Author's Note- Here we go, everybody! My first real battle scene ever! Personally, I think it came out better than I expected, so I'm proud of myself for that. So anyway, enjoy the chapter and please leave a review!
Disclaimer- I do not own Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, or any related characters, places, objects, etc., nor do I make any money from writing this. The original characters that do appear are of my own creation, however.
To the Skies
Chapter 4- The Guardians
"Kupo! They're really going to fight?"
Yuwain nodded, his eyes fixated at the two opposing clans. "Yesss. The judge will be here any sssecond."
Miles turned back to the battlefield in the distance. It was mostly flat grassland except for the hill that he and Yuwain were on. There were few trees for cover, and there were no buildings in the immediate area. He also saw that there seemed to be no people nearby other than himself, Yuwain, and the two clans.
Come to think of it, Miles thought to himself, I have never seen an engagement myself. I better watch closely to see what I'm getting myself into.
"Well, is everybody ready?" Cecilia looked back and saw her three trusted companions, all drawing their weapons.
"Kupo!" The mog knight was flying excitedly in the air, holding a blue blade and a round shield with his small hands. He then landed smoothly onto the ground right in front of the viera. "Don't worry, Lady Cecilia! I shall protect you, kupo!"
"First of all, Arthur," Cecilia addressed the enthusiastic moogle calmly, "please don't call me "Lady Cecilia." You know it doesn't suit me at all. And secondly-"
The opposing group started to draw their weapons for the engagement. Seeing this, Cecilia told Arthur, "I'm going to need you with me on the front lines."
"What about me, Cecilia?" A bangaa almost completely covered in purple armor stepped up. Plate mail covered both his upper and lower body, and it seemed that the only exposed part of him was his head. He held a long black spear point up with his right hand, and his left hand held a large black shield.
"Nero, I want you to guard Alcest." She glanced at the nu mou several feet behind her. "Make sure he can cast his magic without being interrupted."
"Understood," Nero replied, and walked to Alcest's position.
"As for you, Alcest," Cecilia explained and pointed to a moogle in Clan Everwind, "I want you to subdue that black mage as soon as possible, and then keep us alive afterward."
The dark green-robed nu mou bowed and smiled, his mace readied in his hands. "Alright, I'll try."
Cecilia nodded, a faint smile on her cool face. "I appreciate it, Alcest."
A beam of light suddenly shone down from the sky and hit the ground between the two clans. All were blinded for a short moment, and before they knew it, a figure emerged from the light.
"The judge…" Yuwain whispered to Miles, who was rubbing his eyes in response to the light.
When Miles was able to see again, he saw someone unfamiliar in the battlefield. It was a man completely covered in silver plate mail. He rode a majestic yellow chocobo that was also equipped with special chocobo plate mail. The man carried a sword, hidden in a white sheath so ornate it looked to be something that a prince or a lord would carry.
"Whoa," was all that Miles could bring himself to say. His eyes shone with the very same interest that he had for airships. Yuwain looked on, interested but not surprised in the least.
"Clan Everwind versus the Guardians!" the judge yelled out, his voice clear as a bell despite the fact that he wore a helmet that covered his whole face. "Today's laws are no items and no rapiers!"
A cocky smile appeared on the paladin's face. "Hah! Looks like you're just going to be useful for taking hits, aren't ya, little lady?"
Cecilia simply sighed and sheathed her rapier. "Well, it looks like this might take a little longer than expected. Though I suppose an extra two minutes won't hurt."
Alcest looked on with worry at his leader. Don't put yourself in too much danger, Cecilia. You're good, but they do outnumber us six to four.
Arthur, on the other hand, still beamed with confidence. Lady Cecilia, such a meager law cannot stop you! We shall overcome under your leadership and skill!
"Cecilia!" Nero called out. "Do you want me to join you at the front?"
