DISCLAIMER: I don't own FFT or any of its characters; Square-Enix does, blah blah blah…

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What do you know about Rad? He's a generic with a set name in the first battle, he tags along with you in Chapter 2 and on, he's a Capricorn, and when you highlight his name on the formation screen, he tells you that higher brave gives you a higher chance to use a reaction ability. He is also mentioned by a story character (which is more than I can say for Alicia and Lavian. Hee!) This is his story.

Snowflakes lazily drifted past the frost-covered window. Ah, winter in Goland, the perfect time to daydream. Sometimes, Rad thought that the snowflakes were speaking to him, if he listened intently. Their voices called out to him…

"Rad…"

"Rad…"

"RAD!"

Startled, Rad jumped at the voice of his mother. Once again, she was bugging him to get a job. Sometimes, Rad thought that that was the only thing that she ever said. He was just a normal fifteen-year-old boy, with no real talents other than the small amount of sword fighting that he had learned in school. And he didn't even have his own sword!

"…and furthermore…Rad, did you listen to a word I said?"

Rad had purposefully tuned her out. He wasn't an overly disobedient boy, he had just learned from the first few times that she lectured him that after about a minute all of the information started to repeat. Over and over. He asked his mother,

"Mother, what jobs would I be hired at? I have no special talents!"

"I don't know, think about it overnight! Honestly, sometimes I think all you do is look out that window with a glazed look in your eyes…"

It was true. Rad spaced out a lot more than he should, and never actually thought about what he could do. Oh well, it was late, and he was tired. Yawning, Rad pulled into his pajamas, and drifted into a heavy, dreamless sleep.

When he woke up in the morning, if you had been there, you would have sworn you saw a light bulb suddenly light above his head. If he told his mother that he would work as a mercenary, maybe she would buy him a sword to get him out of the house!

Slowly descending the stairway, he proposed the idea to his mother. To his amazement, she replied in the affirmative! He practically bounced with excitement the whole day as his Father went into town to pick out and buy a sword. He thought of what he would look like wielding it: a scrawny, brown-haired kid, of medium height, clutching a mystery sword. No matter what he distracted himself with, his thoughts always wandered to his soon-to-be new weapon.

After what seemed like days, his Father came back to the door. Rad greeted him with a smile, ushering him into the living room, where he was presented with a brand new mythril sword! The mythical metal shining in the light of the table lamp, Rad's eyes sparkled. A new sword! And an expensive one, at that!

"Don't get yourself killed, kiddo."

Rad's father patted him on the back, then picked up a snow shovel and began shoveling the front walkway. The rest of the day was spent practicing in anticipation of tomorrow. Rad's sleep was punctuated by visions of him, standing victorious above a pile of monsters.

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Rad blinked. He was sitting on the front walk, after having quite literally been booted out of the house by his mother, with only his sword, and a backpack full of food and money. Well, not full of money, as he didn't have much. Traveling by foot was difficult, so the first place he went was the Chocobo renting agency.

After a long while of gawking at prices, he settled on a black chocobo that couldn't fly. It wouldn't be as fast as a yellow chocobo, and not as powerful as a red chocobo, but it could protect him in battle with its choco ball attack, and he could still sit on it, so he was happy. After paying the (rather small) price for it, he stopped for a moment to think of a name. After some consideration, he realized that he didn't know its gender! Since he didn't know how to find that sort of thing, he asked the breeder at the agency.

"Strawberry it is, then. Damn, I'm good at naming!" he smirked to himself, as he rode off toward Dorter Trade City on his new transportation.

Poaching, illegal trading, drug dealing? The jobs in Dorter seemed to get seedier and seedier as he searched. Nobody wanted to hire a mercenary, as everyone with enough money only had that much by being stingy.

"Meh, this town has nothing for me. It doesn't DESERVE my elite services" Rad convinced himself. Strawberry cooed in what seemed to be approval, as the two of them rode off into the Sweegy Woods toward Gariland, the Magic City. Hopefully SOMEONE would be hiring there.

About halfway through the woods, Rad started wondering why is was called the Sweegy WOODS. It was more of a swamp with trees around it than a wooded area. But "Sweegy Swamp with the occasional Tree" just didn't have that zing to it…

Rad's thoughts were interrupted by a strange croaking sound. Goblins! He peered out into a nearby clearing, to see that there were indeed goblins there, as well as a couple bombs. But his luck came through for him, as he saw a group of people push through into the clearing.

They looked capable of fighting. They were a bit older than Rad, though they seemed to be nobles. Rad was never good with nobles. He never knew the right thing to say, and always came off as an idiot.

One of them was a blonde young man, with his hair pulled into a ponytail. He had a lithe frame. Another was a young man with brown hair, with a slightly more normal build. The third noble was another blonde, dressed in black, with what appeared to be a bronze shoulder guard. A male knight, a female monk, and a priestess accompanied them. He saw them talk, and they proceeded to advance on the monsters, taking no prisoners. When they were done, they talked amongst themselves again, and Rad took this chance to slip by.

On the horizon, tall buildings and magical sparks decorated the air. Surely there would be a job for him in Gariland. He knew it. And while he was at it, he might just learn some magic! You never know…

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Thanks for reading! Remember, click that review button! I completely accept flames. But if you do flame, please tell me WHY my fic sucks, so that I can use it to improve. Senseless flames with no constructive criticism will be used to cook my dinner. Chapter Two is on the way, but I'll need to see some reviews first!