A/N: Thanks for the reviews, keep them coming! As a side note, all spell and attack quotes will either be taken from the original Final Fantasy Tactics (hey, I wanted to connect the two in some sort of way) or made up by myself. And the italicized parts without quotations are some of the writings in the knight's journal.

Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy Tactics Advance nor Final Fantasy Tactics.

Chapter 1: A Letter, A Sword, and A Judge

One minute I was relaxing at home, reading a strange new book I had bought. The next minute, everything changed. Everything went black, and suddenly I felt like I was getting sucked through a vacuum. Not a pleasant experience, I must say. I couldn't remember much after that. But I knew in my heart that that moment would change my life forever…

The knight woke up after what had seemed to be a long nap to find himself in a forest at midday. Light was streaming in through the slight breaks in the tree line, and a soft wind was blowing. He stood up, shakily at first. He was about 5'7'', slightly muscular, and had dark brown skin. His black hair rippled in the wind.

"Whoa, what just happened? Felt like I got the wind knocked out of me-" he said as he turned toward his gear.

"Hey, where's my stuff? And… what the heck have I got on?" For instead of the sweater and blue jeans he always wore, he had on a dark purple hooded robe with white symbols on it. His hat became a black cloth mouthpiece (like assassins in the game), his shoes were a pair of ninja tabi, and instead of his cell phone and belt he found a beautiful black knightsword and sheath. Instead of books, his bag was filled with healing medicines.

"Okay, officially weird. Waking up in a place feeling weak, having no hint of where you are and your stuff magically changed into a set of combat gear is not a good sign." He picked up his sword and sheath and was surprised to find a small note slip out of the sheath. Our hero, ever curious, picked up the note and started to read.

"Dear Alexander,

Congratulations on making it to the land of Ivalice. I'm sure that the trip between time, space, and dimensions themselves didn't hurt you too much, did it? Well, be thankful that I chose a beautiful place for you to wake up! Oh, even I miss taking my daily walks in the Salikawood, especially when clans get into unsuspecting battles with fairies and need my assistance. It's better than waking up in Aisenfield with a Tonberry Knife shoved halfway down your throat, hmm?

Well, after you've gotten over my dry sense of humor, I want you to take a trip to the Delia Dunes. It shouldn't be too far from your present location. Hmm… maybe it's the desert landscape that has made my humor so dry!

I'll be watching,

Mateus"

After I read that note, a horde of new questions flooded my mind. Salikawood? Aisenfield? I'd never heard of them before in my life. And either this "Mateus" fellow is very knowledgeable about this place or some kind of crackpot joker. And that sword I picked up… it had faint red lines in it, and it seemed to be… pulsing! Kind of like when you hold someone's wrist. The red lines seemed to faintly glow with every pulse… could it be blood? Everything was hazy, but I knew one thing was clear: This was no accident. I was somehow destined to be here. The question is, why?

Suddenly, a scream echoed through the forest. Alexander, acting on what seemed to him to be instinct, quickly picked up his stuff, sheathed his new sword, and ran through the forest, trying to pick up the source of the sound. As he ran, he noticed that he was much faster than in the other world.He could clear short distances with the greatest of ease.His senses were extremely sharp, able to pick up the slightest sound or air current. Alexander slowed his run as he finally neared the source of the sound. He hid behind a tree as he saw what would be to him the strangest sights of his life.

Two lizard-like things were advancing on a bunny girl- literally, she was a bunny girl! She was tall and slender, and had a pretty face, but as soon as I looked into her eyes I saw the fear. Fear... and determination. Whoever or whatever she was, she was ready for combat. A red rapier hung at her side. The two lizardswere clad inheavy armor and were carrying swords similar in shape to mine, but one was purple and another blue. A human and another bunny girl, bothand wielding bows, flanked her. A small white furry thing wearing a blue robe and yellow hat brought up the rear.

"Shoot, this girl is seriously in deep with these guys… why would they send so many for one girl?" Alexander softly said to himself. Out of nowhere, another bunny girl leapt out of the tree behind the scared mage, did a few front flips, and landed in front of her. She was clad all in black, and had a veil on similar to his. She carried a black katana with her.

"You're not going to get her, Clan Borzoi! I don't care how many thugs you send after us, we will never join you!" the one in black said. She turned back to the warrior-mage.

"You OK, Eldena? Want to let me take care of them? I can Last Breath them easily enough, you know…"

"No thanks Eustine, I'm still able to fight these pathetic weaklings. Even with your assassin skills, you would run out of MP anyway." The mage drew her rapier, and the assassin her katana.

'Uh-oh, looks like it's going to be a fight… and a bloody one too. Better just sit back,' Alexander thought to himself.

Little did I know what was going to happen. A white vortex appeared, and a silver knight riding a large white bird appeared. He seemed to be like some kind of official, a judge of sorts. This was one of the few things I was right about this new land...

The judge said in an official-sounding voice,"The laws today are: Soul/Knuckles, Target All/ Target Area, and Dmg2:Animal/Status.

All violators will first be given a yellow card and then be sent to prison. Now, for assessment of parties."

Laws?Prison? Assessment of parties? Must be some kind of pre-fight ritual. However they fought around here, one thing was for sure: it was pretty well organized.

"Party 1: Two bangaa Defenders, Jona and Chelney. One human Archer, Joshua. One viera Archer, Fio. One moogle Black Mage, Rob."

"Whew, in the clear. Nobody's seen me. Might as well make my escape." Alexander said as he started to walk away.

"Party 2: One viera Red Mage/Summoner, Eldena. One viera Assassin/Elementalist, Eustine."

And then came the moment that stopped me cold. The judge turned toward my direction and said,

"Party 3: One human Swordmaster, Alexander."

A/N: Sorry if it's a bit short, this is my first story and I'm kind of not used to writing them yet. But it's a cliffhanger, isn't it? Brings up a lot of questions... How will Alexander fare in his first engagement? How will the others react to his presence?And what exactly is a Swordmaster, anyway? All this and more in Chapter 2!

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