Chapter Two: Flaming Salamander
Notes: Hope you all are enjoying this. –grins- It's very inconvenient to type things in a library. But it's all for a good cause! This chappeh, if you can't tell, is about our favourite antisocial bounty hunter! And in this installment, we introduce Lani! She's so awesome, I just had to put her in! This is my first time writing for her, so tell meh if I did okay?
Again, many liberties are taken with the actual game flashbacks. Artistic license. And a lot of reference to Devilish Kurumi's ficceh 'Eight Words'. Read it and beh amused children.
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He'd done some pretty stupid things in his life. But right about now, he'd figured being here had to be one of the more meaningful ones. Not here as in currently. Currently, sitting in a Treno bar and getting comfortably buzzed was the best idea he'd had all day. But coming here to work, that was another story.
Salamander had been working since he'd left home. He couldn't keep a job for too long. It always wound up the same, with him leaving town, only to pick up somewhere else. He figured he had a restless spirit, and who was he to deny it? He wasn't picky about work, so jobs were never hard to find.
But this one had been a mistake. Like most mistakes, the option had seemed like a good idea at the time. A security position was perfect for him. Working alone was always a plus, and every now and again, he got to rough up a few punks.
Meeting Kuja changed his mind.
The silver-haired nutcase usually hung around the Auction House. Salamander was NOT security for the Auction House, but Kuja either didn't notice or didn't care. And once he knew Kuja, Salamander assumed it was the latter. But he seemed to be on close terms with his employer, so Salamander really had no choice. It was either that or take off, and Treno's shady atmosphere still held an attraction for him.
So, when Kuja stormed up to him, yelling about his Mage was missing, Salamander had little choice but to go help him when he asked. Salamander had seen the Mage before. Kuja took him to the Auction House all the time. From what he gathered, the Mage was a boy, but the huge floppy hat it wore hid its face.
Salamander hadn't really cared. He'd been excited when they found him in the thieves' tower. He'd been itching for a fight, and the monkey-tailed blond punk had made an interesting prospect. But the scene had ended peacefully for the most part. At least for him.
Beside him, Lani was babbling about whatever it was women babble about when they think men re paying attention. But to her credit, Lani wasn't your typical woman. She reached over and slapped him in the back of the head. Salamander turned on her.
"Dammit woman! What the hell was that for!"
Lani stuck out her tongue, the picture of maturity. "Because you're ignoring me, you ass. Anyway, I was saying I think you should change your name."
"What? Why the hell would I do that?"
"Word's starting to get around about the 'incident' in Alexandria," she replied matter-of-factly.
Salamander rolled his eyes, downing the rest of his drink. "You mean the 'incident' where you went home and your parents were convinced I had kidnapped and brainwashed their precious daughter? The one where they called a hit on me?" he drawled.
"Exactly! That's the one!"
He stood, heading for the door. He didn't check to see if Lani would follow, but he knew she would. She didn't disappoint him. The air outside was cool, and he shoved his hands in his pockets.
"Lani, in case you haven't noticed, I'm dying for a good fight. So if someone's looking for me, I'd rather take them on than take the coward's way out."
She frowned, looking up at him. "You're going to get yourself killed."
He smiled. "Wouldn't that be interesting?"
Lani growled in long-suffering frustration. "Salamander Coral, just what am I supposed to do with you?"
Salamander shrugged. "You're a smart girl. I'm sure you'll figure something out."
He waved her off, heading to work. For awhile she just stood there, clenching and unclenching her fists.
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He had a feeling there would be trouble. It was a fighter's intuition, that little nagging voice in the back of his mind. Maybe Lani was right. Sure, a fight was the ultimate adrenaline rush, but there was a time to fight, and a time to strategize. Lani's parents were pretty powerful people, and powerful people always knew the dangerous people.
But as it turned out, the threat didn't come from some hired thug hiding behind a corner. Salamander might have felt better if it had. Instead, the threat came from a small annoying monkey-tailed boy. A thing Salamander would later see becoming a pattern.
To be completely honest, Salamander really didn't blame the kid. Hell, in another position, he probably would've watched the whole thing and laughed. Rich people were so stupid, thinking they could gloat and show off all their pretty things. Didn't they know Treno was full of thieves?
But regardless of his personal feelings, he'd been hired to protect the house and its contents. And he'd be damned before he'd let a skinny little monkey get the better of him.
The other guards were yelling when he approached the building. This didn't bother him. Those guys were always yelling at everyone that walked by that wasn't noble or could kick their ass.
Salamander turned the corner only to crash into a blue and blond blur. He was small, but the speed of the collision knocked Salamander over. In front of him, the boy got to his feet.
"Stop thief!" the guards yelled, starting to run after him.
Caught between a rock and a hard place, he looked at Salamander. Recognition flashed in his eyes, followed by a glare. "You…"
"Didn't you learn your lesson last time, kid?" Salamander picked himself up.
He put his hands on his hips. "Actually I did," he turned to were the guards were just rounding the corner. "He's over here!"
"What the hell are you doing?" he took a step back.
The guards reached the scene. The monkey backed against the wall. "It's him! He just robbed that house and he tried to mug me too!"
"Thanks kid. We'll take it from here. Go on home," one of the guards shooed him off.
Salamander watched incredulously. "Who are you?"
"I'm Zidane," the boy smirked, "And that was for Vivi."
He ran off, leaving the redhead with the two advancing guards.
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Salamander pounded on the door. The innkeeper had said Lani was staying here. Slowly, she opened the door a crack. "Who the hell is it?"
"It's me. Hurry up before I made a nice old man have to get new carpet."
Lani opened the door and he hurried in, shutting and locking it behind him. "Salamander? What's wrong?"
"About what you said…about changing my name…"
She looked him over, concerned. He was bleeding from a few places, but the biggest one seemed to be from a large gash across his shoulder, which was dripping a bit too much blood. He had a few bruises as well. Certainly not the worst she'd seen him look, but it still worried her. "What happened?"
"The fucking monkey framed me!"
Lani nodded. "You're drunk, aren't you?"
He frowned, struggling out of his ripped shirt. "Are you gonna help me or not?"
She sighed, reaching into her pack for the first aid kit she'd learned never to be without. "Okay, okay," she began, dabbing a wet cloth over the most severe cut. "How about…Bob?"
He didn't dignify it with a response, only glaring at her.
"I'm only kidding," she finished cleaning the wound, bandaging it before she continued. "What about Amarant?"
He blinked. "Where'd you get that from?"
"It's for 'red', right?"
Salamander nodded. "I just didn't know you knew that."
Lani grinned. "You'd be surprised."
"Whatever."
She put the kit aside, propping herself up against his side. "So Amarant. Are you going to tell me what happened?"
The Flaming Amarant. Sounded pretty good. "There was this monkey-tailed kid, said his name was Zidane…"
Amarant coral told his story.
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End! Okay, so how do you like the rewrite? Whose psyche do we screw with next? YOURS! It's review time! -pushes in direction of the button-