Little Sisters Can Be Scary Too
Fang slunk through the long grass, a predator in search of prey. A herd of grazing animals lined the banks of the shallow river ahead. They were slender creatures, tall and graceful, and built more for speed than anything else. They found safety in their numbers and fleetness of foot although the adult males had two long horns on their head.
These animals – quite similar to the ones the people of Cocoon called gazelle – were far from the most dangerous on Gran Pulse. But their speed and agility made them a challenge for even a highly skilled hunter. The best strategy was to work in pairs. One hunter would startle the herd into motion while the other lay in wait.
Fang had already hunted these creatures several times with Lightning. More often than not, it was the pink-haired woman who was tasked with sneaking up on the herd. It was up to Fang to lay in wait and then strike with her spear as the animals rushed past. It would have been easier to simply let Lightning use her gun blade to shoot them, but Fang wanted to give them a sporting chance. To her credit, Lightning had chosen to humour her, chalking it up as another one of those "Yun things" that Fang liked to indulge in from time to time.
And speaking of Lightning…
Fang smiled. Six months – that's how long the two of them had been sleeping together. So far, they'd managed to keep their relationship a secret, which was no small feat given how nosy their two younger sisters were. It helped that Serah had moved in with Snow although they still shared the house with Vanille.
They'd had several close calls with the redhead already – Vanille loved to sneak down to the kitchen for a midnight snack.
But right now, Fang needed to focus on the hunt. Serah had asked if the two of them could go on a hunt, and Fang had been only too happy to oblige. Sooner or later, Fang and Lightning would have to face up to the others about their relationship and getting Serah onside would definitely help.
Serah also used a bow, which was ideal for this sort of prey. A bow would also help keep Serah out of harm's way. Of course, the younger woman could handle herself in a fight, but Lightning would go absolutely ballistic if Serah came back with so much as a scratch on her. An angry Lightning could be very interesting to have around – both inside and outside the bedroom – but a ballistic Lightning was another story. Fang would be lucky to escape with her head still attached.
The animals at the river paused and looked up. Fang eased herself toward the ground. She was downwind of the river, so they couldn't smell her. The rustling of the grass should also have disguised any sound she made. However, like all animals on Gran Pulse, they had keen instincts. She just needed to get a little bit closer and then –
Fang leapt out of the grass, waving her spear around and making as much noise as she could. The herd startled to attention and then bolted across the river toward the safety of the open plains. There were very, very few predators that could keep up with them on the plains.
As the herd rushed past a gnarled, weathered tree, there was a twang. One of the animals went down, an arrow buried in its chest. The others thundered on, wheeling away from the tree as Serah darted out from behind the tree and took aim again. A second animal fell, one of Serah's arrows in its throat. The younger Farron managed a third and final shot before the animals were out of range – it was the finest one yet. An animal crashed to the ground with an arrow lodged in its eye.
Fang gave a low whistle of approval. She and Serah had agreed to kill no more than three of the animals. After gutting, skinning, and butchering them, they'd be hard-pressed to handle more than three – even with chocobos to help them carry the meat and hides back to New Bodhum. Still, she hadn't expected Serah to make it so easy.
"Not bad, Serah." Fang studied one of the wounded animals. It was still alive. It gave a few wet, horrid gasps before a second arrow put it out of its misery. The other two animals were already dead. Serah was an excellent shot. "I should bring you along more often."
Serah knelt by the bodies and tugged her arrows out. "It seems kind of sad. They're so beautiful when they run."
"They are. You know, the Dia clan had a legend about them. They said that when the first dancer in all the clans died, Etro made these animals to honour them." Fang patted the closest animal on the side. "They say that eating the meat makes women more graceful." She pursed her lips. "We can gut them here and skin them back at camp, what do you think?"
"Whatever you think is best. You're the expert here."
"We'll do it here then. So, how much do you know about gutting an animal?"
Serah shrugged. "A little bit. Lightning has shown me how, and I've done it a few times. It has been a while though."
"All right. Sit down over there, and I'll show you how to do it." Fang drew a knife. "Here we go."
