Disclaimer- I don't own any of the characters in this story or in Final Fantasy at all, and I doubt I ever will.

Krimson- Well, my little brother had his surgery and now his jaw is wired shut for the next month.

Damien- This line is just filler.

Krimson- I'll update as much as I can, but things tend to get pretty hectic at my house.

Damien- This line is also filler.

Krimson- Once I get back on campus in a month I should be able to go back to updating weekly.

Damien- I'm not letting you write my lines anymore.

Krimson- This is Chapter 5: Finally, a Fight Scene!

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The valley between Conde Petie and the Black Mage Village was arid and dry the first time Zidane had passed through. Now that the roots of the Iifa Tree had receded, the walls of the valley were beginning to grow a nice shade of emerald green, which would have been nice to look at if it weren't for Lani giving Zidane a constant death stare.

"I said I was sorry." Zidane said.

Lani kept staring daggers into Zidane's forehead.

"Please stop doing that."

"It's your own damn fault." Lani said.

"But that was the only way we could get passed the dwarves."

"No, that was the only way you could get passed the dwarves. I could've just walked by."

"Okay, I'm sorry again."

Lani took her axe off her back and swung it with tremendous force right in front of Zidane's feet. The blade of the axe was just a few inches away from cutting off Zidane's toes. This was the kind of behavior Zidane worried about when he agreed to take Lani along with him.

"Do that again," Lani said, "and I'll cut off your foot. Got it?"

"Yeah." Zidane said. He really didn't feel like fighting Lani over something like this. She was right after all. He should have told her what the plan was before they arrived at Conde Petie, but if Zidane had done that, there was no way Lani would have agreed to it.

Flashback

Zidane and Lani were walking along the path leading to Conde Petie. Zidane was a little worried about his plan working, but he was even more worried about what the repercussions were going to be.

As they approached the city of the dwarves, Zidane leaned slightly over to Lani and whispered "Remember, let me do the talking."

"Just don't get us killed." Lani whispered back, unsuspecting of anything.

The two guards Zidane had angered the other day were standing in front of the doorway into the city again. The two eyed Zidane suspiciously as he approached them with Lani by his side.

"Och, yer're the blasphemer!" the first guard accused.

"Well, yeah but-" Zidane started to say.

"We told ye ne'er to show yerself here agin'!" the other guard said.

"Guys, hold on!" Zidane managed to say. "This is Dagger." He said indicating Lani, who was confused as hell.

Lani pulled Zidane to one side. "What the hell are you doing?" she asked.

"Just play along. I'll take care of this." Zidane responded.

They both approached the guards again and Zidane took Lani by the hand. "As I said before, this is Dagger, the girl I married." Lani didn't like having someone hold her hand and showed Zidane by twisting his fingers with hers, but kept on smiling for show anyway.

The guards both eyed Lani strangely. "She looks different. Dinnae she have black hair?" The first guard said.

"Well, being out in the Sanctuary for that long will do that to you." Zidane said, being careful not to offend the dwarves by using words they weren't used to.

"But dinnae you say she was far away? In Alexandria?" the second guard asked.

"Well, Alexandria is just a few hours away if you hurry. It's on the other side of the mountains over there." Zidane said pointing in the direction of Madain Sari. It wasn't a great lie, but it would have to do. The guards both looked at each other and shrugged, accepting Zidane's lie.

"Well, it's good that ye have her wit' ye," the first guard said. "But yer still a blasphemer."

"No, not anymore." Zidane argued. "After I found Dagger we went to the Sanctuary and had sex." Lani was shocked into attention. Her grip tightened in Zidane's hand to a near death-grip. Zidane winced a little.

The guards looked cautiously at Lani then grabbed each other's shoulders in a huddle. After a minute of talking they turned to the 'happy couple'. "All right," the first guard said. "Ye can pass."

"But only pass through." The second guard said. "Don't buy anything or talk tae anyone. An' ne'er return agin' If'n ye do, we'll kill ye."

"Got it." Zidane said as calmly as he could and walked through the doorway into Conde Petie, dragging along Lani by the hand, who was quivering with rage at Zidane's idiotic plan. I'm going to kill him for this she thought.

End of Flashback

Lani picked up her axe from in front of Zidane's feet and walked ahead of Zidane across the plains. Zidane thought it was best to let Lani have her space and trailed behind her. With Conde Petie behind them, the two adventurers continued on their journey towards the Black Mage Village. There Zidane could get the help he needed. Perhaps the Black Mages had a way to contact Garnet at the castle. Perhaps Garnet visited the village in hopes of Zidane showing up one day. It was a stretch, but it wasn't impossible. If nothing else, the Black Mages could help Zidane build a boat to sail to the Mist Continent. As Zidane thought about this, a griffin was soaring overhead. The griffin saw them as an easy meal and dove down to carry one of them off.

Zidane was busy thinking how Garnet would react when he came over the horizon on a mage-built boat. She would probably come out on the Red Rose to pick me up he thought to himself. Suddenly, Zidane heard wings rustling behind him. He tumbled off to the side just in time to avoid being swooped up by the griffin's talons. But Lani was still in its path.