Cecilia shook her head. "There's no need for that, Nero. I'll just make sure to be a little more careful." She looked over her opponents one by one. There was the cocky, white-armored paladin at the front. Behind him and to his sides were a human soldier and a human fighter, the former with blue armor and the latter with gray chain mail. Further off to the side was a bangaa warrior with light armor, and by his side, a moogle black mage. Last, but not least was a viera archer who stood further behind the paladin.
"Ready?" The judge looked from one side to the other, listening for any objections.
There were none.
"Begin!" The call echoed throughout the field and brought excitement in Miles' heart.
"Kupo, it's starting!" Miles whispered loudly to his friend. Yuwain, however, kept his eyes on two certain figures down in the battlefield.
"Carlos! Evan! Follow me!" the paladin yelled to the soldier and fighter by his side. "Guardians! I, Leonardo of Clan Everwind, will show you what we are truly made of!"
The three charged, swords and blades drawn. The three all looked ready to battle, and none of them were going to let the enemy get the first attack. In the distance, the black mage started to chant a spell incantation with the warrior bracing himself for an attack. The archer backed up and started to unleash a constant stream of arrows, letting them zoom through the air one by one toward Nero and Alcest.
Cecilia and Arthur ran ahead to meet the three charging combatants. Cecilia, completely unarmed, ran circles around the three from Everwind. She swiftly dashed between the three of them, dodging the enemies' slashes and thrusts. With seemingly little effort, she broke through the front line and dashed for the archer in the back.
Arthur, not far behind her, took to the sky and initiated an airborne attack. With three opponents chasing him, he flew high enough to just avoid their attacks; the three humans simply could not reach the airborne moogle. Holding his blade and shield tightly, Arthur zoomed down as fast as he could and slashed the soldier across his chest. Carlos yelled in pain as he clutched his chest, and retreated a few yards away to recover from the attack.
Alcest had been concentrating on unleashing a powerful spell, with Nero in front of him to defend him from any attackers. He had closed his eyes to concentrate, and when the time was right…
"Winds, strike my foes with deadly blades of air! Aero!" The sage's mace glowed green and suddenly, a small green tornado started to form around the moogle black mage as he released his own spell.
"Lightning, come forth in all your fury! Thunder!" As those words escaped the moogle's lips, he was captured by Alcest's winds and tossed about like a rag doll in a storm. The black mage shouted as the winds whipped his body and carried him up high into the sky. The wind disappeared, and the moogle fell limp and motionless to the ground. The bangaa who was guarding the moogle stood by him, dumbfounded by his pal's quick defeat.
The black mage did not cast his spell in vain, however. A yellow bolt of lightning rushed down from the heavens and struck Arthur as he glided in the air. The poor mog knight was sent down to the ground, where he laid unconscious. Leonardo and Evan both looked at each other and nodded, content with their fortunate stroke of luck.
"Good job, Reinal. You got him," Leonardo said to himself, before he and Evan ran headlong toward Alcest with shining blades in hand.
Cecilia had managed to sneak up behind the enemy archer while she concentrated on the other Guardians. Armed only with her physical prowess and battle experience, Cecilia was about to defeat the viera with a quick and lethal technique. She dashed at her from behind, arm extended as if she was going to run her open palm into her.
"Beth! Behind you!"
Before Cecilia's hand reached its target, Beth jumped several feet into the air in a back flip, landing gracefully behind her black-clothed opponent. In an instant, her bow was drawn and an arrow was fired, streaking through the air like an eagle. Cecilia quickly rolled down to her side, narrowly avoiding the attack from behind, and hastily stood up again to face her opponent.
"You're no ordinary fencer, are you?" the viera asked as she released another arrow. Cecilia nimbly sidestepped the shot, her eyes never straying from the skilled Beth.
"And you're no ordinary archer." Cecilia stiffened her arms and stood her ground. "But if your clan is so intent on fighting, then let's fight, not talk."
Beth quickly shot another arrow, this timed aimed at Cecilia's head. Cecilia jumped up and, at the peak of her flight, pointed her right arm down at Beth and did the unexpected.
