Chapter 2: DAANJA AND NESSAROSE
Back in Bastok, Ness and Danjalie made themselves at home in their new place.
"So, what do ya think?" Ness asked, waving one arm to indicate the furnishings and space.
Danjalie took a seat in the simple wooden rocking chair near the fireplace. "It is... simple, yet immaculate. I think it shall suit us." She rocked slowly and elegantly, unmistakably layering on the Mithran feline grace, head tilted as she observed the room from her throne like vantage point.
"You're darned right it shall. Where else are we going to find a cheaper place?" Ness mused, as she set about trimming the single small plant that sat on the desk. She moved it repeatedly about the table, removed a leaf, then picked at the edge of another leaf. She just didn't seem to be able to get it the way she wanted it.
"The moogle has indicated that there is a fourth now involved in this trransaction," Danjalie purred, her eyes closing as she encountered something along the lines of contentment
"Better for us."
"Undoubtedly, but will we have to meet her? She may not meet our... expectations."
"Nyellili certainly didn't meet your expectations, but we're still here, aren't we? The moogle says she's in San d'Oria. Unless we end up there, I doubt we'll encounter her."
"But we all move about with adventuring. It irks me that we may have to request the moogle warn us of another's intrrusion, in addition to that of our... diminutive benefactress."
"She's not that benefactring. We still pay our share."
"Yes—"
Ness interrupted the Mithra before she could continue her diatribe. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, right? Right."
"Perrhaps sooner than later. Now would be a good time to be prreparing our trip to Jeuno."
Ness stood straight, looked directly at her friend and nodded. "Got some contacts to meet there. Now that we're set up, no sense waiting around."
"Quite. You arre certain the moogle said that dreadful Tarru would be in Tavnazia for a while?"
"Definitely. Don't you find that kinda odd? Tavnazia?"
"Odd? Tarutaru arre nothing but odd by nature. I can hardly expect anything less of the—"
"Diminutive benefactress?" Ness interrupted with a smirk as Danjalie paused to find her word.
Danjalie smirked back. "Prrecisely."
The pair wasa perfect match. If either of them had ever had even the tiniest inclination towards romance, it would have been exactly the sort of relationship that blossoms regardless of any degree of harsh circumstances. As it was, romance was beyond them. It was the sort of thing that never entered either of their minds, even when it was presented to them directly. Any mention of the subject or linked subjects only made them laugh cynically. Cynicism was their love and they shared it gleefully and regularly on a daily basis.
They had indeed been friends since childhood. Born Nessarose, Ness was the daughter of a minor cook who worked at the Steaming Sheep in Bastok. Ness's mother had rarely had time for her, so as a girl she had been given free reign of the streets and had banded with a small group of other children to wreak havoc and general mischief on the city's more respectable populace.
Danjalie had been one of the daughters of said respectable populace, although she had not been born in Bastok but in Kazham, and her name then had been Daanja. When she had been left at home one day while her mother was arranging whatever sort of important diplomatic contact with the President was part of the mysterious duties she engaged in for the Chieftainess, the young Mithra had entered her playroom to discover a gang of miscreants rifling through her toy collection.
Being of a certain state of mind, Danjalie's first reaction was to attempt to cast a 'bind' spell on the nearest and largest of the offending children. Daanja's mother had forbidden her from even inquiring about magic, much less practicing it, but that was the sort of thing that only served to encourage strongwilled young girls. Those who knew her mother would have likely deduced this to be a purposeful deception, but at the time Danjalie believed she was thwarting her mother. Later, she would find an opportunity to truly do so.
Ness, who had been the target of said 'bind' spell, immediately responded with one of her own. Upon seeing black magic in use -- which most of the ragamuffin breed had never even encountered before except as the grand fiction behind the multitude of adventurers that milled about their town -- the immediate reaction of the rest of the gang was fear and they stampeded to the exit, knocking each other over in their attempts to get out the door first.
The two girls finished their spells and proceeded to glare at each other over the rifled toy box.
Daanja lifted her foot first. "Didn't work," she said with that snarky tone only available to school age girls with a certain understanding of self-importance.
The child Ness mimicked the Mithra's move. "Neither did yours, so there!" She stuck out her tongue with immense impertinence.
They both screamed with the rage of battle and threw themselves at each other, proceeding to scratch and hair pull until Daanja's mother came home. The adult immediately banished Ness and set about locking Daanja in her room.
With that reaction, it was inevitable that the pair become fast friends. Ness left her gang behind and the pair began to run as a duo bringing more general, less class-related mischief to the streets of Bastok, as Danj had a knack for pointing out anyone who was good for a lark, rich or poor, local or foreign. However, their time together was limited to a few short months. Daanja's mother picked up and moved herself and her daughter to San d'Oria. Ness took well to the subsequentloneliness and never picked up her mischief skills again, although she never lost a certain rough attitude. She turned to tending to her mother and keeping house, earning a living.
Neither ever brought up the subject of their lack of fathers. With Mithra it was standard to accept the lack of male presence. With Ness, she simply never asked and never cared to ask. To many on the outside, it would seem their union as grown women was inevitable should they ever meet again.
And they did meet, as adventurers, unsurprisingly as students of black magic with their sights set on Jeuno and beyond.