Disclaimer: I do not own the characters in Final Fantasy XIII or World of Warcraft, they are owned by Square Enix and Blizzard respectively. Any original characters in my story do belong to me and can be used with my permission. Any comparisons to other fan fiction or series characters are entirely coincidental and not intentional.
Hello: Normal Speech
Hello: Normal Thought, flashback
Hello: Speech of dragons, demons, titans, elemental lords, summons
Hello: Thoughts of dragons, demons, titans, elemental lords, summons
I love reviews. To see that someone took the time to log in (or not) and criticize my work is fantastic. I don't care if the review is positive or negative as long as they give good reasons for their response I'm happy. I have gotten reviews that pointed out plot holes, questions I didn't answer, or simply things that I forgot.
Here is the first chapter of my Final Fantasy XIII x World of Warcraft crossover. It won the overwhelming majority of the votes and, to be honest, I really wanted to do this story. I was growing a tad bit tired writing seven story lines at once and wanted to try my hand at a single-person narrative and so this story popped into my mind. So sit back and enjoy the story.
Warcraft: Lightning Chronicles
Chapter 1: The End of One Journey is the Beginning of Another
.
On that day more than one miracle occurred,
Fang and Vanille's sacrifice saved Cocoon.
The darkness was supposed to write me out of history but something changed,
I was dragged off to a strange new world filled with such wonders,
But beneath every light must lie a darkness…
All Lightning could see as she regained consciousness was darkness. Blinking and opening her eyes she saw that she was resting in a strange and unfamiliar room.
"Where am I?" she thought as she laid her head back down on the pillow and looked at the flickering shadows cast upon the ceiling by the candles across the room, "The last thing I remember is seeing Serah and…"
"Serah!" she exclaimed as her memories finally returned.
...
Flashback
Lightning stared at the crystallized remains of Cocoon with a mixture of contempt and sorrow. After everything that had happened they had had finally managed to triumph over the fal'Cie Orphan and stop his plan of summoning Ragnarok and destroying Cocoon and the millions of people living within it, but it wasn't without cost. Destroying Orphan killed the remaining fal'Cie on the artificial planet and caused it to start plummeting to the ground far below. It was only due to the sacrifice of Fang and Vanille, who transformed into Ragnarok to hold Cocoon atop a giant crystal pillar that she could reminisce.
She clenched a fist until she was almost certain she drew blood. It just wasn't fair. Fang and Vanille sacrificed themselves to save the rest of them and she still didn't even get to see Serah again.
"Still thinking about them miss soldier?"
She inclined her head slightly as Sazh walked up to her, "Yeah…"
Despite the situation Sazh had a smile on his face, "I don't know why you're depressed. They all knew what the stakes were and still they insisted on going through with it. I think they accepted that we all weren't going to get out of that mess alive. If it weren't for them, well, I don't want to think about that."
"I don't think I can ever feel happy."
"Oh?
She looked back at the remains of Cocoon and grimaced, "First Serah and now Fang and Vanille are gone. Everybody sacrificing themselves to save a 'paradise' that was destined to fall anyway."
Sazh looked downtrodden, "Yeah. Dajh is still up there somewhere in that crystal of his but I don't know if I want to find out if he made it. Sure I will know for sure but what if something happened to him? A father shouldn't know that he outlived his son. I'll live the rest of my life uncertain but it's better than the alternative."
Lightning didn't know where the words were coming from but they just seemed to come out of her mouth naturally, "I'm sure that wherever he is Dajh is proud of you. You did everything you could to protect your home from the fal'Cie. I think he would understand."
"You really think a six year old is capable of understanding what we went through?" he joked.
She shook her head, "No, but he would see his father as a hero."
Sazh perked up and chuckled, "You know miss soldier, you aren't as cold as you were when we first met."
She gave him a look of mock annoyance, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Well, you haven't threatened to punch me yet."
She looked away from Sazh and back at Cocoon, her thoughts constantly revolving around her sister. She stood there for several minutes when she noticed a figure running towards them in the distance and as it got closer she noticed it was Snow. He must have been running for a while because when he finally reached them he had to rest on his hands and knees to regain his breath.
