Big thanks for all those who read AND reviewed for the first and
second chapters, I've decided to focus on this story for a while, and that
means more updates. Still not very often but more than one every three
months.
Bahumat landed a little over a mile out of the village of Dali. Even from the distance Flare could see the changes, subtle for the time being but they were changes all the same. Men had gone from their fields to work in the new Hatchery. 'Oh yes the Hatchery, Aya had told her all about that. Bless that girl's soul.' Flare thought to herself.
Flare smiled at the approaching figure, the young girl wore an expression of pure annoyance as she stopped gazing up at the massive dragon and his master. "You're late!" She said taking the offensive.
"Better late then never." Flare replied and the girl replied it with a nod. "How's the Hatchery?"
"As disgusting as ever before. They think they can just hatch us! Imagine, me, born from an egg!" She shuddered with dislike.
"You weren't though, you're a prototype. One of what... four?" Flare asked trying to lighten the mood.
"No, Kuja doesn't like even numbers . . . he says it give them a chance to even the score. I was the fourth, but I'll bet there was a fifth." Aya replied as she climbed onto Bahumat. Her baggy black pants and navy blue coat ruffled in the wind produced by Bahumat's strong wings as they took flight. Her golden yellow bangs framed her face. The rest of her hair was midnight black and pulled into low pigtails falling just past her shoulders.
"So he doesn't, it's probably one of the things that Garland taught him. That's why Garland has three angels." Flare contemplated. "I wonder how many are loyal to him though . . . surely Zidane has no memory of him . . . I've never met the third and I doubt Kuja is."
An angry glare flashed across Aya's face, right down to the depth of her yellow mage eyes. "Don't you dare speak of Kuja, you have no right! HE DID NOTHING TO YOU!"
"This hatchery has really got you ticked off . . ." Flare said taking a breath and turning to face her eleven-year-old friend. "Let's look at this again. Kuja, gave you life, you're alive because of him." She stopped and took a deep breath. "But, he also ruined my town. He killed my friends, my sister, mother, and my father. He changed my life, and not for the better I think I have the right to talk about him."
Aya nodded with tears stinging her eyes, Flare wasn't lying, and she had suffered more from the angel's hands. Soon they would reach the black mage village where Flare would leave her as planned. Then Flare would leave to meet up with Blaze again, and most likely Nadine. "How's Blaze doing?" Aya asked changing the subject.
'What made her ask that?' Flare asked herself as she was forced to hold back tears. "He's doing great Aya, I'll tell him you asked after him though." 'Why did I lie to her about that? Why do I ask myself questions that I already know the answer to? I lied because I feel that if I accept him for dead, if I give up hope that he will be, and I'm not ready to give up on him.'
________________________________________________________________________
"Oh wow!" Garnet exclaimed as she dropped to her knees to closely examine a plant. "Everything here is so wonderful!"
"And if we pass through here we avoid the mist." Zidane said gesturing towards the path.
"As well as the monster it spawns." Steiner said as he watched Vivi fiddle with his gloves nervously. "Let's move on."
"Oh please Steiner? Just an hour?" Garnet pleaded.
"Rusty's right your highness." Zidane said as he offered her a hand up. Accepting his hand up she nodded in agreement. The four continued on for some time, until they came to the opening of the cave.
"I feel so tired." Garnet said as she fell onto her knees and closed her eyes. "Need to sleep." Her words were drowned out by the wailing winds.
"Princess!" Steiner said stumbling down the ledge to help her. "It's hard to mov-" Steiner to then stumbled and his breathing relaxed.
"What's happening Mr. Zidane?" Vivi said. "I feel . . . strange." He said as he sat in the snow and closed his eyes.
As his vision blurred Zidane felt himself falling into the snow. Lying there, unable to answer Vivi, and not wanting to, he wanted this . . . no, needed it. He needed to sleep; his life depended on this sleep. 'Let me sleep.' His eyelids were heavy, his vision . . . fading, dimming, blurring . . . gone.
'What was that?' He heard it, in his unaware mind, his body slept on. 'Is it a bell?' Zidane's body seemed frozen in time, frozen by the spell of that bell in the distance. 'I've got to protect Garnet.' He attempted to move, to stand up. His legs ached; they wouldn't obey their owner. Trying something smaller, and arm, just move it a little bit to help himself up. To slide it underneath himself and push up. It didn't work.
The bell was louder now, echoing all around him, echoing, echoing everywhere. The winds grew stronger, the cold became colder.
