THE FINAL FANTASY XI CHRONICLES 3: HERITAGE

Author's Note: Here we go again. Part 3. I've tried introducing some new ideas just to make relations between the characters a bit more interesting, since everybody'll be catching on to how they behave by now. I have no idea how long this'll be, or what'll happen in it. I have a few ideas for an overall plot, and many small plot bits to make something of, as well as the other characters' back stories.

The city of Tavnazia was under attack. Beastmen stormed the walls and burst into the streets. Zinkata ran to the front line. A man in his late forties, with a rough beard, short hair, and missing one eye. He wore white paladin armour, and lifted his shining blade.

"Fall back!" He ordered.

"Zinkata! Watch out!" Somebody else screamed. Zinkata dived aside as the blade of a monstrous orc thundered down towards him. He slashed out, taking down the orc, and spun around to face his troops. His eyes went wide. Standing there, was a little boy.

"Son!" He cried, running to his side. "Get out of here! Go! Now!" He was almost frantic.

"ZINKATA!" Somebody yelled. Zinkata spun around in time to see another orc stab down at him, he blocked, and beat it back.

"Get the boy out of here!" Zinkata ordered. Somebody grabbed the boy's hand, trying to pull him away. The boy watched. Zinkata beat back another orc.

"ZINKATA?" Screamed the man holding the boy. "We have to go!" Zinkata continued to fight back the attackers. One caught him in the back. "ZINKATA! COME ON!" He cried again. The boy watched in silence. Zinkata fell to his knees as two more orcs stabbed him, and his body crumpled.

"ZINKATA!" Yelled the voice as he watched his friend die. The boy watched helplessly as his father was murdered by the beastmen.

Some time later, and the little boy wondered into Bastok, alone. He had made it this far through good luck. He wondered in confused.

"Zinkata…" He muttered. Ever since the battle, he had just replayed the last few moments of his father's life in his head. "Zinkata…" Another man, clothed in black, closed in on the tiny boy.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Zinkata…" Muttered the boy.

"Is that your name? Zinkata?" Asked the stranger.

"Zinkata…" Was the only response.

"Oh, right." The stranger said. "My name's Signot. Do you have anybody here, Zinkata?"

"Zinkata…" Came the predictable answer.

"Okay. Listen. Why don't you come with me? If anybody's waiting for you here, I'm sure I can help you find them. Come on." Signot led the little boy off through the streets of Bastok.

"Zinkata…" The child mumbled.

"ZINKATA!" Vivli cried as the quadav closed in on her.

"Oh come on," Zinkata laughed. "Even you should be able to take that thing out." The quadav snarled, and went to stab Vivli. The young mithra screamed in fear. Voldos, a tall elvaan, sighed, firing an arrow and taking out the monster. Vivli turned back to face her three friends.

"You really are incompetent, aren't you?" Bootus, a gigantic galka grumbled.

"Just because I don't have to resort to violence." Vivli taunted.

"How many's that?" Voldos asked.

"Four?" Zinkata guessed.

"Right, rip it's shell off then." Voldos said. "They only wanted four shells right?"

"Yeah." Zinkata nodded.

"Good then. Mission complete." Voldos smiled. "Viv, rip off its shell."

"What? Why me?" Vivli cried.

"Aw, is the little white mage squeamish?" Bootus taunted.

"I'm a white mage!" Vivli protested. "Of course not! I deal with blood all the time."

"Then you won't mind cutting it open." Bootus handed her a big knife.

"Ah!" Vivli cried. "But I'm forbidden from wielding bladed weapons! So you'll have to do it!" She crossed her arms in triumph, and Bootus grumbled, sitting down and ripping off the shell with his bare hands.

"If you weren't so weak you wouldn't need a blade." Bootus pointed out. Vivli put her hands on her hips, offended.

"Just because we aren't all built like an orc!" She cried. Bootus stood up, which actually helped emphasise Vivli's point. She had to strain her neck just to see his face. She came up to his waist, and was about a third of the width of the massive galka.

"An orc's got nothing on me." Bootus laughed.

"Come on, you two. Help us set up a tent. We can journey back to Bastok in the morning." Zinkata cried to them. The two wondered over, complying.