"Sazh…sis…something…"
"Whoa there big fella. Catch your breath first. We can't understand a word you're saying."
"How many times do I have to tell you to not call me that?"
Snow just shook his head as he stood back up with a grunt, "They're back!"
"Who's back?"
A large smile broke out across his face as he first looked at Lightning and then Sazh, "Serah and your kid! Hope and I saw them walking away from the pillar not more than ten minutes ago. I told him to wait for them while I went to get you."
Her mind seemed to screech to a halt as Snow's words caught up to her. Mouthing 'Serah' she shoved Snow aside and ran down the path he came from towards the crystal pillar. As she sprinting across the plains and up and down hills her lungs felt like them were on fire and her legs ached from exhaustion but she did not care, her sister had waited long enough for her. Racing up the final hill she broke out into her first true smile in weeks because standing a short distance away holding Dajh's hand and talking to Hope was her sister, looking just as she remembered her. As she stood on top of that hill Serah finally noticed her.
"Lightning!"
Serah gave Dajh to Hope as she ran towards her sister. So focused was she on her approaching sister that Lightning didn't see the earth start to split open in front of her, she only found out when she saw Serah's expression change from joy to terror. The splitting earth was now more like a crack and it was getting wider by the second.
"Serah!" Lightning shouted while sprinting towards her sister, her arm outstretched. She was not going to let something like this prevent her from reuniting with her sister. Not after all she had gone through.
Even with all her training Lightning was too slow to reach her sister before the gap in the ground became too large to jump. She watched in horror as Serah almost fell in only for Hope to grab her arm and drag her away. Realizing that there was no way to reach her sister now and with her own safety in jeopardy Lightning began to run away from the chasm. Quickly stepping around the breaking ground beneath her feet Lighting was shocked to discover that a crack had already formed behind her and that she was effectively trapped.
Seeing Sazh and Snow watching her from the other side she kicked her speed up a notch and shouted, "Grab my hand!"
"Is miss soldier going to do what I think she's doing?"
Lightning leapt the chasm in an impressive burst of speed and almost made it across by herself. She just realized she wasn't going to make it when she felt a strong hand wrap around her wrist.
Snow grunted as he tried to pull Lightning up, "I won't let you fall sis!"
"Hang on Lightning!" Sazh said while grabbing her other hand, "I'm not going to let you die now. It would just be pathetic."
"Yeah," Snow agreed as they managed to almost pull her out, "Besides, if you die who will give her blessings to my marriage?"
Suddenly the ground around them started to crumble, forcing Sazh and Snow to let go of her hands unless they wanted to fall in as well. Gripping the edge of the chasm with all her strength, Lightning knew she was not going to make it. As her fingers started to slip she looked at Snow.
"Take care of Serah."
"Lightning!" Snow cried as he tried to reach down to save her. He was too late as Lightning lost her grip and fell into the ravine.
"Is this the way I go?" she thought as she closed her eyes, "Dying right before reuniting with my sister? Someone has a bad sense of humor."
After several seconds Lightning frowned in confused when she didn't feel her life ending. Opening her eyes she found herself assaulted by swirling colors of red and green, mixing together every now and then before winking out of existence.
"What is this place? Where am I?"
She continued falling when she saw something approach her in the distance. Squinting to get a better look she was stunned to find it was a massive human-like being made out of silver and with glowing golden eyes.
"Is that a fal'Cie?"
The being seemed to hear her as it turned its head towards Lightning. Under its' stare she found herself but a mere child and could not help but stare back. After a few moments it turned and disappeared into the darkness.
"Wait!" Lightning yelled to the being but it was too late for it was gone. Alone again she suddenly found herself losing consciousness and tried to fight it as long as possible. Just before she blacked out she saw a white light in the distance growing ever closer.
"Etro's Gate?"
...
As everything came back to her Lightning smashed her fist into the nearby wall in anger. "Is my entire life just some eternal joke to some greater being? Why is it whenever I am happy something comes along and tears me down again? If whoever is doing this can hear me just kill me already."
She waited a few minutes hopeful that something will happen but as time dragged on and nothing happened she sadly whispered, "I guess simply hoping isn't going to be enough."