He moved, a small movement . . . the twitch of his index finger, was all it took to break the spell. Still stiff, still sore and aching he started walking. He passed through the mouth of the cave into the sharp cold sting of the whistling winds. The bell rung one last time before a voice interrupted it.
"How are you not dead!?" It was a high pitched voice echoed off the sheets of ice creating an eerie seen that raised hairs on the back of Zidane's neck.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!" Zidane shouted back not caring to answer the creature's question. It reminded him strangely of Vivi for some unknown reason . . . the appearance yes, but there was something else, something deeper than the look of the beast.
"My orders are to destroy the company you travel in and return the Princess to her home in Alexandria!" The mage's voice croaked. His yellow eyes were slanted in anger and frustration; they held a deep dislike, a deep hate in them. He wore a long blue coat that matched the ratted hat, in one hand he held a staff and in the other a small bell.
"You'll have to fight me first!" Zidane shouted drawing out his weapon.
"I'll shred you to pieces!" He shouted. "Feel the fury of the first Black Waltz!" With a twisting motion of his left hand he summoned up a large glacier seal shattered the ice next to him.
Zidane stumbled backwards as a strong flipper from the gigantic seal pushed him back. Zidane judged that they were hard blows, not the worst he'd encountered but he wouldn't be able to keep it up for very long. A cold passed both over and through him, he felt cold, like he was numb then it burned. He cast a glance at the Mage, it had of course been him, he'd never had much magic used on him, about five hits like that and he'd be drained. 'TWO ON ONE!' Zidane thought in anger.
Running forward to take a slash at the seal he felt the now familiar magic of the blizzard being cast upon him. He's eyes grew wide with surprise as he thought of something. 'It took a lot out of the mage to summon that beast . . . he's drained now. I should take him out first.' Grabbing a potion bottle he threw it to the ground where it smashed. The magic in it radiated up towards him, like a warm summer's breeze he felt his energy, speed and endurance returning to him.
The sudden movement of Zidane's change of direction caught the mage's attention, a quick glance to the ledge above him, wondering what may have caught the boy's attention. The quick slash of Zidane's dagger his the mage in his vulnerable side which remain unexposed until his last movement. A swift movement of his right arm brought the knob of his staff to make contact with Zidane's shoulder. In a burst of anger the dagger stabbed forth again, hitting it's mark. The mage fell with a gasp.
"You shall fail . . ." His voice rasped. A look of shock and awe crossed his face as he spoke his last words. "Even your trance will not help in this fight." Then he faded into darkness and was gone. Zidane became aware that there was a pink glow around him. He had entered his second trance without knowing it.
Smirking he turned towards the seal. Raising a knife into the air he let a single word escape his throat, unaware that it had, not knowing it was himself that spoke. The word "DYNE!" echoed dangerously off of the ice, lights began to glow. Dimly at first, then brighter, brighter still, a blinding flash and the lights went out. The seal was gone, the trance was gone.
"Zidane? What were you doing out here?" It was Garnet's voice asking him, Zidane turned grinning with relief, now wasn't the time to mention the fight, and they had to move.
"Just came around to make sure the coast was clear." Zidane said with a wink. "We should get going . . ." He said as they rounded a corner of the steep path and saw they had made it out of the ice caverns, and a village lay out below them. "Garnet, I think if we plan to enter that vil-"
"The princess means to return to the castle!" Steiner bellowed knocking a blade out of Zidane's hand.
"You're so dense Steiner, I don't intend on returning to the castle anytime soon." She said bending over and picking it up.
"Will in that case, I believe you need a name to go by so you aren't recognized." Zidane said in a tone he hoped would impress her.
"Very well then, what is this type of blade called?" She asked holding it up.
"CAREFUL PRINCESS!" Steiner wheezed. "That's a dangerous weapon!"
"It's a dagger. A bit longer than a knife but not quite as long as a short sword." He replied casually.
"My new name is Dagger." She concluded.
"And you can't talk so proper . . . try talking like Vivi here." He said gesturing to the young mage. "What do you say to this Vivi?"
"Alrighty." Vivi said as he grabbed his hat to stop it from blowing away.
"Alrighty then!" Dagger replied giggling. "This is quite . . . I mean really fun!"
"You're doing great, well let's get down there, the village is called Dahli. We used to do summer performances there but not in the last year." Zidane stated as he led the way down the path.
