Disclaimer: Final Fantasy XI and all places and races owned by Square Enix and all their business glory.
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She didn't know why this was happening. Couldn't understand why these strange Elvaan men were carrying
away hers and mommy's belongings. She tugged at the hem of one of the Elvaans. He looked down,
seemingly indifferent to her plight. "Yes…?" he asked, almost annoyed. But the Mithra child was too young
to distinguish such a tone.
"Why are you taking mommy's stuff?" she asked, innocently. "Where is mommy? Arrrre we moving again?"
The Elvaan snorted and went back to his checklist. "Your mother's dead, kid. And since the dead have no
use for furniture, we're taking it back. Why don't you go home to your little jungle island or something. Can't
you see we're busy?" And with that, not even looking at the child, he reached and plucked her hand from his
pants.
"Dead? Mommy can't be dead. She's a great warrior!" She spread her arms out for emphasis. "Mommy's
gonna come back, right? She's gonna come back! So don't take our stuff!" She ran over to one of the repo
men, er, elves, and began tugging at the handle of the chest he was carrying. "Give our stuff back!"
He snarled and kicked her away. "Get lost, kid. We have a job to do." He stopped, adjusted the weight in his
arms, and strode out the door.
The young Mithra began to cry, more out of frustration than the pain from the kick. The checklist- Elvaan
stopped writing and looked at the child, pity, for once, shining through. "A wise man once said 'war makes
orphans of us all.' Well, guess you're one of those orphans." He went back to his checklist. "If you're lucky,
perhaps you can find a nice family or something to take you in. And maybe if there's room in the church you can
stay there." He dotted something conclusively. "Just a suggestion, though. Well, I think we're done here." He
followed the last of the Elvaans out of the room, which were carrying an old-fashioned bronze bed. Before he
exited the room, he turned back around to look at the dazed Mithra. "And I'm sure your mother was a wonderful
warrior. Most of those sent to Tavnazia were. Well," he surveyed the room one last time, to make sure nothing was
left. "Best of luck, kid." And with that, he strode out the door, closing it behind him.
The Mithra sat in the middle of the room, which now looked more like a prison due to missing furniture and lack
of an adequate light source. She sniffled and pulled the only thing she was allowed to keep, a stuffed chocobo
plush, close to her. "Mommy," she cried.
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A/N: Yes, yes, short chapter, I know. Are they gonna get longer? Who knows. Anywho, this is a character background of my FFXI character, Airelote. I haven't played the game in a while, and I'm starting to miss it, and for some reason I thought "hey, why not write my character background?" and so I did. And so, in a (hopefully) nice change of pace, I will continue writing this story until I am finished with it. Unlike my other stories. Curse me and my lack of enthusiasm! I also don't know how often this "orphan" aspect has been used in FFXI fanfics, and I don't really care, because this is my character and how she became an adventuring thief :P So, enjoy. And I shall update soon.