Pulling the blankets off her body Lightning noticed for the first time that she was no longer in her Guardian Corps uniform but in a long, plain white gown. She scoffed and looked around the room and was surprised to find her clothes, cleaned and neatly folded, on top of a table. Removing the gown to get changed she was shocked to see her l'Cie brand emblazoned on her chest.
"Why has this returned?" she asked as she traced the brand with her fingers, "I thought it was removed when I finished my focus and the color is entirely wrong, I don't remember it being silver and blue."
"Perhaps it has something to do with why I'm here but now is not the time to think about that. I need to find out where I am and how to get home."
She put on her uniform and was just finishing buckling her boots when she noticed her gunblade was missing. A cursory glance around the room told her that wherever it was, it was not here.
"…don't know about this."
A male voice outside her room caused her to stop searching for her weapon. If he was hostile and decided to come in she would be defenseless. Carefully making her way to the door, she leaned an ear against the wood and tried to eavesdrop on whoever was out there.
"Perhaps I can get some useful information about my situation."
A second voice, this one female, seemed to be frustrated with the man, "I already told you reagent, I cannot in good conscience release her to your custody."
Lightning leaned away from the door for a second as she processed what was said, "Are they talking about me?"
The man seemed to be annoyed; "It is dangerous to keep someone like her here. If you give her to me I will make sure she is well taken care of until she regains consciousness."
"She is not a criminal! She doesn't deserve to be treated as one."
"Come now Laurena, people just don't fall out of the sky."
"According to the people who brought her in that is exactly what happened," Laurena argued.
The man seemed incensed, "And you believe them? My job is to protect this city from all threats, both internal and external. The only times people appear out of nowhere are if they come out of a portal. All the portals coming into or leaving the city are strictly monitored by several trained mages. If she did come out of a portal, there are a couple of obvious answers as to her identity."
"Are you saying she's a demon?"
"Calm down, I'm not implying anything."
Laurena huffed and Lightning could almost feel the tension in the air thicken even through the door, "I suppose Bolvar, that you conveniently forgot that we are in a place filled with paladins and priests? If she was a demon surely any number of them would sense her, no matter how skilled she was at masking her presence."
Bolvar grumbled in defeat, "I can see that I may have been hasty in my declaration. I suppose leaving her in the your care until she wakes might be the best option."
"You might need to wait a while. I cannot see her regaining consciousness for at least another couple of days."
"Just let me know the minute she is awake. I don't know who she is or how she got here but I will find out one way or another."
"Remember Bolvar, violence is not permitted in this place."
Lightning stepped away from the door and went over her options, "Whoever these people are don't know who I am but see me as a threat. I can use that to my advantage if I ever get confronted. If I wait a few minutes for them to walk away I can leave and figure out where I am exactly." She reached to where her gunblade usually was and cursed when she remembered it wasn't there.
"Figures I would be weaponless at a time like this."
Gripping the handle of the door she was surprised when she discovered it wasn't locked. They obviously thought she would not be awake for a while and so did not presume to lock the door.
"That is their first mistake."
Counting to five and taking a deep breath, Lightning opened the door and was almost blinded by how bright it was. After giving her eyes a moment to adjust she walked out of the room and looked around. It wasn't hard to conclude that she was in some type of church or perhaps a cathedral based on the overall size and scope of the structure.
"This is one of the larger cathedrals I have ever seen," she thought as she walked towards the altar in the back of the cathedral, "Cocoon had them but they were mostly historical buildings from some of the early religions. Even with the fal'Cie giving us everything some people still chose to believe in a divine power. Perhaps this place is not as different as I initially thought."
Lightning's eyes lingered several minutes on each of the stained glass windows. One of the windows depicting several purple-skinned people fighting the stereotypical demons, a second showed humans fighting bigger green-skinned creatures and a third showed several people confronting a single person who appeared to be shooting lightning out of his hands.
"It wouldn't be too far of a stretch to assume these are either historical events or important segments of their mythology."
"I see you are awake."
She slightly turned her head just enough so she could get a look at the person talking to her. The voice was that of the man outside her room and she was perplexed as to why he was equipped in a full set of medieval armor. That just made it harder for her if he decided to attack. She was well versed in hand-to-hand combat but she would have some difficultly fighting someone in full armor, especially in hostile territory.
