Man, sorry this one took so long. But schoolwork comes first
(unfortunately). The next one might be a while too. At the rate I'm going
at, the next 'Tantalus' fiction is going to be put on hold for a while (So
far Blank's got the most votes). R&R
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CLEYRA
When Zidane awoke, he was pleasantly surprised to find that he didn't have a headache.
"There's a first" he laughed, then realised there was someone sitting beside him. Turning his head, he saw both Freya and Fratley. Fratley looked worse for wear, but Freya was smiling.
"It's good to see your awake monkey boy" she joked. "We were worried you'd died before your sentence was up."
"Ugh, wh-what happened" Zidane asked, confused.
It was Fratley who answered. "When you heard that that Ironite had hurt Freya, you went into something called trance."
"Trance?"
Fratley nodded. "Trance is a surge of emotion during battle, where the person becomes much stronger than normal. Very few people have the ability, and I thought it was just a myth. Apparently, I was very much wrong."
Fratley continued as the battle dawned on Zidane. "I had to see the power of trance myself, so I challenged you."
He laughed before continuing.
"I didn't stand a chance, you cleaned the floor with me!"
* * *
Zidane smiled at the meaning of this. Punching a hand in the air, he shouted.
"All right. I beat Frats! Now I just have to wait till my sentence is up, and adios amigos!"
"Which was about half an hour ago" supplied Freya, looking at the room's clock.
Zidane stopped jumping and followed her example. "Hey! How long was I asleep?"
"Long enough!" answered Freya. "Now get up. I thought you had plans to leave as soon as possible."
Zidane nodded furiously, then his face fell. Freya groaned.
"If you dare say you're not leaving till you beat me then you've got anoth."
"Freya!" butted in Zidane, frowning at the Burmecian. "I'll . . . just miss you guys, is all"
Freya didn't quite know what to say. She knew she was going to miss the unruly thief, but she hadn't expected him to miss them!
* * *
"Have all your items?" asked Fratley, standing at the gates of Burmecia. It hadn't taken long for Zidane to get all his worldly possessions, but saying goodbye to everyone had taken forever. Finally, he reached the gates, his dark cloak keeping him dry from the rain, shadowed by Freya and Fratley.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye, for now" said Zidane.
"You just better come and visit us from time to time" warned Fratley. "The theatre girls were crying bucketful's when they heard you were leaving."
Zidane smiled. "The ladies love me! What can I say?"
"I just wish you'd let Helena cut your hair again" mused Freya. Zidane's hands flew up to his head instinctively.
"No way!" he shouted. "I like it this length!"
Zidane's blonde hair had grown back painfully slowly during the year, but now reached his shoulders, a few stray locks tied together at the back. (AN: His usual haircut)
Freya laughed, and ruffled the boy's hair. "It's not going to be the same around here without you."
" . . . " Suddenly, Zidane jumped forward, and tightly hugged Freya's leg.
"I'll come visit every now and then" he promised. "But don't you go near Ironite's!"
Fratley laughed at the pair. Now this was something new. Freya, champion of the Dragon Knights, being warned to stay out of trouble by a chibi thief! Fortunately, Freya seemed to catch the humour too.
As the boy let go of her, Freya turned her back on the thief.
"I advise you don't tell anyone about that. I do have a reputation to keep," she warned.
"And . . . I'll miss you too."
Zidane smiled again, even though his friend couldn't see it, and ran off into rain and mist, waving goodbye.
* * *
Freya and Fratley waved back. But as Freya walked back into the damp city, Fratley stared into the distance, remembering the boy with the tail.
"I didn't even know there was humans with tails," he thought. "And I didn't know Trance truly existed. How much of the world do I really know?"
Sighing, he turned into the town.
"Perhaps I should leave Burmecia, and find out . . . "
* * *
Zidane flung his hood back as he came into the sun. After being cooped up in the rainy Burmecia, it was nice to feel the warmth of sunlight. He had never told Freya, but Burmecia had always felt strangely familiar, with all of its bluish statues. What was with him and the colour blue?
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he pulled out a map, and lay it on the dusty ground.
"Now, where can I go? I really don't like the idea of going through Gizmaluke's Grotto again."
As he took his hands of the map to find his compass, a gust of wind rushed past him, sending his map billowing away.
"Yah! Wait up!" he shouted, and darted after it.
* * *
Zidane sighed in relief as the map fell to the sandy ground. He had been so worried that he'd lost it.
He was so preoccupied with grabbing the map, that when he stood up, he didn't spot the gust of sand until it hit him in the face.
He was knocked back several metres, and leapt up to face his attacker. His eyes widened when he saw what was only a few feet away.
