Transgression
Alrighty, time for Chapter 2. This chapter goes to the orphanage, showing you the first few weeks after Barthandelus attacked Oerba. The development between Gamenern, Fang and Vanille is gone into, as well as how they coped with their situation. Other than that, not to much more to go into.
So, enjoy Chapter 2!
Disclaimer: I don't own a damn thing, okay? Everything is owned by Square Enix, and the greedy bastards aren't sharing.
Word Count: 2724
Transgression
Chapter 2: Standing Up
Midday in Oerba differed greatly from it's early morning. Whereas in the morning, only the most faithful early bird or dedicated worker would willing get up, most everybody was awake by now. As such, there was much more traffic, both foot traffic and vehicular.
Gamenern sat on a bench outside the park, watching his daughter playing with the other kids, Dajh included. The father of the boy, Sazh, was sitting on a bench nearby, his new girlfriend, Annika, next to him, both of them watching Dajh.
Despite the fairly carefree atmosphere of the park, Gamenern wasn't thinking about happier times. Ever since he told Lebreau about his family, he couldn't take his mind off of the time he spent in the orphanage.
Half of Oerba attending the funeral of the Yun's. Many of the people there were known by Gamenern, who remained silent for the entire event. Fang was also quiet, but her quiet was a more troubling one. Unlike Gamenern, who at least showed slight emotion, Fang showed absolutely nothing. She looked even throughout, a stark contrast to what many people thought she was feeling inside.
Gamenern learned a few days later that his family was not the only one killed in the attack. The Dia clan was found dead in the same attack. It was peculiar, this attack. Unlike many other fal'Cie, which razed anything and everything they saw, this one only attacked the Yun and Dia clans. No one knew which fal'Cie was responsible for the attack, only that it was from the Nest. Cocoon.
At that moment, Gamenern knew what he would do. He would take his revenge on the ones who killed his family. He would make certain of it.
The day after the funeral, Gamenern was approached by the matron, Rinoa. "Gamenern." She said softly. The boy hadn't spoken much since he arrived. Not many war orphans did. Rinoa had seen many orphans come and go in her time as matron. The brunette looked up, signaling Rinoa to continue.
"As I'm sure you're aware, your family wasn't the only one lost in the attack." She kept her tone cautious. When Gamenern nodded, she continued. "We normally have the older orphans do this, but I need you and Fang to take care of Vanille." Rinoa motioned to the small redhead, who hadn't done much besides eat since she arrived. She rarely slept, and when she did, it was plagued by nightmares.
Gamenern understood. He would protect her as if she was his own sister. "I understand, matron. I'll let Fang know." Gamenern said, standing up and approaching the young girl. Rinoa stood by as Gamenern got closer to Vanille.
"Hey…" Gamenern started, sitting next to Vanille on the small bed. The girl instinctively scooted away. "I won't hurt you. Do you remember me?" He asked softly. The girl looked at him for a few seconds, then nodded slowly.
"Good, that's good." He spoke, still keeping his voice soft. He never had to soothe a child before, but he had to learn. For his sake, Fang's sake, and Vanille's sake. He motioned for Vanille to move closer.
"I'm not gonna let anything hurt you, ya hear me?" He said, waiting for Vanille to react. The girl seemed to take comfort in his words. She moved closer and sat next to him, her small chocobo plush in hand. Rinoa felt a surprised smile creep to her face. Her decision seemed to work out perfectly.
A few minutes after Gamenern got Vanille to warm up to him, he left her to eat her lunch. She seemed reluctant to let him go, but Gamenern assured her that he'd be right back.
Fang was sitting on the couch in the orphanage's main room, the equivalent of a living room. It had a small radio, a television set and some lamps. The bookcase on the wall looked like it had seen better days, but it still stood. Gamenern approached the girl and sat next to her.
"Fang, matron wanted me to tell you something." He said, slightly hurt when Fang barely acknowledged him. "She said we need to take care of Vanille." He spoke casually, but Fang looked annoyed.
"Why?" She asked in annoyance. She grabbed a book laying on the table and opened in to the middle of the book. She had never read it before, but she hoped Gamenern would leave her if she was reading. When he didn't, she sighed. "Why do we have to take care of that brat?" Fang complained, still fake reading the book.
Gamenern looked taken aback. "Because, she lost her family too!" Gamenern half-shouted. It wasn't any louder than the noise coming from the dining area, but it was uncharacteristic of the boy. "She's in the same boat we are. What's your problem, anyway?" Gamenern shot back, surprised at Fang's distant response. He expected Fang to be difficult to work with, but why was she acting like this?
"It's not my problem what happens to that kid." Fang said simply, continuing her façade and even flipping a page in the book. Gamenern looked completely dumbstruck, then huffed.