Tch'ing, Lightning looked away, "Do you make it a habit of sneaking up on people?"
"Technically it is not sneaking if I simply walked up to you."
"Whatever," she muttered as she attempted to walk away. Without her gunblade she was a sitting duck and therefore needed to find another weapon or way to defend herself until she managed to find a way home.
Bolvar seemed to not particularly care for Lightning walking away from him, "And just where do you think you are going?"
"To find out where I am and how to get out of being here."
"I could help you with that."
She coldly chuckled, "I seriously doubt you could help me with anything. If what you said earlier is any indication you are entirely clueless about me."
"What about your strange weapon? Don't you want it back?"
Lightning pivoted around so fast she thought she might trip on her own feet, "How dare you!"
"I don't take kindly to any threats to this city. If that means I have to be a hard-ass and have everyone hate me then so be it. Now then, if you speak civilized with me I promise I will return your weapon to you."
"He's got me in a corner. I don't particularly like him but he knows where my gunblade is."
"Fine then," she hissed and leaned against a wall. Crossing her arms she waved an arm dismissively, "Ask your questions and be done with it."
Bolvar seemed to be trying very hard to choose his question carefully, "Why don't we start with how you got here."
"That's an easy one," she scoffed, "I have no idea."
"You must have some idea? You can't seriously be trying to convince me you ended up in Stormwind completely by accident?"
She looked out the open cathedral doors to the city outside, "I don't have to convince you of anything."
"If you want your weapon back you do. You seem strangely attached to it."
"That weapon has been with me through thick and thin. Parting with it without it breaking isn't right."
"Ah," Bolvar said in understanding, "You must be quite the accomplished warrior to have developed such an attachment for your weapon. Most of the adventurers roaming the world are rather green and simply pick the biggest weapon they can find."
Lightning scoffed and Bolvar could have sworn he heard her mutter 'fucking novices even here.' Coughing and trying to ignore the harsh language from the woman in front of him he decided to ask a rather simple question, "I don't believe you told me your name."
"…"
Bolvar waited for Lightning to respond but he noticed she was staring into the distance. After waiting patiently for her to answer his question he decided to ask it again a bit more forcefully, "I asked you-"
"It's Lightning."
A confused look graced the reagent's face, "What kind of name is Lightning?"
Lightning. It flashes bright, then fades away. It can't protect. It only destroys.
She shook her head to forget about the memory, "It's all you need to know."
"Well then," Bolvar said, "What do you remember about how you got here?"
"Is this where you have been the past few days Bolvar?"
Lightning turned and looked outside. Walking towards here was a dark haired woman in a dark red dress with piercing blue eyes. She walked towards the two of them before focusing her glare entirely on Lightning who, to her credit, did not back down and returned the stare.
After a moment the woman chuckled and turned to Bolvar, "Well your tastes are improving to say the least. You need to return to the castle, Anduin is getting restless about his training. You would think the prince would be a little less reckless but I suppose like father like son."
Lightning couldn't stand listening to this woman anymore, "Who is this woman pestering us?"
The reactions of the two were quite priceless if Lightning would ever admit it. Bolvar was stuck between trying to hold in his laughter while trying to look upset. Katrana Prestor, on the other hand, seemed like she was about ready to breathe fire.
"How dare you!"
Lightning ignored her, "You asked about how I got here?"
Coughing as he attempted to prevent his laughter from being found out by his associate Bolvar quickly said, "Yes."
"Very well then." Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Lightning looked at the ceiling, "I guess I should start where the world was ending."
Her rage at the insult momentarily forgotten, Katrana saw an opportunity to get back at the woman in front of her, "What caused this 'world ending event' that you believe happened?"
She shrugged, "Best reason I can figure out is a combination of immortality and nihilism. Thousands of years ago immortal mechanical beings known as fal'Cie were creating to protect humanity."
"Created by who?"
"It depends on whether you believe in the myths but in the end that doesn't really matter. Whatever the case, their creator left them for some unknown reason and for a while everything was fine. They protected humanity from the dangers of Gran Pulse, our world, but eventually they grew despondent and lonely. Wanting to see their creator so badly they devised a plan centuries in the making. They first created an artificial paradise that hovered over Gran Pulse and inviting humanity to it promising to protect them from the harshness of the world below."