What? She can do that without a rapier? Beth stood in shock as she watched Cecilia release a large, pointed missile of purple energy at her. It came from Cecilia like an extension of her arm; the whole motion was as swift and smooth as a thrust of the rapier. It flew down toward Beth at an alarming speed, and she was surprised by the attack, which was usually performed only with a rapier in hand.
"Beth!"
Carlos had finished applying first aid to himself, and he saw the beam of light run through Beth's body. He heard her scream echo throughout the battlefield, and yet, he could only watch his comrade fall to the ground, defeated. He turned to his other side and saw Leonardo and Evan exchanging blows with Nero, the dragoon. Nero stood like a tower, defending against several attacks form the fighter and the paladin, while Alcest stood a good distance away from the chaos, focusing on his magic.
This is my chance! Carlos saw that Alcest had just finished casting a white magic spell, and that he was preparing to cast another one. It was the perfect chance to get rid of the enemy spellcaster.
But Arthur had other plans.
The revived moogle rushed from behind and swung his blade, bringing it across Carlos's back. This time, the strike had enough force to push the soldier away and knocking him unconscious.
Arthur then took a quick look around the battlefield. He caught a glimpse of Alcest in the distance and smiled, for it was thanks to him that he was brought back from unconsciousness. Looking over the rest of the battlefield, Arthur saw that Cecilia was occupied with Ronal, the Everwind bangaa, and Nero was holding off Leonardo and Evan, the paladin and fighter respectively.
Cecilia does not seem to need my help. In that case, I shall help the others! The mog knight excitedly ran to help his friends, while the others held out against their opponents.
Nero braced himself, planting his feet into the ground and trying to keep himself steady against the flurry of attacks from the two battlers. Spear in hand, he tried to thrust it to get some distance between them, but it failed. He spent more time blocking blows with his shield, and less time initializing an attack.
Suddenly, in the midst of the fighting, Leonardo yelled out, "I'm going after the mage!" and ran off toward Alcest. Nero saw this from the corner of his eye and used this change to his advantage.
The dragoon jumped back, dodging one of Evan's wild slashes, and inhaled deeply. Before the fighter could react, Nero let out a burst of ice from his mouth, just as a dragon breathes fire. Evan saw this and froze; both figuratively when he saw the icy torrent approaching, and literally when he became encased in a chunk of ice after the attack.
Arthur arrived after Nero's impressive attack and inquisitively eyed the ice-covered Evan on the ground. "Well done, Sir Nero! So you do not need my help, kupo?"
"No," Nero began to run the other way, yelling, "But Alcest needs usss! Hurry!"
While the two ran off, Cecilia was still busy dealing with her own opponent. She tried to get up close, but Ronal's sword was long enough for him to put a lot of distance between them.
"And don't even try to think of using that fancy trick of yoursss, lady," Ronal said tauntingly, holding his sword and shield.
Cecilia merely scowled and ran around him again, in hopes to get behind him for a swift finishing move. She failed, however, as the bangaa was quick enough to never let his back exposed. Cecilia figured that there was a chance that a strategy of hers would work. It would, however, be reckless and risky to say the least.
Well, why not? Let's just try it and see what happens. Cecilia then ran headlong toward Ronal, who smiled at his opportunity.
"Are you crazy, lady? Oh well, it'sss your death wish." He ran up to meet her and swung his longsword in a wide, horizontal arc. Cecilia, however, jumped in time, narrowly dodging the sword and landing gracefully behind Ronal. He turned around to swing his sword around him, but he was too late. Cecilia had swiftly struck his neck with her palm in a way that instantly knocked out the bangaa. It was a quick, clean victory for the viera, and her risk had paid off.
Now Leonardo was the last survivor of Clan Everwind. He was charging for Alcest, who was quickly casting a white magic spell. "Guard me from those who would try to bring me down! Protect!" An orange glow surrounded the sage, and when Leonardo came to him, his sword was repelled by the magical barrier.
"Darn you!" he shouted, as he tried to break through the barrier with his silver sword. However, Alcest knew that under the paladin's might, his Protect spell would not last for long, and if he tried to run away, Leonardo would easily catch him.