Fang laid the animal out on its back, grabbing a few rocks and pieces of wood to keep it in place. Back in the old days, these animals had been valuable not only for their nourishing, flavoursome meat but also for their fine hides and horns. Nothing had gone to waste back then, and nothing would go to waste now.
With practiced ease, Fang cut into the area around the anus before tying it off at the end. Then she cut upward from the pelvis, careful not to pierce any of the organs in the creature's belly. From there, she cut up through the ribs before she severed the diaphragm as well. Next to go were the oesophagus and windpipe. Finally, she rolled the animal onto its side. With a little bit of coaxing, its guts spilled out onto the ground beside it.
Throughout the whole demonstration, Serah hadn't so much as blinked. It was actually a little unnerving. Both Snow and Hope had been a fraction green around the gills the first time they'd watched her. Sazh, of course, had taken the whole thing in his stride. His explanation, however, had been priceless: he'd watched his son being born – watching Fang gut an animal was tame in comparison.
"So, are you ready to give it a try?" Fang asked.
Serah tilted her head to one side. Her lips curved up into a faint smile, and she reached for Fang's knife. "I think so."
Serah turned out to be very good – as in scary good – with a knife. With that same faint smile on her face, the younger Farron gutted the last two animals in record time. When she was done, the pair of them dragged the three animals back to their camp nearby. They left the entrails on the ground for any scavenger enterprising enough to come looking.
Their camp was hidden in the shadows of a rocky outcrop. It wasn't too far from the river, but the prevailing winds meant that it was downwind most of the time. As Serah saw to the fire, Fang got the animals hung up so that they could skin them properly. The hides weren't particularly warm, but they had a lovely colour and texture.
"How's the fire going?"
"It's fine." Serah glanced around. "Are you about to start skinning them?"
"I think so."
"Let me have a quick look around first to make sure nothing followed us here."
Fang was confident that they could deal with anything they ran into, but it was a good idea. It was usually better to be safe rather than sorry. The scent of the dead animals might also bring something larger than the odd scavenger or two.
It took a few minutes for Serah to clear the area around their camp. When she got back, Fang got straight to work. In many ways, skinning an animal was even more gruesome than gutting one. There was just something about seeing an animal without its skin on that freaked most people out. Apparently, Serah wasn't most people.
Serah took to skinning animals with the same speed that she took to gutting them. In almost no time at all, they had three skinned and gutted animals. Fang considered butchering all three there but decided against it. It was late autumn, so heat shouldn't be a problem. And with the two chocobos they had, they could easily carry the carcasses back to New Bodhum. It was a short trip too, perhaps a little under a day.
Still, there was dinner to think of. Fang cut off a few choice cuts of meat and set them to roast over the fire. As the meal cooked, Fang leaned back against a boulder and closed her eyes. There was something to be said for modern conveniences, but nothing matched fresh meat properly seasoned with traditional herbs and spices and cooked over an open fire.
Then Fang heard the sound of a bow being drawn taut. She opened her eyes to find Serah glaring at her. The younger woman's eyes were cold and hard, and there was an arrow aimed right at Fang's chest. The huntress pursed her lips. To reach her spear, she'd have to take at least one step – she'd be lucky to take even half a step before Serah put that arrow in her.
"So, are you planning on shooting me with that bow of yours, or did you have something you wanted to ask me?"
"How long have you and my sister been having sex?"
What?
What?
WHAT?
That's what this was about? If Fang hadn't just seen Serah gut and skin two animals with a smile on her face, she would have laughed. The younger Farron threaten her? Please, there was no way that would ever happen. However, it was happening, and Serah looked extremely serious about turning her into a pincushion.
Was this all a spur of the moment thing… or had she been played? No, it had to have been planned. It was perfect. Out on a hunting trip it would be just the two of them. There would be no Lightning around to keep her, apparently, psychotic sister in check. Fang had known that Serah would find out at some point, and she'd been prepared for yelling, teasing, badgering, and bullying, but this was something else. This was the sort of thing she would have expected Lightning to do. Maybe the two Farrons were more similar than they wanted to admit.
Faced with the very real possibility of being murdered by her likely future sister-in-law, Fang decided to play things straight.