"How did I miss that!" he shouted.
* * *
It was a huge sandstorm, in the straight centre of the desert. It was awe- inspiring. Silently, Zidane glanced down at the map.
"This . . . must be Cleyra" he decided. "Wait, didn't Freya say there was a whole bunch of Burmecian's who left and made their own town in a tree, protected by a sandstorm?"
"She must have," he thought. "Even I don't have a good enough imagination for to make up that."
Taking his time, and being careful to avoid monsters, Zidane scanned the base of the tree, looking for an entrance. Unfortunately, he couldn't seem to find one.
"Aw man!" he shouted. "Well, so much for that idea. These guys sure don't like their guests."
"Hey! You there!" a voice shouted.
Zidane turned in the voices direction. Walking towards him was a strange man. With his trained eye, Zidane could tell he was a thief, but by the looks of things, that wasn't his main profession.
Shrugging, he walked towards the man, and they met midway.
"What do you want?" Zidane asked.
The man laughed. "I was looking for someone to play with. Know Tetra Master?"
Zidane snorted. "Course I do! I lived in Treno for a year. You cant live there and not know."
"Treno eh?" The man raised his eyebrow. "I'm Alleyway Jack, and you?"
Zidane smiled. "Zidane. You wouldn't know if there's a town nearby would you. Other than Burmecia and Cleyra?"
Jack shook his head. "Sorry boy, unless you went through Gizmaluke's . . . "
Zidane was shaking his head furiously. "Sorry, no way. Me and the squid don't get along. Where did you come from?"
Jack pointed behind his back. "I just came from Treno in my boat. I'm heading to Alexandria. But I stopped for a rest here. When I saw you, I thought maybe I could squeeze a game in."
"Alexandria?" Suddenly, Zidane came up with a great idea. "Hey, Jack" he started. "Would you be willing to give me a ride? I'll even give you a game or two."
Alleyway Jack shrugged. "Sure, it'd be nice to have some company."
He started walking back the way he came. "Make sure you have some good cards!" he shouted to the boy.
"All right! What a stroke of luck!" Zidane whispered, and followed the man into the mist.
To be continued . . .
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Well, not much happened, but next chapter Zidane gets to Alexandria, and happens to spot a certain girl we all know (can I make it any more obvious?)
Anyway, I'm in a great mood thanks to some information I found out. Squaresoft is 'considering' doing a sequel to FF7 Wahoo! If anything ever needed a sequel, it was that!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
CLEYRA
When Zidane awoke, he was pleasantly surprised to find that he didn't have a headache.
"There's a first" he laughed, then realised there was someone sitting beside him. Turning his head, he saw both Freya and Fratley. Fratley looked worse for wear, but Freya was smiling.
"It's good to see your awake monkey boy" she joked. "We were worried you'd died before your sentence was up."
"Ugh, wh-what happened" Zidane asked, confused.
It was Fratley who answered. "When you heard that that Ironite had hurt Freya, you went into something called trance."
"Trance?"
Fratley nodded. "Trance is a surge of emotion during battle, where the person becomes much stronger than normal. Very few people have the ability, and I thought it was just a myth. Apparently, I was very much wrong."
Fratley continued as the battle dawned on Zidane. "I had to see the power of trance myself, so I challenged you."
He laughed before continuing.
"I didn't stand a chance, you cleaned the floor with me!"
* * *
Zidane smiled at the meaning of this. Punching a hand in the air, he shouted.
"All right. I beat Frats! Now I just have to wait till my sentence is up, and adios amigos!"
"Which was about half an hour ago" supplied Freya, looking at the room's clock.
Zidane stopped jumping and followed her example. "Hey! How long was I asleep?"
"Long enough!" answered Freya. "Now get up. I thought you had plans to leave as soon as possible."
Zidane nodded furiously, then his face fell. Freya groaned.
"If you dare say you're not leaving till you beat me then you've got anoth."
"Freya!" butted in Zidane, frowning at the Burmecian. "I'll . . . just miss you guys, is all"
Freya didn't quite know what to say. She knew she was going to miss the unruly thief, but she hadn't expected him to miss them!
* * *
"Have all your items?" asked Fratley, standing at the gates of Burmecia. It hadn't taken long for Zidane to get all his worldly possessions, but saying goodbye to everyone had taken forever. Finally, he reached the gates, his dark cloak keeping him dry from the rain, shadowed by Freya and Fratley.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye, for now" said Zidane.
"You just better come and visit us from time to time" warned Fratley. "The theatre girls were crying bucketful's when they heard you were leaving."
Zidane smiled. "The ladies love me! What can I say?"