It had been eight months since what was now known as The Battle of San d'Oria and the world had been saved by their hands for a second time. This time they got the credit. A double edged sword, their fame often made being casual adventurers very hard. They had just got a job to collect quadav shells for some gil, and so taken it. They didn't really need the money, but decided it would give them something to do.

Zinkata had changed little over the previous eight months. Still a warrior, his skill with a sword was becoming legendary around the city of Bastok. The four had stuck together, and just taken up minor quests. He was, however, rather enjoying their hero status. Although as leader of the team he'd never admit he was enjoying being the hero everybody praised and cheered for, not to mention all the young new adventurers he had admiring him. By far the sweetest moment of the past eight months had been when a young six year old boy had come up to him and said;

"I want to be just like you when I grow up." Although he wouldn't admit it, it had brought a tear to his eye.

Voldos, on the other hand, had been having a frustrating eight months. Surprisingly, his hero status was making it all the more difficult to womanise. Now, whenever he'd try to chat a girl up by mentioning in what he considered a casual and roughish way that he was a hero, he'd just get met with cries of;

"Oh wow! Do you know Zinkata?" Or occasionally Bootus. And then he'd have to watch them go and flirt with those two all evening. He never understood it with Bootus. Bootus was an asexual galka. Yet somehow, he still had girls flirting with him.

In terms of combat, Voldos was becoming dangerously proficient with a bow. His skill with it meant he hardly ever touched his sword anymore, and he instead relied on his abilities to shoot and take things out from a distance.

Bootus was as stubborn as ever, but on the inside he had changed quite a bit. He now was seriously enjoying his time spent with the adventurers, to the extent he even liked Vivli. It was only because he could mock her and get hilarious reactions, but it meant he no longer minded her company, and actually preferred it when she was around, as she was a constant source of amusement for him. He was beginning to get the feeling that Vivli played off of him, over-reacting to his taunts because she found it just as funny as he did. He had never managed to confirm this, however. Bootus had also gone on to become the most respected hand to hand fighter in the whole of Bastok, and was especially enjoying it because now whenever anybody became hostile because of his attitude, he would tell them his name and they would run away.

Vivli was enjoying her time adventuring, but had developed her fair share of problems over the eight months. The one that had been bothering her the most was the team's liking for drinking in taverns. She never used to mind the friendly atmosphere, but as the only female hero in the group, she was now a target for every male who wanted to flirt with her. Unfortunately, it had also become well known she was actually the Princess of Kazham, which only increased the amount of guys who flirted with her. She originally had been quite flattered by this, but was now just irritated. Furthermore, all the females she ran into had heard she was a 'Light Warrior', the key word being 'warrior', and so expected some strong warrior woman. She once found out that certain people had nicknamed her the 'Warrior Princess', which led to much disappointment when they actually met her.

These were problems Vivli felt happy to complain about to the others. But she did have another one she had to keep secret, mainly because it involved them. Over the past eight months, at some point she was unsure of, she had developed quite a serious crush on Zinkata. Not love, but a typical girlish crush. The kind of thing she thought she had passed a long time ago. And so, she had ended up thinking and acting like a typical girl with a crush. This meant whenever she wasn't around him, she was thinking about how she would act whenever she was around him, and when she actually was around him, she was acting nothing like she thought. It also meant she was bringing him up in conversation far too much, but luckily nobody had noticed. Of course, she credited this down to her best kept secret. Her diary. Nobody even knew it existed (which was lucky, because she hated to think what would happen if Bootus found it). She even knew she was behaving like a little girl, having resorted at times to drawing little pictures of the two in the back (right next to a picture of Bootus being trampled by a battering ram monster).

The four were sat around a campfire, and Vivli was trying to cook something.

"You know I'm refusing to eat that, don't you?" Bootus told her. Vivli shot him a look.

"I've been practicing!" She cried. "I got fed up with eating cold snacks while we were out here, so thought I'd learn to cook for myself. Honestly, it won't be that bad!" She looked down at it. It was a meat stew in a clunky metal pot, now boiling over the fire.

"The guild given you a rank yet?" Zinkata asked, out of curiosity. Vivli went very red.

"Urm, not as such. No." She admitted. "I, kinda, haven't joined the guild."

"So you're self taught and expect us to eat that?" Bootus looked sceptical.

"Fine, I'll eat it all myself." Vivli said angrily.