"Six months."
"I see." The arrow remained pointed at her chest. "And you didn't think that Vanille and I should know?"
"No, not really." Fang bared her teeth. "What your sister and I get up to is none of your business."
That, apparently, was the wrong thing to say. There was a flash of movement, and Fang's eyes widened as an arrow lanced into the rock beside her head. Before she could even think of going for her spear, Serah had another arrow ready. Damn, the younger Farron was fast.
"It is my business, Fang. It's my business because Lightning is my one and only sister. It's my business because for years she sacrificed her own happiness for mine, so if you're not treating her right, if you're not making her happy, then I'm going to have to hurt you – a lot. I'll say that one of the animals out here did it. And finally it's my business because I say it is. That's why."
Well, that was interesting. Fang winced. Insanity must be a Farron thing along with the pink hair and blue eyes. "Do you really think that Lightning would let me treat her badly?"
"I know my sister. If almost anyone tried to treat her badly, she'd either kill them or make them wish they were dead. But you're different, Fang. I know that she cares more about you than she's cared about anyone in a long, long time. And I know that she has a weakness when it comes to the people she loves. You can also be very charming, Fang, very good at making people do what you want. So I get the feeling that maybe, just maybe, Lightning would let you do almost anything you wanted."
Fang's first instinct was to fire off with a witty remark. However, it probably wouldn't have been a good idea to point out that in the bedroom, Lightning had all but given her carte blanche. Lightning loved routines and schedules, but she'd come to love Fang's creativity in the bedroom even more.
"Serah, Lightning was my best friend before we started sleeping together. You know that. Why would I mistreat her?"
Serah scowled. "I don't know – maybe because you're an oblivious jerk. You said that you've been sleeping together for six months, but did you know that Lightning's been in love with you for two years?"
Two years? Now that was something Fang hadn't known. Fang and Lightning had first started going out a little under a year ago. But if Serah was right, Lightning had been in love with her for a year before that, and she'd never even noticed. It was mindboggling. She and Lightning could have gotten together a year earlier? Maybe she was an oblivious jerk. "What are you talking about?"
"She used to come over all the time. She'd throw Snow out and then get all mopey about how you never noticed her. It didn't matter that she went around the house in skimpy clothes or that she dropped every hint she could think of, nothing seemed to get through to you. Tell me, how did she manage it in the end?"
Fang twitched. "She may have dragged me into a closet and kissed me before telling me that she loved me."
"See, what did I say? You're oblivious." Serah glared. "Then last week, I went over to your house to help out with some chores since I know my sister's been working late. Vanille wasn't home and neither were you, so I decided to do some laundry."
Laundry? It took a few seconds for Fang to run through the possibilities in her mind. Oh crap. She'd thrown Lightning's sheets into the washing machine, but she'd forgotten to turn it on since she was in a hurry. She'd come back to find the sheets washed and dried. At the time, she'd just assumed that Lightning had done it, but no, it had been the younger Farron instead.
"So now what?" Fang asked. "Is this the bit where you kill me and blame it on a pack of gorgonopsids?"
"It depends. I want to know exactly what your intentions with my sister are. If I don't like what you say…" Serah adjusted her bow up to point at Fang's head. "Let's just say that the gorgonopsids won't be going hungry tonight."
Fang decided to humour the younger woman. She also had a few things on her mind, things she'd been thinking about for a while now. It would be easy for her and Lightning to keep going as they were, but she wanted more – needed more. "Well, I was thinking that in around a month or so, we'd make things public. Lightning has a few loose ends on her side that she wants to tie up. You know how the public is going to react."
"A romance featuring two of their most photogenic heroes?" Serah snarled. "They'll go crazy. Snow still catches the occasional journalist trying to sneak onto our lawn. If it wasn't for the security system Vanille put in, we'd probably have them all over the house."
Fang knew all about Vanille's security system. The redhead had installed one around Lightning's house as well. And while it wouldn't actually kill anybody, it would definitely make life unpleasant for people trying to go where they weren't wanted. Vanille had even cobbled together a few jamming devices to shut down unauthorised surveillance equipment.