Thanks to anyone who bothered to read that yeah I know my writing isn't the best. If it was you'd be reading it in book instead of it being on fanfiction. Big thanks to all who read this!
x-IwA-x
Bahumat landed a little over a mile out of the village of Dali. Even from the distance Flare could see the changes, subtle for the time being but they were changes all the same. Men had gone from their fields to work in the new Hatchery. 'Oh yes the Hatchery, Aya had told her all about that. Bless that girl's soul.' Flare thought to herself.
Flare smiled at the approaching figure, the young girl wore an expression of pure annoyance as she stopped gazing up at the massive dragon and his master. "You're late!" She said taking the offensive.
"Better late then never." Flare replied and the girl replied it with a nod. "How's the Hatchery?"
"As disgusting as ever before. They think they can just hatch us! Imagine, me, born from an egg!" She shuddered with dislike.
"You weren't though, you're a prototype. One of what... four?" Flare asked trying to lighten the mood.
"No, Kuja doesn't like even numbers . . . he says it give them a chance to even the score. I was the fourth, but I'll bet there was a fifth." Aya replied as she climbed onto Bahumat. Her baggy black pants and navy blue coat ruffled in the wind produced by Bahumat's strong wings as they took flight. Her golden yellow bangs framed her face. The rest of her hair was midnight black and pulled into low pigtails falling just past her shoulders.
"So he doesn't, it's probably one of the things that Garland taught him. That's why Garland has three angels." Flare contemplated. "I wonder how many are loyal to him though . . . surely Zidane has no memory of him . . . I've never met the third and I doubt Kuja is."
An angry glare flashed across Aya's face, right down to the depth of her yellow mage eyes. "Don't you dare speak of Kuja, you have no right! HE DID NOTHING TO YOU!"
"This hatchery has really got you ticked off . . ." Flare said taking a breath and turning to face her eleven-year-old friend. "Let's look at this again. Kuja, gave you life, you're alive because of him." She stopped and took a deep breath. "But, he also ruined my town. He killed my friends, my sister, mother, and my father. He changed my life, and not for the better I think I have the right to talk about him."
Aya nodded with tears stinging her eyes, Flare wasn't lying, and she had suffered more from the angel's hands. Soon they would reach the black mage village where Flare would leave her as planned. Then Flare would leave to meet up with Blaze again, and most likely Nadine. "How's Blaze doing?" Aya asked changing the subject.
'What made her ask that?' Flare asked herself as she was forced to hold back tears. "He's doing great Aya, I'll tell him you asked after him though." 'Why did I lie to her about that? Why do I ask myself questions that I already know the answer to? I lied because I feel that if I accept him for dead, if I give up hope that he will be, and I'm not ready to give up on him.'
________________________________________________________________________
"Oh wow!" Garnet exclaimed as she dropped to her knees to closely examine a plant. "Everything here is so wonderful!"
"And if we pass through here we avoid the mist." Zidane said gesturing towards the path.
"As well as the monster it spawns." Steiner said as he watched Vivi fiddle with his gloves nervously. "Let's move on."
"Oh please Steiner? Just an hour?" Garnet pleaded.
"Rusty's right your highness." Zidane said as he offered her a hand up. Accepting his hand up she nodded in agreement. The four continued on for some time, until they came to the opening of the cave.
"I feel so tired." Garnet said as she fell onto her knees and closed her eyes. "Need to sleep." Her words were drowned out by the wailing winds.
"Princess!" Steiner said stumbling down the ledge to help her. "It's hard to mov-" Steiner to then stumbled and his breathing relaxed.
"What's happening Mr. Zidane?" Vivi said. "I feel . . . strange." He said as he sat in the snow and closed his eyes.
As his vision blurred Zidane felt himself falling into the snow. Lying there, unable to answer Vivi, and not wanting to, he wanted this . . . no, needed it. He needed to sleep; his life depended on this sleep. 'Let me sleep.' His eyelids were heavy, his vision . . . fading, dimming, blurring . . . gone.
'What was that?' He heard it, in his unaware mind, his body slept on. 'Is it a bell?' Zidane's body seemed frozen in time, frozen by the spell of that bell in the distance. 'I've got to protect Garnet.' He attempted to move, to stand up. His legs ached; they wouldn't obey their owner. Trying something smaller, and arm, just move it a little bit to help himself up. To slide it underneath himself and push up. It didn't work.
The bell was louder now, echoing all around him, echoing, echoing everywhere. The winds grew stronger, the cold became colder.