"You'll end up even fatter than you are." Bootus said with a smile.
"I AM NOT FAT!" Vivli screamed in rage, almost knocking the pot over. Bootus laughed. He really knew how to wind Vivli up. He was out right lying when it came to this, and Vivli came much closer to being dangerously underweight than anywhere near over. But the 'anorexic' jokes had run their course, so he was using new ways to annoy her.

"So, what are we planning to do after we collect the reward for this?" Voldos asked.

"I was thinking about that." Zinkata said in response. "I was considering learning something new. You know, a new job as they call them."

"That's a good idea." Vivli put in purely to side with Zinkata.

"So what job would you train as?" Voldos asked.

"Me? I have no idea." Zinkata replied. "But it's an idea."

"I'd be a ranger." Voldos said. "Considering the experience I've built up with a bow."

"I've been reading all about dark knights lately." Bootus input. "Sounds great. The philosophy is something like every time you kill the weight of the blood spent is added to your blade, making you more powerful every time you strike and more life you take."

"Ew! That's horrible!" Vivli exclaimed.

"Okay then, Little Miss Girly Girl, what would you be?" Bootus asked.

"What was that supposed to mean?" Vivli bellowed.

"Just answer the question." Bootus sighed.

"Fine. I'd be a summoner." Vivli said proudly.

"Why? Just so you don't have to fight, still?" Bootus asked.

"Exactly." Vivli said, folding her arms. "You know I hate fighting."

"I had noticed. Yes." The galka sighed. There was a loud bubbling, and water began to flow over the pot Vivli had been attempting to cook things in. She screamed, and ran over, taking it off of the fire and setting it down. "As long as you don't take up cook." Bootus sighed.

"It's okay!" Vivli cried. "It's fine! Just a little well done."

"Well done." Bootus said sarcastically.

"That was a terrible pun." Groaned Zinkata.

"Come on!" Vivli told the others. "It's fine!" She poured some of it into a bowl and took a mouthful. "See?" She paused in consideration, and put the bowl down. "On second thoughts, let's go hungry." Bootus laughed in triumph. Vivli did her best to not throw up, considering the foul food that was now inside her. She felt rather sick, but managed to avoid it.

"I'm sure it's not that bad." Zinkata said, going to take the bowl.
"No, really." Vivli managed to get out. "Don't-" She got that far before throwing up. Bootus and Voldos roared with laughter. Zinkata cautiously placed down the bowl. "Maybe I should take up smithing instead." Vivli grumbled. Bootus managed to stop laughing.

"I don't think you should do anything creative." He advised. "Just stick to healing." Vivli grumbled something inaudible, and wondered into the tent. There was a slight pause, before she ran out and was sick again.

"Viv, you throw up in that tent and we will not be impressed." Zinkata said sarcastically.
"Sorry!" Vivli apologised desperately, worried about upsetting Zinkata. "I'm alright now." She said. "Sweet Altana, I'm a bad cook." She added with a giggle. Nobody else laughed, so she felt rather embarrassed and returned to the tent.

Day came, and the four rose. More accurately, Bootus woke up, and proceeded to wake the other three up instantly rather than allowing them to sleep longer than him. They packed up the tent, which Bootus proceeded to haul onto his back. They then turned to the bag of quadav shells.

"You're turn to carry 'em Viv." Voldos told the little mithra. Bootus had been excluded from the lots to carry their items because he was carrying the tent, and Voldos and Zinkata had spent the last day hauling the junk they had found around.

"Maybe waiting until last was a bad idea." Vivli said, realising that the bag was now at its heaviest.

"Diddums." Bootus irritably said to her. Vivli groaned.

"Come on. Pick it up." Voldos sighed. Vivli looked at the large bag, which was about three quarters the size of her.

"But I'm-" She paused. She was going to say 'weak', but decided not to give Bootus that satisifaction. "-little." She finally finished.

"Diddums again." Bootus said. Vivli let out an angry growl, and grabbed the bag. She tried to lift it, but as she predicted, it was far too heavy for her. She grunted, and decided to drag it. "Watch it doesn't tear." Bootus advised her.

"Well, what else do you suggest I do?" Vivli shot at him. Bootus shrugged, and walked off. Vivli groaned.

The three males walked ahead casually while Vivli was some distance behind dragging the bag. She was sweating quite heavily due to the combined heat of the desert and the effort of dragging a weight along. The ground began to slope upwards and the bag stopped. She strained to move it, but couldn't. Dragging it along the flat she could do, but not up a slope. She frowned in frustration, and looked ahead. She could see the others far off in the distance.