"Yeah, well, Lightning has a plan for heading some of that off." Fang shrugged. "And she's good at stuff like that. I figure she'll probably arrest some people and maybe sic some wild animals on the rest. It should be fun. And after that I was thinking that I'd wait another month or two and then propose."
Serah almost dropped her bow. Fang pretended not to notice.
"What?" Serah shrieked. In the distance, several flocks of birds took flight. "Propose?"
"Were you expecting something else? Look, your sister isn't perfect. She's a neat freak, she's grumpy and grouchy half the time, and she's got a bit of a violent streak. But I can't really imagine living my life without her. And it's not like she doesn't have her good points. She's smart, beautiful, successful, great in bed –"
Another arrow imbedded itself in the rock just below the first.
"And I actually do like her personality – the good parts and the bad parts. If she says yes, and I'm hoping that she will, I was thinking that we'd have a private wedding. We'd have you guys and a few others, that's it. Then we'd go on a honeymoon, buy a house, and have a couple of kids. One of them will probably turn out like her, and the other one will turn out like me."
"You're not sure that she'll say yes?"
"Uh…"
"I heard what you said. You're hoping that she'll say yes. Are you some kind of idiot? Of course, she'll say yes." Serah somehow managed to keep the bow level as she launched into another tirade. "Oh, I can't believe it! A wedding! You'll have to let me plan things, of course, although Vanille will probably try to take over everything. Knowing her, you'll have your wedding on top of a giant, killer robot or something crazy like that. You should have it somewhere nice… but before we even think about the venue, we need to worry about what you two will wear. I'm assuming the Yun clan has its own traditions, but knowing my sister, she'll try and get married in her uniform, and –" Serah shook her head. "So, that's what you've got planned for my sister?"
"Pretty much."
Serah lowered her bow and threw one arm around Fang. "Oh, well, that's okay then." Her smile was almost blindingly bright.
Yep, Fang thought. Crazy was definitely part of the Farron family legacy.
"Come on, let's eat. I think it's ready." Serah nudged the meat cooking over the fire. "Oh, and just so you know, I told Vanille too. She said she'd have a talk with Lightning while we're gone."
Fang checked the meat. A few more minutes should do it. She laughed. This was turning out to be the weirdest hunting trip ever. She just hoped that Lightning was okay. Vanille might not look that scary, but she could be very, very scary when she put her mind to it.
X X X
Lightning wasn't sure how she'd ended up dangling from the ceiling of her home while Vanille jabbed at her with her binding rod.
"I bet you didn't see that coming, did you?" Vanille cackled. "Now, you can either answer my questions or suffer the consequences."
The glare Lightning gave Vanille was one of her better ones. It measured at least a seven out of ten on the Farron Death Glare Scale (FDGS). "The only consequences you need to worry about, Vanille, are what I'm going to do you when I get down from here."
"I'm prepared to risk that." Vanille poked Lightning again. "Because today I am defending my sister's honour!"
"Defending Fang's honour?" Lightning sighed. If she could just work one of her hands free… "What is that you think I've done? Is this about the ice cream in the fridge? I said you could have some."
"It isn't about the ice cream. Plus, I've already had some. It was great." Vanille subjected Lightning to her most devastatingly terrifying glare. What measured a solid ten out of ten on the Dia Death Glare Scale (DDGS) would only have scored a puny one out of ten on the FDGS. Needless to say, Lightning was completely unimpressed. Serah had been able to glare better than that as a five-year-old. "It's about you and Fang."
"What about me and Fang?"
"I want to know how long you two have been having sex."
Well, crap. Lightning hadn't expected that, especially after she and Fang had been so careful to keep it a secret. "What makes you think that we're having sex?" She needed to play for time. One of her hands was almost free.
"Serah told me."
Well, double crap.
"Oh."
"Yes, oh." Vanille huffed and then whacked Lightning over the head with her binding rod. "You and Fang have been having freaky sex for ages without telling me. No wonder you two have been so uptight about the laundry schedule. And all those times you asked me if I wanted to hang out with Serah – you were just trying to get me out of the house so you could screw each other's brains out, weren't you?"