"Fine. Be like that. I'll keep her safe." And with that, he left the girl to her book. Like he thought, she put the tome down as soon as he was gone.
The first few weeks at the orphanage were a difficult transition, but eventually, Fang got used to being an orphan. One thing she found out from the other orphans was that, with the War, more orphans were coming in than being adopted. It was almost saddening, hearing that, most likely, she'd grow up in the small building. Then again, the orphanage was like a big family.
Gamenern and Vanille were nearly inseparable. Ever since Gamenern got the girl to open up, she had become more accustomed to her situation. To be honest, Gamenern wasn't completely accustomed to being an orphan, but he knew he had no control over it. He could only hope for the best.
Fang still refused to aid Gamenern with Vanille, but she did at least talk with the girl. The three acted like family, though Fang was slightly distant at times. Most of the matrons assumed it was because she still felt upset about losing her family. More than likely, though, it was because Fang was too proud to admit she needed to be looked after.
There were a few different cliques in the orphanage. There was the clique Gamenern, Fang and Vanille were apart of, a group consisting of the children between 3 and 9 years old. There was the older group, from 9 to about 13, and then the final group, from 13 to 17. By Gran Pulse standards, 17 years old was considered of age, and by that time, most people had either married or were planning to marry, and usually had a child of their own. Orphans, though, are usually later to marry, as, without a family to arrange their marriage, they usually have to find their own spouse.
Another thing that was common in the orphanage was bullying. It was everywhere, of course, but it seemed that orphan bullies were much more merciless than usual bullies. Maybe it had to do with them not having a parent to reprimand them, or it was a sort of coping mechanism, making someone else suffer like they were.
Gamenern had to deal with more than enough bullies, but his lineage had allowed him to develop strength beyond the other children, even the ones much older than him.
Vanille, however, had no such heritage. The Dia clan was renowned as healers and salve makers, not fighters. Combined with Vanille's young age and distrust of other people, it was a recipe for bullying. Most of the children never bothered her when she was near Gamenern, which was often. Almost all the time, save for once.
Gamenern was still asleep, having made sure Vanille got to sleep soundly the night before. Fang was up and, out of the corner of her eye, watching Vanille. Fang may not have liked her situation, but she still respected her older brother enough to do what he asked of her, even if he did come off as bossy or arrogant at times. It was still early, but most of the other children were awake by now.
Vanille was playing with her worn out chocobo plush, which she had called "Bhakti", so Fang assumed that was what she named the doll. Bhakti looked like a mess, his yellow coat worn down and looking almost grey. He used to have the usual long, hairlike strands hanging off of his head, but they were torn off what looked like ages ago. Now, the chocobo looked almost dead.
There was a much older girl, Yota Gabra, hanging around. Fang didn't like Gabra to much. For some reason, Fang felt something was off about the girl. She had been living here for almost her whole life, but unlike Fang, she wasn't an orphan. She was abandoned by her father a few weeks after she was born, and, from what Fang gathered from the other children, her mother died in labor. Gabra must've held a serious grudge against her father, but since she couldn't take it out on him, she did the next best thing. She made the other orphan's lives a living hell.
Gabra approached Vanille and forcibly grabbed Bhakti from Vanille. "Hey! Give it back!" Vanille whined, trying to reach the doll, but Gabra was taller than even Fang. Vanille barely got her hands up to Gabra's forehead, so the older girl barely had to strain to keep the doll out of reach.
"No. It's mine now." Gabra taunted, toying with Vanille, sometimes bringing Bhakti down low enough for Vanille to grab, then pulling away before she grabbed it. Vanille continued to try and grab the doll, even jumping to reach him, but everything was in vain.
"Please! Give Bhakti back!" Vanille cried, tears streaming down her face. Gabra looked evil as she continued to keep the doll out of Vanille's reach.
Then, she took the doll in both hands and pulled the thin, long legs off of the doll. Vanille looked horrified as her plush was ruined in front of her. Gabra began to chuckle as she returned the doll to Vanille. "Here you go, runt." Gabra taunted, smiling widely. Fang had enough by now.
Vanille was refraining, barely, from bawling her eyes out at the ruined remains of her favorite doll. Fang stepped behind the younger girl, looking at Gabra with contempt.
"Oh, Fang." Gabra said casually. "I'm sorry. Did you want a shot?" Unbelievable. Gabra thought Fang was mad because Gabra didn't give Fang a chance at the torture? To Fang, doing that to Vanille was pure torture. Fang scoffed.
"No." She said coldly, her gaze not wavering one bit as continued to bore into Gabra. "What was that for?" Fang demanded, pointing to the now torn Bhakti as Vanille began to sob. The sound seemed to trigger an alarm in Gamenern, because the boy was up instantly.