"Alcest! Hold on!" Nero's voice boomed as he approached Leonardo, Arthur close behind him. As they ran toward the enemy paladin, Nero launched himself into the air, and Arthur zoomed ahead, his blade at the ready.
"Sir Alcest! Get out of the way, kupo!"
Arthur flew and swung his blade, launching a projectile from his sword right at Leonardo. The surprised paladin was hit by Arthur's attack and as he was distracted, Nero came down from the sky and powerfully struck him down with his spear. Leonardo screamed when impaled by Nero's lance, but he fell silent a few seconds later.
All was silent for a moment. The four Guardians looked around them and saw not a single opponent standing. The judge, mounted on his armored chocobo, was watching from a safe distance away. Suddenly, the judge blew his whistle and rode to the winners of the engagement.
"Victory goes to the Guardians! Your prize is 1250 gil and six judge points." He rode to Cecilia and handed her two small, star-shaped crystals. "Two judge points for Cecilia," he told her as she opened her hands out to receive her prize. The judge also handed Cecilia a satchel that jingled as he placed it in her hands; this was the prize money from the battle. He then went to teach of the Guardians and gave them their respective number of judge points; Nero received two, Alcest earned one, and Arthur got one. After that, the judge disappeared in a flash of light, just like when he first appeared.
Miles was wide-eyed at the battle he had witnessed. The young moogle had never seen an engagement before, and he had no idea of what to expect.
"Kupo! That was so exciting!" Miles whispered, trying to keep his voice down.
"I'm sssure it will be different when we're the ones who are fighting, Miles."
But Miles wasn't paying attention. He was still thinking about the battle that had played out in front of his eyes. "Did you see that mog knight, kupo? He was so cool! He was able to fly in battle, kupo, and avoid all of the attacks!"
"Actually," Yuwain explained, "I wasssn't watching him. I wasss paying more attention to him." He pointed to Nero, who was inspecting his equipment for any damage.
"Kupo, I see." Miles looked around and saw that all of Clan Everwind was still unconscious, and that the Guardians seemed ready to leave. "I suppose we should go now, huh, Yuwain?"
"So, how did you boys like the show?"
To their surprise, Miles and Yuwain peeked out from behind the tree and saw Cecilia calling out to them.
"The least you could do is respond when spoken to," Cecilia yelled.
The two then came out from their hiding place, as the other members of the Guardians saw the faces of those who were watching them.
"Yuwain?" Nero whispered to himself.
Alcest looked at his friend. "Do you know him?"
"Yesss," Nero responded, "If my vision issn't failing me, then that is Yuwain, my cousin."
Meanwhile, Cecilia approached the two young men and extended her right hand.
"If you don't know already," she began, "my name is Cecilia, and I'm the leader of this ragtag bunch."
"I'm Miles, kupo, and this is my friend, Yuwain." They both shook her hand, the same hand that probably fell many opponents in the past.
"Pleasure to meet you, boys." She looked at Yuwain for a second. "I believe Nero would like to talk to you now, Yuwain. You are cousins, aren't you?" Yuwain, surprised that she knew of their relation, simply nodded and ran off to see him.
"You guys were really something, kupo!" Miles told Cecilia as they walked to meet with the rest of the group.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Cecilia explained. "Each of the Guardians contributes something to the clan, which I believe is important for any clan."
"Really?"
"Definitely. One does not need to fight to help others. That's what I've learned over the years, kid."
"Then why do you fight?"
Cecilia thought for a moment before speaking. "Because that's how I've decided to help people."
"But, kupo, how does that make sense?"
"It doesn't make sense to most people. But it does to me, and that's what matters."
Miles shrugged. Fighting to help others, huh? I wish I knew what she meant by that. He could tell that Cecilia had fought in numerous battles, while he had yet to fight in his first one. He thought that maybe, just maybe, he would understand Cecilia's words after creating his own clan and fighting his own battles.