"I just wish you'd let Helena cut your hair again" mused Freya. Zidane's hands flew up to his head instinctively.
"No way!" he shouted. "I like it this length!"
Zidane's blonde hair had grown back painfully slowly during the year, but now reached his shoulders, a few stray locks tied together at the back. (AN: His usual haircut)
Freya laughed, and ruffled the boy's hair. "It's not going to be the same around here without you."
" . . . " Suddenly, Zidane jumped forward, and tightly hugged Freya's leg.
"I'll come visit every now and then" he promised. "But don't you go near Ironite's!"
Fratley laughed at the pair. Now this was something new. Freya, champion of the Dragon Knights, being warned to stay out of trouble by a chibi thief! Fortunately, Freya seemed to catch the humour too.
As the boy let go of her, Freya turned her back on the thief.
"I advise you don't tell anyone about that. I do have a reputation to keep," she warned.
"And . . . I'll miss you too."
Zidane smiled again, even though his friend couldn't see it, and ran off into rain and mist, waving goodbye.
* * *
Freya and Fratley waved back. But as Freya walked back into the damp city, Fratley stared into the distance, remembering the boy with the tail.
"I didn't even know there was humans with tails," he thought. "And I didn't know Trance truly existed. How much of the world do I really know?"
Sighing, he turned into the town.
"Perhaps I should leave Burmecia, and find out . . . "
* * *
Zidane flung his hood back as he came into the sun. After being cooped up in the rainy Burmecia, it was nice to feel the warmth of sunlight. He had never told Freya, but Burmecia had always felt strangely familiar, with all of its bluish statues. What was with him and the colour blue?
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he pulled out a map, and lay it on the dusty ground.
"Now, where can I go? I really don't like the idea of going through Gizmaluke's Grotto again."
As he took his hands of the map to find his compass, a gust of wind rushed past him, sending his map billowing away.
"Yah! Wait up!" he shouted, and darted after it.
* * *
Zidane sighed in relief as the map fell to the sandy ground. He had been so worried that he'd lost it.
He was so preoccupied with grabbing the map, that when he stood up, he didn't spot the gust of sand until it hit him in the face.
He was knocked back several metres, and leapt up to face his attacker. His eyes widened when he saw what was only a few feet away.
"How did I miss that!" he shouted.
* * *
It was a huge sandstorm, in the straight centre of the desert. It was awe- inspiring. Silently, Zidane glanced down at the map.
"This . . . must be Cleyra" he decided. "Wait, didn't Freya say there was a whole bunch of Burmecian's who left and made their own town in a tree, protected by a sandstorm?"
"She must have," he thought. "Even I don't have a good enough imagination for to make up that."
Taking his time, and being careful to avoid monsters, Zidane scanned the base of the tree, looking for an entrance. Unfortunately, he couldn't seem to find one.
"Aw man!" he shouted. "Well, so much for that idea. These guys sure don't like their guests."
"Hey! You there!" a voice shouted.
Zidane turned in the voices direction. Walking towards him was a strange man. With his trained eye, Zidane could tell he was a thief, but by the looks of things, that wasn't his main profession.
Shrugging, he walked towards the man, and they met midway.
"What do you want?" Zidane asked.
The man laughed. "I was looking for someone to play with. Know Tetra Master?"
Zidane snorted. "Course I do! I lived in Treno for a year. You cant live there and not know."
"Treno eh?" The man raised his eyebrow. "I'm Alleyway Jack, and you?"
Zidane smiled. "Zidane. You wouldn't know if there's a town nearby would you. Other than Burmecia and Cleyra?"
Jack shook his head. "Sorry boy, unless you went through Gizmaluke's . . . "
Zidane was shaking his head furiously. "Sorry, no way. Me and the squid don't get along. Where did you come from?"
Jack pointed behind his back. "I just came from Treno in my boat. I'm heading to Alexandria. But I stopped for a rest here. When I saw you, I thought maybe I could squeeze a game in."
"Alexandria?" Suddenly, Zidane came up with a great idea. "Hey, Jack" he started. "Would you be willing to give me a ride? I'll even give you a game or two."
Alleyway Jack shrugged. "Sure, it'd be nice to have some company."
He started walking back the way he came. "Make sure you have some good cards!" he shouted to the boy.
"All right! What a stroke of luck!" Zidane whispered, and followed the man into the mist.
To be continued . . .
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
Well, not much happened, but next chapter Zidane gets to Alexandria, and happens to spot a certain girl we all know (can I make it any more obvious?)
Anyway, I'm in a great mood thanks to some information I found out. Squaresoft is 'considering' doing a sequel to FF7 Wahoo! If anything ever needed a sequel, it was that!