"An artificial paradise doesn't sound so terrible."
Lightning glared at Katrana, "Then you are just like all the people who ever lived on Cocoon. The fal'Cie brought tens of thousands of people to their world that they called Cocoon and waited. For hundreds of years and despite many setbacks they waited and watched as the population increased before making their move. They attempted to guide several people, including myself, into killing them and crashing Cocoon into the world below and killing millions of people."
"By the Light!" Bolvar exclaimed, "That cannot possibly be true! To plan out the deaths of millions of people is just..."
"Inconceivable?" Lightning offered, "I'm not going to tell you everything because you don't need to know but I will tell you that the fal'Cie were created without the ability to kill themselves or other fal'Cie. They needed to have humans kill them and there was one particular fal'Cie that was hoping to be killed – Orphan."
"What kind of name is Orphan?"
"The name doesn't matter, if Orphan was ever killed Cocoon would fall. It was the power source of everything including the means by which it floated above the planet."
After a few minutes of shock Bolvar slowly said, "That is a lot to take in. I don't know whether you're telling the truth or are delusional."
Lightning scoffed and held her hand out to him, "I don't really care if you believe me or not, my only goal is to find a way back home. Now where is my weapon?"
Bolvar snapped his fingers and a person in armor walked out of a nearby room with a bundle of cloth carried over their shoulders. With a nod from him, the guard gave the bundle to Lightning who unwrapped it and was stunned to discover it was her Blazefire Saber.
"Is something the matter?"
She shook her head, "No, it's nothing."
"Why is it the Blazefire Saber model?"
"You have an interesting weapon Miss Lightning. While you were unconsciousness I had some of my men take a look at it with orders to not damage it. The most they could find out is that it is made from an unknown and very strong metal and that it is much more complicated than just a simple sword but they couldn't figure out how it worked."
"Indeed," Lightning said as she went over her gunblade inch by inch looking for any damage. When she concluded everything was intact she flicked her wrist in a particular motion and the blade collapsed down into its gun form, which she then holstered in the sheath on her waist.
"Extraordinary," Bolvar said with wonder before noticing Lightning about to leave, "Wait! I could use your help with a matter of utmost importance."
She didn't turn around, "I don't care. I didn't leave one military just to end up joining another. My only purpose now is to figure out a way to get back to my sister. Nothing else matters."
Lightning continued to walk away, her cape fluttering in the breeze. Katrana Prestor watched her leave with a mixture of distain and contempt, "What is so interesting about this woman that you put up with her attitude Bolvar? Isn't it obvious she has inclination to return your more then generous hospitality?"
"Perhaps," he conceded, "But there may be something we can use to our advantage."
Katrana continued to look at Lightning's retreating figure, "What could we have that she might be remotely interested in."
"Simple. A way home."
Lightning had just reached the bottom of the steps outside the cathedral when Bolvar's words reached her. Turning around she coldly stared at Bolvar as he and Katrana approached her, "What are you saying?"
Bolvar walked up to her, "It is just as I said miss Lightning. If you listen to what I have to say and then agree to at least help then I will make some inquiries with some of the foremost mage and warlock experts on portals and teleportation across Azeroth. In fact I think Jaina Proudmoore should find this task very intriguing if she is not currently busy."
Even with his reassurances about offering his assistance Lightning was not convinced, "I doubt anyone here knows the slightest bit about Etro's Gate. Still, I really don't have a choice in the matter. This may be my best shot at returning home. Wait for me Serah…"
"I suppose you give me little choice. I will listen to you but I will not agree until you have explained everything. Agreeing to do something before knowing the entire picture is the sign of a fool."
Bolvar seemed to be relieved that she decided to listen to him, "Since you do not like to mince words I will get straight to the point, Stormwind is in a dire situation despite what Katrana here might say. We are being besieged on all sides by threats both inside and outside the kingdom. There is the Defias Brotherhood who forcefully annexed Westfall to the west, the orcs assaulting Redridge Mountains to the east and the undead encroaching upon the Duskwoods to the south. Stormwind is becoming a single light surrounded by darkness.
