Chapter One

"Alone in an Unknown World"

by: Silver Nightingale

Disclaimer: I do not own FFIX or any of its characters so please don't sue me.

AN: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Here's the next chapter. I hope you guys would enjoy it, sorry about the delay, by the way. ^_^

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Blue... he could see nothing but the bright color of blue...

"That is your mission, now go." a deep, firm voice stated.

"I understand that but why must I go with him? I can do this job efficiently without the aid of a puppet, master. Do you not trust me?" another voice asked.

"Silence! Have you forgotten? You are also a puppet, as you are so fond of calling it. The only difference is that you were given the gift of life. Now go!" the former one ordered.

"But--" the latter tried to say but was quickly interrupted.

"Go now, before I loose my patience."

"Very well, let us go now, Zidane."

Eyes of bluish-green reluctantly opened.

"Where... where am I?" He asked himself. He placed his right hand on the side of his aching head and slowly stood up. He waited for a few seconds until his eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the night. His eyes widened as he realized that he was atop a grassy cliff.

"Woah!" he eyed the valley down the cliff, trying to see what was at the bottom, to at least know how high up he was. But, alas! A mantle of thick mist blanketed the ground, blocking his view. "How did I get up here?"

He looked around and saw a cavern. "I wonder where that leads to." He approached the mouth of the cavern cautiously and felt that it was getting colder and colder as he got nearer. "No wonder it's getting cold. That place is frozen solid. There's no way I could spend the night there."

He moved himself back to the way he came and sat down the grass, trying to think. The low chirping of crickets was the only sound that could be heard. After some minutes, he decided to stand up. "Well, no use staying here. Might as well find a place where I could spend the night. There must be a village or a town nearby."

He walked a bit more forward and spotted a tall mountain. He noticed that there's a small house at the foot of the mountain. He smiled, "I don't want to trouble them." he then turned his head towards a direction and saw a small village. "Better!"

The boy ran towards the village and knocked on the first door he could find.

"The door's open." Someone yelled from inside.

The boy then entered the house.

"The rooms are over there." The man told the boy.

[Rooms? Oh, I get it! This place must be an inn. I'm so lucky!] The boy nodded and headed towards the room.

"Wait a minute. You have to pay first. Only 50 gil per night." The man informed the boy.

"I have to pay 50 gil?" He asked in a confused tone. "What's a gil?"

"Are you trying to be smart, kid?" The man questioned in an annoyed voice.

[Uh-oh...] He remained silent.

"If you don't have any money then get out. You may drive my customers away." The man remarked and sent the boy out.

[Great! This is just great!] The boy then wondered around again. [I have no money, now what do I do?]

"Hey, isn't that a farm?" the boy asked himself. He then ran towards the place. He surveyed the area and discovered that there was a pile of hay on one corner. "It'll have to do."

The boy slowly crept towards the hay, careful not to step on any other plants, and settled down his 'bed'. He looked up the sky and saw the two moons. [I have so many questions playing in my mind... What am I doing here? How come I don't know what certain things are? Where did I come from?] He sighed. [The only thing I know for sure is that I'm all alone...] Those were his last thought before drifting off to sleep.

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AN: So, how was it? Leave a review, okay? Remember, more reviews equals faster chapters. ^_~