Note: All characters, places, ect. belong to Square Enix.
Heroes
By Zero9grl
Luneth never thinks, always charges right on, is cocky and annoying and simply full of himself. He is testosterone riding a chocobo and it is so, so annoying when he decides where they will go, what they will do, without consulting the rest of them. But maybe that is what makes him a good leader, because he does not fear, does not let the consequences hold him back, he is there, he is simply there and there is only the moment to him and he does not let anything hold him back from what he thinks is right (and many things he knows are aggravating, much to his delight) and he could take them to Hell and be trusted to lead them back out because he does not fear and he does not worry, there are no consequences in the moment. Yet he is hurt from Doga and Unei because it was not right, not right at all, yet necessary and he thought of the consequences in the moment and it was so very, very hard to do what had to be done.
She is glad there is Ingus with them, for he balances Luneth. He thinks of everything; what supplies they will need, when they will have to sleep, who will get lost and who can not be trusted with money for spendthrift fingers. When Luneth is far too courageous, wants to risk it all in one glorious moment, Ingus quietly says no and when Ingus says no he means inexorably no. There is no arguing with Ingus. And when Luneth fails, when Luneth breaks, just a little, under it all, Ingus is there and Ingus does not break. Ingus can never break because he broke a long time ago and his Princess patched him back together, so now he can not break as long as she is waiting. Maybe even if she were not, he would not break, but remain and push them forward, slowly forward, thinking of all the things which Luneth does not, embodiment of all the safety in the world.
Yet they are not so safe and Arc knows this. Arc knows many things and Arc understands so much. Arc holds them together; when Ingus and Luneth would fight, when she would leave to get away from their moods and their ridiculous pride that makes them do childish things like bicker and compete among each other, Arc knows what to say to make it all right. Arc salves their little, superficial wounds and Arc takes away all their hurts, makes the pain fade and it is still there because it will always be there, but it is not so strong anymore. Arc keeps them united, keeps them together and this is a very hard thing to do.
She does not do such things. She becomes frusterated when they are silly. When they count their enemies defeated to compare, when they have spitting contests, when they can't even do their own laundry; what ridiculous children they are, children who know nothing of the world outside their towns, could not find their way through a forest without a red ribbon path, can't begin to fanthom a compass. If she does not carry the map, they end up twenty miles east of their destination. If she does not lead the way in caves and the many strange places they go, they walk in circles or revisit the same deadend time after time. If she does not hold their money, they fritter it away on things that are not needed or of poor quality; rotten turnips, threadbare clothing, rusty keys that they were told can unlock any door. The only thing they buy responsibly is weapons; she can not pull them away well enough from the weapon shops to keep them from bringing them to the brink of poverty and there is no more money for food and she must find mushrooms and wild onions while they wait, keeping their hands to themselves, because they have tried to serve poisonous berries for lunch before and would not know a mushroom from a rock. Maybe she does do many hard things too. She keeps them from drinking dirty water and touching red leaves that give rashes when used in delicate places. She finds them chocobos to ride and keeps them well supplied. They can all be heroes in their own capacities, but they do not do ordinary well. She has run away a thousand times from home and she can take care of herself, but it is so much harder to take care of four than one, four who are prone to veering off of paths and tried eating pinecones once and can not start a good fire that is not mostly smoke to save themselves. Who can not wash and darn their clothes or make soup or remember that money is needed to buy things such as new shoes when the old are worn and coats against chill, not just weapons and armor. Maybe she does do many, many hard things, but so do they and together all these hard things bring them closer to stopping the darkness, closer to stopping Xande and all these hard things will save the world. All these hard things are worth it.