"Just because your life sucks, that means you can just waltz around like you own the damn place!" Fang continued, now getting looks from the adults for her language. She didn't care. Gabra looked amused as she stared Fang down.
"Got a set on ya, dontcha, Yun?" Gabra noted, stepping closer to Fang. "You have no idea who you're dealing with, kid." Gabra warned, her hands now curled in fists. The adults looked ready to intervene, and Gamenern had approached. He deduced what had transpired from the mess in front of Vanille.
"No, you don't know who you're dealing with, kid." Fang countered, her voice easily mocking Gabra's tone and accent. Gabra growled, then swung at Fang.
Fang ducked the blow, and went to counter, but the older girl blocked the blow. Gamenern instantly jumped forward, grabbing Vanille and getting her away from the fight as the adults tried to get close enough to break it up. Gabra was able to get herself positioned on top of Fang, trying to bludgeon the younger girl's face in. Fang, however, had more experience with brawls than Gabra expected, and the Yun girl reversed their positions, now forcing Gabra to go defensive.
When some of the adults saw that Gabra was in the fight, and that she was being stood up to, they looked hesitant to stop it. Gabra had been bullying the other children for years. Perhaps a taste of her own medicine would do some good. They still stood ready to intervene in case it got out of hand, but they seemed almost content to let the girls beat each other senseless.
The other children had gathered around them and were rooting for either girl. They were back on their feet, circling each other like a hunter and his prey. Gabra struck first, using an uppercut to distract Fang, then spinning around with a roundhouse kick. For an 8 year old, the girl was very nimble. Fang saw the kick coming and put her arms up to stop it, then grabbed the leg and pulled Gabra towards her, stiff arming her in the face while doing so. Gabra fell over with a pained growl, gripping her nose. Blood seeped through her fingers as she snarled.
"You're done." Gabra growled, charging Fang once more. Despite Fang's impressive ability, Gabra's shear strength was enough to turn the fight into her favor. The adults were preparing to step in and break it up now that blood had been drawn. A well placed punch to Fang's jaw busted her lip, and another blow to her cheek made her bite her tongue, not biting any of it off but cutting it. Fang spat out blood as she coughed, but Gabra wasn't gonna let her recover. She brought her fist back, ready to hit Fang one last time, this time in the temple.
Vanille saw this and rushed in, charging into Gabra. The move knocked Gabra off balance, and Fang used it to slug Gabra heavily across the cheek. The older girl went sprawling onto the floor, her vision full of large black and blue spots, as well as multi colored stars. Fang huffed for a while after the blow, barely able to stand up straight. After a few seconds, Gabra got up, but instead of standing at full height, she dragged herself away from the fight.
The children began cheering as Gabra admitted defeat. Fang had, unintentionally, put an end to an era of bullying. As soon as they could, they all surrounded Fang, thanking her and congratulating her. Even Gamenern was impressed at the display. Perhaps Fang wasn't completely detached after all.
Almost instantly, Vanille threw her arms around Fang's midsection in a tight hug. Fang groaned involuntarily as Vanille put pressure on a few most likely bruised ribs. "Thank you, Fang! Thank you!" The redhead cried, smiling thankfully at the brunette. Fang just gave a small smirk.
"Don't mention it."
Gamenern was broken from his thoughts when Penelo approached, followed closely by Dajh, Sazh, Annika and Vanille. When Vanille had arrived, Gamenern had no clue. Still, he gave her a small wave.
"Uncle Gamenern!" Dajh cried, charging closer to the man. Gamenern chuckled lightly as the young boy approached, chased by Penelo. Sazh muttered something as he shook his head. Vanille just giggled.
"So, what brings you here?" Gamenern asked Vanille as Dajh continued to evade Penelo. The redhead smiled as she approached.
"Fang told me to leave." She said jokily, sitting on the bench next to where Gamenern was, while Sazh and Annika took up the rest of the bench on the other side of Vanille. Gamenern chuckled.
"Maybe you shouldn't be so bossy with the wedding planning." Gamenern joked, nudging Vanille lightly. The girl frowned in mock anger, poking Gamenern in the side, getting the desired jump from the man. Sazh cocked an eyebrow as Gamenern flinched.
"What?" Gamenern asked to the older man. "You ever had someone do that to you, old man?" Sazh muttered something that Gamenern didn't hear, but smiled nonetheless. Annika sighed in exhaustion.
Gamenern went back to keeping an eye on the children when he heard Sazh yelp, Vanille giggle, and Annika laughing heartily.
Well, there it is. Chapter 2 up and done. Hopefully you've enjoyed it so far. Next chapter should be up soon, and should take place a few years after this one does.
Until then!