"Maybe." Lightning got one hand free only for Vanille to wrap even more wire around her. Damn it. "Look, Vanille…"
The front door creaked open, and both of them turned. It was Snow. He must have borrowed Serah's spare key. The big man took one look at them and froze.
"Uh… I'm just here to pick up Serah's sweater. I think she left it here the last time she came over so…"
"Snow, get Vanille!" Lightning barked.
"Don't even think about it." Vanille pointed one hand at Snow, a half-formed thundaga at the ready.
Snow bit his lip. He was going to get married to Serah, so he did kind of have an obligation to try and save his future sister-in-law from whatever craziness Vanille was about to subject her to. Then again, he'd also seen the devastation Vanille could wreak firsthand after the redhead and Serah had gotten into a prank war. Besides, he had to be entitled to a little bit of revenge for all those times Lightning had punched him, right?
He glanced around and then spotted Serah's sweater over on a table by the door. "Ah, here it is. Bye guys, have fun."
A few seconds later, he was out the front door and driving away as fast as he could. Vanille turned back to Lightning.
"So, answer the question: how long have you and Fang been having sex?"
Lightning sighed. If Vanille was doing this to her, then she had absolutely no doubt whatsoever that Serah was doing something similar to Fang on their hunting trip. She wasn't sure which one of them had it worse. Vanille might be one step away from super villainy, but Serah was one step away from being a serial killer.
"I'm waiting, Lightning." Vanille tapped one foot on the carpet. "And believe me, you don't want to keep me waiting."
"What are you going to do if I don't answer, kill me?"
"Of course not. I like you. You're my friend, and Fang would totally strangle me if I killed you. But you know, if you ever want to marry Fang, you're going to have to win the approval of her family."
"Which would be you, right?"
"Yes. And wouldn't you know it, the process of winning my approval can either be very easy or very hard." Vanille chuckled evilly. "You thought beating the fal'Cie was tough? Try dealing with a pissed off Dia. So, answer the question: how long."
Lightning's jaw clenched. She was going to murder Vanille once she got free. "Six months." She growled. "Are you going to let me down now?"
"Not a chance. I still have a few questions." Vanille giggled. "So, Serah and I have been wondering… which one of you is in charge in the bedroom?"
X X X
Omake – Little Sisters Of The World, Unite!
Serah watched Diana and Averia argue over who should get the last piece of cake.
"I should get it because I've only had two pieces," Diana said.
"Well, I only had two as well." Averia scowled. "And you're way smaller than me so two pieces is really like three pieces for you."
"It is not! And if I'm so much smaller, then I definitely should get the last piece. How am I supposed to grow if I don't get more food?"
"There are still some vegetables left. You could eat those to help you grow."
"That doesn't make sense. Everyone knows that cake helps people grow more than vegetables."
"No, it doesn't."
"Yes, it does. Cake has milk in it, and milk helps you get bigger. That's why I should get the last piece."
"Does that remind you of anybody?" Lightning drawled.
"It might." Serah smirked. "I remember asking you for the last piece of cake lots of times. You never gave it to me."
"Wait –"
"Lightning was like that too?" Vanille laughed. "So was Fang. Growing up, I never got the last piece of cake."
"That's a lie." Fang ruffled Vanille's hair. "You always got the last piece of cake."
"No, I didn't." Vanille folded her arms over her chest. "In fact, I seem to remember you stealing cake off my plate all the time."
"Now you're just making things up."
"Mom!" Diana cried. "I want the last piece of cake and so does Averia. Who gets it?"
"Couldn't you just cut it in half?" Lightning asked.
"No!" Both Diana and Averia cried. "Then it's not the last piece of cake anymore. The last piece is special."
"I see." Lightning didn't. "Well…"
"We should vote on it," Vanille said. "That's the fairest way. I vote Diana."
"So do I." Serah smiled. "Since someone has to stand up for the little sister who never gets the last piece of cake."
"You're the best, Aunt Serah!" Diana punched the air. "You too, Aunt Vanille."
"In that case I vote Averia," Fang said. "Because someone has to keep you little sisters honest."
"I'm voting Averia too." Lightning sighed. "Which means we're tied."