"Lani, get down!"

Lani turned and saw the griffin rushing at her. She reached for her axe, but the griffin had grabbed her by the arm and started to carry her away before she had a chance. With her axe on her back, Lani was too heavy for the griffin to get much altitude. Nevertheless, it was able to get high enough to stay out of Zidane's reach, who had taken out his Ultima Weapon and started to chase the griffin down.

The griffin was twenty feet in the air and was speeding away too fast for Zidane to catch. Lani, with her left arm in the monster's grip tried to reach her axe, but without proper footing it was harder than it looked. She twisted in the wind as she dangled in the griffin's clutches, desperately fighting as best she could. Her fingers caught the tip of the axe's handle, but it slipped from her hand and fell to the ground below.

Zidane dodged by jumping to the side to avoid being split in half by the falling axe. With Lani defenseless and the griffin quickly gaining altitude from the lost weight, Zidane did the only thing he could think of and threw one of his daggers towards Lani.

"Here, use this!" Zidane yelled up at his comrade. Lani turned to see the Zorlin Shape headed straight for her. She held up her right arm to protect her face and tensed up preparing to get hit. Suddenly, the griffin let out a cry of pain. The Zorlin Shape had pierced its chest and was imbedded pretty deep. Lani reached for the dagger and pulled it out, raking it across the griffin's skin towards her as she brought it close. Holding the tip of the blade towards the griffin, Lani struck up as hard as she could into the monster's chest. The griffin howled in pain and started to fall, but it was far too persistent to just let its prey go so easily and held on. Lani continued stabbing the griffin, its blood pouring over her but it was nothing she wasn't used to. It only intensified her energy as she stabbed it harder and deeper.

The griffin, now only ten feet above the ground, began to feel tired and in too much pain. It dropped Lani to the ground, who managed to land squarely on her feet, and tried to escape. However, Zidane hadn't let up his pursuit and used the opportunity to attack the griffin. Zidane raised the Ultima Weapon's pristine blade up and sunk it deeply into the griffin's underbelly, bringing the monster down to the ground with a thunderous crash and one last howl of pain. It slid across the plains before coming to a stop. Zidane carefully approached it to make sure it was dead. After making sure it was safe, Zidane turned around and saw Lani walking up to him with her axe once again strapped to her back. "Some fun, huh?" he said slightly out of breath.

Lani looked into the griffin's dead eyes with a look of pure anger. She turned to Zidane and after a brief pause she said "Thanks." She then took her axe in hand and in one swing chopped the griffin's head clear off.

I must never get on her bad side again, Zidane thought as Lani stood cleaning her weapon.

Later, the two had started a fire and began cooking the griffin. They ate in silence as they sat at the opposite sides of the fire. The taste of meat was still a joyous thing worthy of celebration in Zidane's mind. He greedily ate his drumstick, of which there was plenty. Lani took smaller bites, but she tore at the meat even more viciously than Zidane, as if chopping the griffin's head off wasn't revenge enough. After a long period of silence, Lani spoke up.

"So what do you see in that princess anyway?"

Zidane was taken by surprise by the question and choked a little on some of the meat he was chewing. This was the first time he had ever seen Lani ask about anything which didn't involve her gaining something. Zidane smiled at the progress she was making. He set his drumstick to one side. "Well," he began slowly. "For one thing, she has the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen…"

The Next Morning

After a good night's sleep, Zidane and Lani packed as much of the griffin as they could and set off for the Black Mage Village. The sun harshly beat own on them, so getting into the Black Mage's forest was a huge relief for them. Fortunately, Zidane still remembered the way to the village, which just composed of walking around until all the owls flew away.

It was sundown when they finally reached the village. It'll be nice to see Mikoto again, Zidane thought. All of a sudden, Lani covered his mouth from behind him and dragged him off to the side of the pathway.

"Shh." she warned. Standing just outside of the village was a person in a hooded cloak. He was clearly dangerous. As Zidane and Lani looked on they saw a group of Black Mages approach the mysterious stranger and stand in front of him, as if to stop him from entering the village. The hooded figure was talking to the Black Mages, but it was too far for either Zidane or Lani to hear. Whatever the hooded figure was offering it clearly didn't interest the Black Mages as they quickly responded with shaking their heads or angry protests from some. Zidane shifted his against a tree only to step on a twig and have it break with a resounding snap.

The hooded figure turned and immediately had a fireball focused in his hand aiming it right at them. "Whatever you are, come out of there!"

Lani came jumping out with her axe in hand while Zidane ran out a stood in a defensive position next to Lani with his Ultima Weapon in hand. The hooded figure stepped back when he saw them. "Zidane?" he said.

Zidane was really confused now. This forest had that effect on him initially, but this just made it worse. "Who are you?" Zidane demanded.

The hooded figure pulled back his hood.

"Kuja?"

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Krimson- C'mon, say it.

Damien- No. I always end up saying it.

Krimson- C'mon.

Damien- Why don't you say it for a change?

Krimson- Fine, I'll do it. Please review and read.

Damien- What? You suck! It's 'Please Read and Review'.

Krimson- (grins)

Damien- … DAMMIT!