"HEY!" She called, too tired to run and catch up, and knowing that leaving all their gear behind was a bad idea anyway. They continued walking. "HEY!" She tried again. They didn't reply. Ah ha! Linkshell! She decided, pulling out the black pearl. "Hey gu-" Was as far as she got.

Somebody grabbed her from behind. The tiny link pearl fell into the sand as a hand went over her mouth and pulled her back. She cursed inwardly. Somebody else walked around to face her. Apparently she had been so preoccupied with the bag she hadn't noticed them approaching.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" The stranger said. His rugged clothes seemed to suggest he was a bandit or a thief of some kind. Bastok was crawling with them. She had forgotten just how unsafe it was alone. Crime had shot up in the area since The Battle of San d'Oria, criminals had began to exploit the weakened defences and it had stayed that way.

"Looks like she bit off more than she could chew." Joked the person holding her. He moved his hands down, pinning her by her shoulders. He was tall. Tall enough to be able to completely immobilise her just by placing his huge hands on her shoulders. Vivli furiously struggled, but couldn't move. She looked up to see the face of a grizzly looking elvaan.

"Well, we'll be gentlemen and liberate her of it, shall we?" The first suggested. A hume that looked like he had been living in the desert for months.

"What about me?" Vivli managed to whimper. "Are you going to kill me?" She was very frightened, and said this with great fear. The previous eight months had been fairly risk free, and she had completely forgotten how she used to handle dangerous situations. She had actually been feeling safe, a feeling she had never had before, and so this was having a severe impact on her.

"I don't see why not." The elvaan snarled. Vivli shut her eyes and gulped.

"Wait." The hume said. "Don't do that." She sighed with relief. "You know what I think we should do with her?" He paused. "Slave market." Vivli sighed, for a moment she had thought it was going to be something else. Then the horror hit her.

"Slave market?" She cried.

"Oh, you wouldn't know about it." The bandit told her. "Highly illegal. Hidden. We sell people like you into a life of slavery." Vivli gulped.

"But you can't-" She stopped and winced in pain as the elvaan began to crush her.

"She'd be a rubbish slave." The elvaan said. "She's far too weak to be useful." Vivli grumbled. Her strength was really taking a bashing today.

"But a lot of people like 'em like that. They can't escape then." The hume explained.

"Slave trade is horrible." Vivli commented.

"Hey, you don't get to speak anymore unless your master lets you." The elvaan snarled. Vivli gulped again, falling silent.

"She's a bit old. Gonna be harder to break her into slave life." The hume said in passing. "But it's doable."

"Come on then, let's get her out of here. Grab the stuff." The elvaan gestured to the bag, pulling Vivli away.

"There's something I need to check." Came a voice. The two turned to see Zinkata, Bootus and Voldos. "Do you know what her name is?" Zinkata asked.

"Why would that matter?" Sighed the bandit.

"It's Vivli." Zinkata explained. "I'm Zinkata. That's Bootus and Voldos."

"I don-" The hume froze as he spoke. "Let her go." He said to his elvaan friend. He did so.

"I don't get it." The elvaan grumbled.

"It's them. The Light Warriors." The hume explained.

"No way!" The elvaan gasped, backing off.

"Now beat it." Zinkata told them. "Rethink your life or something. Just make sure we don't catch you again!"

"Or I'll rip you apart!" Bootus added in, just because he was enjoying being threatening. The two bandits ran off as fast as they could.

There was a long pause.

"Can't leave you alone for a moment, can we, Viv?" Voldos joked. Vivli didn't reply. She was uneasily shaking.

"Hey, you alright?" Zinkata asked. Vivli continued to shake. "Whoa, come on. We've been through worse than this." Vivli walked quietly towards them, still shaking. "Come on, we'll go back to Bastok." Vivli was still shaking a little, but nodded and began to follow them. Voldos sighed, and grabbed the bag, knowing not to bother her.

Vivli had no idea what was wrong. She'd been through a lot in her life. But this time something had happened. She felt incredibly scared. She was shaking helplessly. She quietly followed the others, but didn't want to speak. What she was sure of was that whatever was wrong with her was so bad she didn't even care she was humiliating herself in front of Zinkata.