering is how did he think I attacked him?" Hope asked

"We all, Vanille, Snow, and I, have come to the conclusion that when you tripped on the branch Snow thought you jumped on him and knowing that he thought that you were a cie'th basically explains everything.

~~~~~Flashback~~~~~

Hope was slowly walking back to camp after taking a refreshingly cold bath. The reason he took a bath in the first place was because he was muddy from the night before. It rained very hard causing the ground to become extremely damp and walking on it caused a small amount of mud to splatter on you. He spotted Snow and waved happy to see his blonde companion but he failed to see the branch that was coming increasingly close with each step he took. By the time Hope realized where the branch was he was already in mid-air, falling quickly towards the damp forest floor. Hope braced himself for impact, tensing his muscles to reduce the damage he would receive from the fall, only to land on a tall muscular blonde. Snow's hand instantly grabbed Lightning's gun-blade out of his jacket's pocket. Hope cowered in fear away from him apologizing with a hint of a blush but he could see the look in Snow's eyes.

His normally friendly blue eyes were as cold as a mid-winter night and as frightened as a deer in headlights. Pure adrenaline took over Snow, changing his normal rational thinking into that of a animal. The star berry did nothing to help him figure out it was Hope. In fact it made his platinum-blonde hair look like a silver mane, it made his beautiful sea green eyes look like tiny olive colored slits, and it made his small stature look fierce and intimidating. Hope's short nails appeared as long pointy weapons that could easily cut through bone. Snow aimed the gun-blade towards the silverette and fired. The bullet pierced Hope's slightly muscular lower abdomen. He saw the warm red liquid slowly seep down his friend's mid-section. He(Snow) ran as fast as he could away from the "cie'th that tried to attack him"

Snow kept looking back during the five minute run back to the camp to check if the "cie'th" was behind him. He had no doubt that he didn't at least incapacitate the monstrosity. Snow kept running into stray branches, tripping over roots, and even running into a free trees. After what felt like an hour of running back to camp, which was in reality only a few minutes, he looked for Lightning to tell her what had just occurred.

"Lightning! A cie'th just tried to attack me but I shot it with your gun." Snow exclaimed now fully free from the star berry's effects. Just as he finished talking they both heard a human cry in pure anguish.

"Where is it? Are you okay?"Lightning asked looking around frantically to see if the "cie'th" somehow managed to close in on them.

"It is over there by the big tall oak tree and I'm fine." Realization dawned on Lightning a second later.

"That noise could have come from Hope or Vanille! You go look for Vanille, I'll search for Hope."Lightning commanded wanting to know if her friends were okay.

"Vanille are you in there" Snow asked slowly unzipping Vanille's tent to reveal a resting strawberry blonde that was curled up in a cute little ball. Seeing this lovely sight almost made Snow forget about the dilemma that they were currently facing.

"Stay here. There is a cie'th on the lose. Me and Lightning(I meant to type it that way I know it's Lightning and I :P) are going to go look for it. Do not and I repeat do not come out of this tent until me or Lightning(again I put it like that intentionally) comes to get you. Understand?" Snow said looking anxious about where Hope was.

"Okee dokee! You better bring Hope back for me" Vanille said looking a little worried for her friend.

Snow used his long legs to catch up with Lightning who was kneeling over Hope. Lightning slowly but thoroughly examined his wound and pulled out the bullet that was deeply embedded in his upper abdomen. Blood started to slowly seep out of his wound so Lightning took out a first-aid kit, cleaned the wound with disinfectant , wiped up all of the wet blood, and wrapped a bandage around a small part of his mid-section.

"Snow may I have my gun-blade back please?" Lightning politely asked.

"Sure thing." Snow replied handing the weapon to its rightful owner.

Lightning then removed a bullet from her weapon and held it up next to the one that was embedded in Hope. She realized that they were the same type of bullet and that Snow shot Hope.

"Snow you shot him! How could you?" Lightning yelled as a single tear started to from in her tear ducts.

"I didn't! I swear on my life that I shot the cie'th and not Hope! The cie'th had a extremely large mane of gray hair, long pointy nails, a small but agile stature, and tiny olive colored slits as eyes!"

"Can you get anymore stubborn! You just described Hope you idiot! Gray hair, green eyes, and a small but agile stature. How much denser can you get?" Lightning was now furious. Hope, the person she cared most about in the group was injured because of stupid Snow.

"Oh my god... I... I really did shoot Hope." Snow now had an extremely crestfallen look on his face. He felt like he was ready to cry. This is Snow we're talking about. Not Vanille who cries for all different reasons. Snow felt his whole world crumbling down on him. He almost killed Hope, Lightning is absolutely furious with him, and she probably won't allow her to marry Serah, the love of his life.

"I thought that Hope was a cie'th that jumped on me." Snow started to explain what happened and why he did what he did as cold, wet tears started to fall from his face. "It turns out that he just tripped over a branch and landed on me. Then I... I... I shot him." Snow was now full on sobbing. He cared for Hope that much. He thought of him as a little brother, or a best friend. Heck he was even a little attracted to him although he would never ever break up with Serah and plus he wasn't even gay.

"I don't think I can trust myself anymore." Snow said sullenly. "I think I should go on my own way"

"Get a grip! We have to get Hope back to the camp so Vanille can fully heal is wounds. There is no way you are leaving. We need you and care about you far too much." A slight blush crossed both their faces when she said that. They ran back to camp carrying Hope's limp but not dead body. As they arrived back at the camp, a small raised area that water would'nt flood, they called Vanille to come over with her herb kit.

"What happened to Hope?" Vanille asked in a worried tone.

"Just fix him we will tell you later."Vanille knew by the tone in Lightnings voice that this was final. Vanille then casted a couple healing spells and finished healing Hope with a Esuna spell to get rid of any infections.

"There. He is a all done now can you please tell me what happened?"Vanille asked getting slighly frustrated. Lightning then explained what happened while Vanille gasped multiple times during the explantion. She(Vanille) then walked over to Snow, glared at him and then slapped him across the face.

~~~~~End of Flashback~~~~~

Did you like the first chapter? Hope you did! Please review:) Thanks and this is my first FFXIII Fanfic so I hope the characters are in character. I also made Hope kind of sad and depressed in the beginning but made him energized and happy when he realized that he was alive again. Thanks again for reading:)

~Super Scribbler