"Well, I vote for me too," Averia said.
"And I vote for me," Diana said.
"We're still tied." Lightning looked around the dinner table. Neither Snow nor Hope looked like they wanted to have anything to do with the vote. Sazh and Dajh were likewise steering well clear of the unfolding disaster. That left only one other person eligible to vote – Claire.
Immediately both Averia and Diana turned their attention to their cousin. "Who are you voting for?"
"Um…"
"You're a little sister too!" Diana shouted. "You have to vote for me."
"What?" Claire blinked. "How am I a little sister?" She didn't have any siblings.
"Well, you sort of are." Diana nodded firmly. "You're like a sister to me and Averia and you're younger than Averia which makes you the middle sister. See, I'm the youngest, you're in the middle, and Averia is the oldest. That makes you a younger sister, so you have to vote for me. It's perfect."
Claire gaped.
"Wait!" Averia frowned. "If she's our sister, then she's also an older sister because she's older than you, which means she has to vote for me."
"That doesn't make any sense."
"It makes perfect sense."
"No, it doesn't."
"Yes, it does."
"All right. Enough." Lightning got to her feet. "Since you're all arguing, I get the last piece of cake."
Silence.
"Mom, you just want the last piece of cake for yourself." Averia's eyes narrowed.
"Yeah!" Diana rubbed her chin. "Maybe that's why you turned Averia against me."
As another argument over the last piece of cake erupted, Chirpy padded in from the living room. He'd finished dinner early and settled down for a nap in the living room. Carpet wasn't quite as nice as hay, but it wasn't half bad. The girls could always wake him up again when they were ready to play. But it was hard to stay asleep with all the yelling.
Yawning, he ambled over to the table, careful not to knock anything over. All of the others were too busy arguing to notice him. He blinked sleepily and looked at the table. There was a piece of cake left, and it wasn't on anybody's plate. He smiled. Well, if no one was going to eat it, then he might as well have it. He'd always liked chocolate cake.
It was only when the piece of cake was already in his mouth that the others noticed what he was doing.
"Chirpy, no!" Diana wailed.
"That was mine!" Averia screamed.
Sazh shrugged. "I guess that solves that."
"Kweh?" Chirpy swallowed the cake. It was delicious. Still, if they really wanted it… "Kweh, kweh?"
Diana and Averia made identical faces. "No, we don't want you to spit it back up."
X X X
Author's Notes
As always, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off of this.
The overprotective older sister is one of the more common (and amusing) storylines for Final Fantasy XIII, so I thought I might give the overprotective younger sister thing a try. It might just be me, but I can't shake the feeling that both Serah and Vanille have a darker (and very stabby) side to them.
Serah's part of the story was easy enough to come up with. Fang likes to hunt, so what better way to get her in an awkward situation than to have her go hunting with Serah? Not only are they alone (giving Serah a chance to go complete psycho on Fang) but also it gives Serah an excuse to carry her weapon around. Vanille, of course, can't take Lightning on in a fair fight, so, like Serah, she was forced to resort to a bit of treachery (which I think she would excel at).
Who do you think has it worse, Fang or Lightning? Personally, I think that Fang has it worse. The wilderness is a big, big place – with lots of places to dump a body.
The omake was just a little bit of fun to round things off. I can easily see Diana and Averia arguing over the last piece of cake, and, of course, they're going to drag the others into it. Luckily, Chirpy has the answer to their problem – give him the last piece.
Also, I will be resuming my regular writing schedule in February, so you should start seeing updates for the other multi-chapter stories that I have then.
If you like my writing, you might want to check out my original fiction. You can find links and previews to all of it in my profile. If you enjoy fantasy with a healthy dose of action, you might want to check out The Last Huntress Series. There are three stories in that: The Last Huntress, The Lord of Dark Waters, and The Fire Upon the Mountain. You can look forward to a badass heroine who hunts down werewolves, vampires, and even one very, very big dragon. If high fantasy is more your style, then you might want to check out The Burning Mountains, and if you're in the mood for a paranormal Western, then give The Gunslinger and the Necromancer a go. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.
As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.