Summery: Humanity is preparing to take destiny into its own hands. Jack Russell deals with a deep personnel loss and finds an unlikely romance in a tomboyish priestess from Olacion.
Disclaimer: I do not own Jack, Vitas, or any other character of Radiata Stories. Squaresoft and Tri-Ace own the whole lot. This is a fan creation and not to be taken as canon. (Although I certainly wouldn't mind if it were. he he)
Lack of Subtlety: Prologue
Jack Russell sat staring at lupus Gate from the training balcony of theatre Vancoor. Everything was finally coming together. Just a month or so ago he was set to take his things and leave that gate and never return, go crawl under some rock and just let the pain and sadness take him. But now, thanks to her, he would stay. He had first seen her when he and Jarvis had returned from the elf lands, having poached a crocogator hide for Anastasia Ryan, an archbishop of Olacion, a hideous woman whose love for money was second only to her love for herself. Jarvis, a good man and competent leader, if a little self-centered and narcissistic, had told him to wait in the hall as he went into her room to negotiate the selling price. As the negotiations dragged on, curiosity got the better of him and he examined the adjacent rooms. The nearest room had an extremely sweaty and unsightly, yet sociable man relaxing on an expensive looking sofa. Jack declined the man's offer of a cup of tea and continued on to the next room.
"Geez, are all the people in this guild ugly as hell?"
He silently asked himself as he moved on. Upon opening the door, he saw a sight that would stay with him his whole life.
A nun was shadowboxing inside the room, so wholely absorbed that she didn't notice his entrance. She had a pair of brilliantly blue eyes, squinting in concentration. Her eyes had bags under them, and showed signs of getting up early and staying up late repeatedly. Her eyebrows were thick and bushy and were half hidden by her carrot colored hair which shagged down over them. Her clothing was the uniform of the Olacion order, but tailored so that instead of a nuns dress, it was a vest and a skirt, worn over a pink body-suit that accentuated her physique, which was toned and a little muscular, but also slim and lithe. She practiced the same combination of punches, over and over; two hooks and then a straight punch that looked like it carried a lot of force. After about a minute, she stopped and looked at Jack as if just noticing him.
"Who are you?"
"Huh? oh, I'm Jack, a Theatre Vancoor guildsman, my boss is finishing a job for lady Anastasia and…"
"And he told you to go and play while the adult talk business, eh?" Vitas smirked.
"Well, my name is Vitas. You know, you shouldn't barge into strangers' rooms, it's usually considered rude."
"Yeah, in a way I guess your right…" Jacks shoulders sagged. He then looked up and grinned apologetically.
"Look I'm sorry for interrupting ill just…"
"Hey wait a minute." Vitas Interrupted
"If you got time on your hands, why not spar with me?"
"What like in right now?"
"No, next week… of course right now!"
"Well…I don't really have anything better to do right now, but are you sure your comfortable fighting someone who has a sword?"
"Don't underestimate me. Its time you learned the power of Olacion martial arts."
The battle was intense. Her hooks, straights and kicks were powerful, but Jack was faster, his one handed sword easily warding off her attacks. Both fought well, but unfortunately, both Jack and Vitas rushed forward to attempt a Volty close combat move at the same time. They tripped each other up, leaving them tumbling and sprawled all over each other on the floor, their faces half an inch from each other. Both teenagers' faces went bright red from the sudden unexpected close proximity, and after about half a minute of silence jack stuttered out:
"Um…could you maybe…"
Vitas scrambled up off him in an instant, her face still flushed, mumbling under her breath about the fight was a tie. Jack dusted himself off and got up, placing his sword back in its sheath. Meanwhile the door creaked open and Jarvis popped his axe-topped head into the room.
"So this is where you've been, Jack. I've been looking all over for you."
"Hey, Sarge, how did the negotiations go?"
"Not as good as I had hoped. Only 150 Dagols for the lot! Oh well, let's get back to Vancoor, Elwen with want my written report as soon as possible."
"Understood, sarge"
"Something wrong, Jack?"
Jack gave a sideways glance at the still blushing tomboy, and then grinned cheekily.
"No, not at all, let's get going"
Vitas shook off her blush then, regaining her composure, said.
"You running away already, huh? Maybe we should spar again sometime, Jack, although I warn you that next time I will win."
"We'll just have to see about that, then"
As Jack went out and left for the Yellow town of Sun and Glory with Jarvis, Vitas quietly shook her head and sighedWhy did she want to fight him again so badly, anyway? She thought.
"Well that fight was…interesting, to say the least. " She said aloud.
"But at least I would have to spar alone so often anymore."
Boy, would she have something to talk to Miranda about tonight.
Jarvis and Jack were walking the path of swords and wisdom towards Vancoor, where an AWOL Daniel awaited.
"And it was torture being near that woman. I honestly didn't know the gods made them that ugly! And the way those twins just heaped praise on her like she was the gods' gift to the world!" Jarvis was complaining to Jack all the way back about his "Ordeal"
"Heh, it can't be that bad, sarge."
"You could never understand. The sooner I get back, the sooner I get to the bar, the better, let's go."
"Wino." Jack quipped
"Squirt." Jarvis muttered.
Thank you so much for reading. This is just the first chapter, with several more planned. The next on will be concerning the Somilidon Fang mission. This is also the first fan fiction I have ever composed, and as such please don't flame too hard. Constructive advice is welcome and wanted, however. If there's something I can do to improve my writing style, please let me know. Till next time.