"I don't understand how this has anything to do with me."
"I thought you would understand where I am going with this. I cannot in good faith deploy the army to fight these threats without exposing the city and leaving it defenseless. Therefore I have taken to offering rewards to the mercenary groups that call themselves guilds to fight these threats directly. If and when they bring back proof that they have eliminated a threat to the kingdom I reward them handsomely."
"So I'm so much a soldier as a hired gun?"
"While guilds do get paid most of them are not in it for the money. The one you are going to help do what they do because they want to."
Lightning turned away in thought. If he had said she would be a mercenary she would have walked away right there and then, "Where do I meet this guild?"
"You will not meet them just yet," Bolvar said while he and Katrana walked past her, "First we are going to see just how skilled you actually are."
...
It was some time later that Lightning found herself standing in the middle of some type of training grounds. Her passage through the city was eventful to say the least. It seemed that whoever found her had told as many people about the 'woman who fell from the sky' and so she was accosted along her entire route. Even with Bolvar and the men he picked up along the way doing their best to keep the crowds away Lightning had found her fingers itching to take her gunblade and run it through a few of the more persistent people.
Now at the training grounds and with more than a few soldiers standing guard at the entrance to prevent anyone from entering Lightning found herself relaxing slightly. She was a soldier through and through so standing in the middle of this training facility, primitive it may be, still made her feel somewhat back to normal.
"This is just a stepping stone to returning home, nothing more."
Bolvar swept his arm out, "This is the training ground of SI:7, one of the more active branches in the Alliance military. I know that this isn't the best place but is should suffice for what we need to do."
"What is this Alliance you mentioned?"
"Oh right, I forgot you aren't exactly from around here. The alliance is composed of four kingdoms that band together to protect our interests against the Horde that, whether other people like it or not, functions the same way against us."
Lightning nodded in agreement but she couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't telling her everything, "What is it you need me to do?"
"In order to ascertain your skills and abilities I am going to have you spar against several of my men in various combat settings ranging from hand-to-hand combat to weapons."
"Tch, whatever."
She watched as a soldier walked forward and picked up one a sword from one of the weapon racks and gave it a few experimental swings. Scoffing at the pointlessness of this spar Lightning hooked a finger through the trigger of her gunblade and in one quick motion unsheathed and transformed it into its blade form. As she did so several excited whispers rang through the people watching the match. Holding her left arm bent in front of her body and her gunblade behind her she prepared herself for combat.
"Let's see what you got."
Bolvar looked between Lightning and her opponent, "Are both combatants ready? Begin!"
Lightning had to give the soldier credit as he ran at her. He was very fast on his feet even in all that armor. "Not fast enough though," she thought as she pivoted on her left foot just as he reached her and attempted to strike her gunblade near the grip and force her to drop it.
She easily avoided the attack and countered with several quick strikes that forced him to backpedal and defend himself, "Amateurish move at best, no veteran will fall for such a gimmick. Since he feels like treating me as a novice I will just have to show him who he is dealing with."
Foregoing her gunblade for a moment Lightning closed the distance and grabbed the soldier's wrist before twisting it sharply and causing him to drop his blade. Letting go of him Lightning scoffed as she watched him glance between her and his sword.
"Your grip is far too weak. If this were a real battle you would already be dead. Now retrieve your weapon and try again."
The soldier knelt down to pick up his weapon and immediately rushed Lightning hoping to surprise her but to his shock she looked bored, as if she expected such a tactic.
"Tch."
With a resounding clang his sword met her gunblade in a deadlock. As he attempted to put more strength and overpower her, the soldier realized in horror that for all the effort he was putting in Lightning had not budged once. Apart from her slightly trembling arms she didn't seem to be trying very hard. Shouting he pushed away from Lightning and attempted to overwhelm her with lightning fast jabs and strikes but every time he went in to attack Lightning was already there blocking and parrying. This exchange continued for several minutes until the soldier was about to fall from exhaustion.
Lightning observed the tired soldier in front her of. She would never admit it but he has some skill with a sword and would go very far with the proper training but unfortunately this was a spar and so she needed to end this.
"Something to remember me by."