He moved, a small movement . . . the twitch of his index finger, was all it took to break the spell. Still stiff, still sore and aching he started walking. He passed through the mouth of the cave into the sharp cold sting of the whistling winds. The bell rung one last time before a voice interrupted it.
"How are you not dead!?" It was a high pitched voice echoed off the sheets of ice creating an eerie seen that raised hairs on the back of Zidane's neck.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!" Zidane shouted back not caring to answer the creature's question. It reminded him strangely of Vivi for some unknown reason . . . the appearance yes, but there was something else, something deeper than the look of the beast.
"My orders are to destroy the company you travel in and return the Princess to her home in Alexandria!" The mage's voice croaked. His yellow eyes were slanted in anger and frustration; they held a deep dislike, a deep hate in them. He wore a long blue coat that matched the ratted hat, in one hand he held a staff and in the other a small bell.
"You'll have to fight me first!" Zidane shouted drawing out his weapon.
"I'll shred you to pieces!" He shouted. "Feel the fury of the first Black Waltz!" With a twisting motion of his left hand he summoned up a large glacier seal shattered the ice next to him.
Zidane stumbled backwards as a strong flipper from the gigantic seal pushed him back. Zidane judged that they were hard blows, not the worst he'd encountered but he wouldn't be able to keep it up for very long. A cold passed both over and through him, he felt cold, like he was numb then it burned. He cast a glance at the Mage, it had of course been him, he'd never had much magic used on him, about five hits like that and he'd be drained. 'TWO ON ONE!' Zidane thought in anger.
Running forward to take a slash at the seal he felt the now familiar magic of the blizzard being cast upon him. He's eyes grew wide with surprise as he thought of something. 'It took a lot out of the mage to summon that beast . . . he's drained now. I should take him out first.' Grabbing a potion bottle he threw it to the ground where it smashed. The magic in it radiated up towards him, like a warm summer's breeze he felt his energy, speed and endurance returning to him.
The sudden movement of Zidane's change of direction caught the mage's attention, a quick glance to the ledge above him, wondering what may have caught the boy's attention. The quick slash of Zidane's dagger his the mage in his vulnerable side which remain unexposed until his last movement. A swift movement of his right arm brought the knob of his staff to make contact with Zidane's shoulder. In a burst of anger the dagger stabbed forth again, hitting it's mark. The mage fell with a gasp.
"You shall fail . . ." His voice rasped. A look of shock and awe crossed his face as he spoke his last words. "Even your trance will not help in this fight." Then he faded into darkness and was gone. Zidane became aware that there was a pink glow around him. He had entered his second trance without knowing it.
Smirking he turned towards the seal. Raising a knife into the air he let a single word escape his throat, unaware that it had, not knowing it was himself that spoke. The word "DYNE!" echoed dangerously off of the ice, lights began to glow. Dimly at first, then brighter, brighter still, a blinding flash and the lights went out. The seal was gone, the trance was gone.
"Zidane? What were you doing out here?" It was Garnet's voice asking him, Zidane turned grinning with relief, now wasn't the time to mention the fight, and they had to move.
"Just came around to make sure the coast was clear." Zidane said with a wink. "We should get going . . ." He said as they rounded a corner of the steep path and saw they had made it out of the ice caverns, and a village lay out below them. "Garnet, I think if we plan to enter that vil-"
"The princess means to return to the castle!" Steiner bellowed knocking a blade out of Zidane's hand.
"You're so dense Steiner, I don't intend on returning to the castle anytime soon." She said bending over and picking it up.
"Will in that case, I believe you need a name to go by so you aren't recognized." Zidane said in a tone he hoped would impress her.
"Very well then, what is this type of blade called?" She asked holding it up.
"CAREFUL PRINCESS!" Steiner wheezed. "That's a dangerous weapon!"
"It's a dagger. A bit longer than a knife but not quite as long as a short sword." He replied casually.
"My new name is Dagger." She concluded.
"And you can't talk so proper . . . try talking like Vivi here." He said gesturing to the young mage. "What do you say to this Vivi?"
"Alrighty." Vivi said as he grabbed his hat to stop it from blowing away.
"Alrighty then!" Dagger replied giggling. "This is quite . . . I mean really fun!"
"You're doing great, well let's get down there, the village is called Dahli. We used to do summer performances there but not in the last year." Zidane stated as he led the way down the path.
Thanks to anyone who bothered to read that yeah I know my writing isn't the best. If it was you'd be reading it in book instead of it being on fanfiction. Big thanks to all who read this!
x-IwA-x