Miles followed Cecilia to the rest of the Guardians; most of them were tired and recuperating from their battle. Alcest was sitting on the ground, his head down and his eyes closed as if he was meditating. Nero was leaning down tiredly on his spear, the point of which was stuck into the grassy turf. Arthur, showing that he had at least a bit of energy left, was walking around the area, examining each of the fallen fighters from Clan Everwind.
"What I want to know," Alcest began to say, "is why Clan Everwind was so desperate for a battle."
Nero grumbled, "They were foolisssh. Sssome clansss jussst ask for trouble in order to make a name for themselvesss."
"Nero!"
The dragoon turned his head and saw a bangaa waving at him from a distance. He saw the bangaa's white shirt and crimson, baggy pants and knew immediately who it was.
"Yuwain!"
Nero walked up to meet his caller, and the two shook hands once they came to each other.
"Yuwain," Miles called out as he and Cecilia approached, "is this your cousin?"
Yuwain put a strong hand on Nero's armored shoulder and smiled. "Yeah. Thisss is Nero. He used to live here, but he left when he joined a clan."
"Oh! Good to meet you, Nero!"
The towering dragoon shook hands with the young moogle. "Likewise. But you never told usss your name."
"My name is Miles. I'm one of Yuwain's friends."
Cecilia, walking in the center of the commotion, interrupted by saying, "If we are all introducing ourselves, then I believe two people still have to go."
"Oh?" Alcest seemed to perk up from Cecilia's comment. "You mean me?"
"Yeah. Get over here, Alcest."
The sage dusted himself off and walked up to Miles and Yuwain with an extended hand. "My name is Alcest. It's a pleasure to meet you two." As Alcest shook hands with both Miles and Yuwain, Arthur came along proudly to introduce himself as well.
"Well met, boys," the mog knight said with a prideful tone as he shook their hands. "I am Arthur of the Guardians."
"Glad to finally meet everyone in my cousin'sss clan," Yuwain stated.
"This isn't everyone," Cecilia explained. "There are a few other members, but they are out on missions."
Miles, excited about his clan-to-be, jumped up. "Kupo! Aren't you excited about our clan, Yuwain?"
"Ssso, Yuwain, you decided to join a clan?" asked Nero, and Yuwain nodded.
"We are finding more members right now, but we want to ssstart our clan sssoon."
"Be careful," Alcest warned, a concerned look on his face. "Clans aren't all fun and games, you know."
"Kupo. We know."
"You'll need someone to help you with the basics of being in a clan," Cecilia said matter-of-factly.
"Of course," Arthur started to say, "we, the Guardians, would be glad to assist you two in any way we can!"
Miles could not help but smile, overcome by this wonderful stroke of luck that he had gotten.
"Besidesss," Nero interrupted, looking at Nero, "I can't let my cousssin join a clan without sssome advice and wordsss of wisssdom, now can I?"
"Listen, you two," Cecilia began, "We'll be in town for a while, so be sure to see us once you have your clan set up."
"Really?" Miles asked, still in disbelief over the help he was offered. "Thanks, kupo!"
"Don't mention it, kid."
"Excuse me, Cecilia."
Everyone looked and saw Alcest, pointing toward the city square.
"We should go look for an inn to stay in. We might need to stay here for a while, as you know."
Cecilia nodded. "Well, you two want to come with us and chat for a bit?"
"No thanks. I'm heading off to the airship docks, kupo. Coming, Yuwain?"
"Actually, Miles, I'm going to go with them for now."
I think I understand. Yuwain wants some time to catch up with his cousin, Miles thought to himself.
"Okay, Yuwain. Kupo, I'll see you later then?"
"Yesss, probably tomorrow. Goodbye for now, Miles."
"Bye, everyone! It was nice meeting you all, kupo!"
The moogle watched everyone say their goodbyes as they left to head for the busy streets of Baguba Port. After watching the battle unfold in front of him, he was more excited than ever about getting his clan started. He just has to find more people to join him.
There's just so much that I can get from becoming a clan leader, Miles thought to himself as he continued towards the airship docks. There's the excitement, the adventure… and I certainly can't forget about the money.