Quicker then the onlookers thought she should be able to move Lightning stabbed her gunblade into the ground and ran at the soldier who was too tired to put up an effective defense. Spinning around his meager block Lightning slammed her elbow into his armored stomach. Usually such a move would at best only disorient him for a few seconds due to his armor but this time was different, Lightning hit him with enough force to dent the armor inwards and cause him to collapse onto the ground out of breath and in pain.
She scoffed and retrieved her gunblade; "If I were you I would not waste time in removing him from him armor. It's pressing down on his diaphragm and preventing him from breathing correctly."
Lightning holstered her gunblade as she watched several soldiers rush by her to help their fallen comrade. Turning to Bolvar, who seemed to be unable to decide between being impressed or angry with her, she said, "Your soldier was fairly skilled with that sword and given enough time could be great but it was still not enough to pose a threat to me."
"This was supposed to be a simple spar to assess your abilities miss Lightning. He would not have been expected to go full out against you."
"It's Lightning, not miss Lightning and while that may have been true in the beginning if you had actually been watching you would have seen his tactics change. Immediately after I disarmed him I am willing to bet he felt humiliated and wanted revenge. All of his strikes after that were meant to draw blood or cause massive injuries."
He glared at her, "While that may be the case, and he will be punished accordingly for disobeying orders, it still does not condone that final strike."
Lightning simply looked at him, "I trust that was enough of a demonstration or do I need to continue having these idiotic matches?"
"While I would have preferred you fighting several more opponents I cannot afford to have some of my better men bedridden for any length of time so as much as it pains me I will have to trust that you are competent enough in your abilities to do what needs to be done."
"Great," she responded sarcastically, "What do I need to do again?"
Bolvar sighed in frustration. He didn't know how much more he could deal with Lightning's attitude and the worst part was that it was so much like Katrana's that it wasn't even funny. He could only imagine in horror what would happen if they were to become friends.
"I told you before that you would be working with a guild on some of their more risky missions. While I would have preferred you start with something smaller such as raiding bandit camps or destroying some of the undead to the south I realized that would just be a severe waste of your talent. Talent that can and should be used where it would do the most good."
"I take it this is the woman you were so adamant I meet?"
"Ah yes, Lightning this is Bylena Moonstrike, a night elf. She is the official liaison between her guild and Stormwind."
Lightning was surprised, to say the least, about the woman in front of her. She stood at an impressive seven feet tall and had purple skin and glowing silver eyes. The woman walked towards her before letting out a chuckle.
"So you must be the hotshot I heard the humans talking about as I waited outside. I must say, based upon their stunned reactions and the injured soldier resting on the ground behind you must have some skill. What is your opinion here Bolvar?"
He rubbed his chin as he spoke, "While her…personality is not the best she does have what it takes to be of use to your guild."
Bylena clapped her hands, "Very well then. Follow me and I will brief you on your first mission."
Lightning hated having to look up at the night elf. She only hoped not everyone on this world was so tall, "It better not be something asinine."
"Nothing like that. If Bolvar vouches for you then you are already qualified to go on any of our missions."
As she followed in step behind her something crossed Lightning's mind, "Does your guild even have a name?"
She scoffed, "Guilds around Azeroth focus on many different things besides fighting. There are some that focus only on gathering rare and valuable materials that they sell exclusively to other guilds that make rare weapons and armors, others defend Alliance territory from Horde encroachment and then there are the adventuring guilds. Most people tend to stay away from the last type because of the high death rate but that is what makes it so worth doing."
"So what is it?"
Bylena looked somberly over the canal running parallel to the street, "The first guildmaster wanted a name that invoked a sense of pride. He said that he wanted the guild to be the last bastion of light in the dark; we would stand tall as our friends collapsed around us until our very last breath. We are the first and final line of defense against our enemies."
"We are Final Fantasy."
...
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Chapter 1 is done and I think I got Lightning's personality down pat. Sure she is a little arrogant and rude but she was just about to reunite with her sister when she was dragged to Azeroth so her behavior can be excused. As for the guild name, I had to choose something so I picked an obvious choice but since this is among the first FFXIII x WoW crossovers on the site I do believe I have some leeway.
Please read and review this story! I want to know your opinions on whether it is worth continuing or not.
~Bahamut_Reishiki