Thanks for the love! Hope you guys don't mind that the characters will be a bit ooc.
I don't own FF8 or LadyHawke. Happy now?
Family Feuds and Tavern Fights
How long had he'd been running? His mind was as equally tired as his body, he felt that his arms would pop out of their sockets, his legs would give away, and his feet were aching. He had slept in a pine tree for the love of Hyne! He was a Duke, of royal blood! He had always wondered what it would be like to live in total freedom...but this wasn't what he had in mind. The branch had been quite large and broad, and he wouldn't have minded so much if it weren't for the constant howling of a wolf. So now the task of climbing down the pine without braking too many bones was at hand. Zell looked downward at the ground beneath him.
I'm gonna break my skull open! He gulped. Taking a deep breath he made up his mind. Here goes nothin' dammit! He leapt off the branch and groaned in pain as his poor feet ached in pain.
"Shit!" He hissed. The sun peaked over the mountains as the first rays kissed the earth. He stopped at a small river to get a quick drink as his stomach lurched furiously in hunger. He looked at his surroundings and spotted a rabbit eating grass. Zell licked his lips. Food...His mind chanted. He crawled over quietly to his prey...but the small animal raised it's ears as Zell approached. The white rabbit ran off into the woods as Zell sped off behind it.
"Here bunny, bunny!" He sang. "Come here breakfast!" The animal zig-zagged as Zell struggled to keep up with it. Bit the sudden sound of a harp caught his attention. He stopped and let the rabbit run off as he headed on the direction of the sound. The smell of stew engulfed his senses and his stomach growled in frustration. And then he saw it.
There were several small cottages in the area with children running about, housewives hanging their clothes to dry out in the sun, men chatting, a few of them were skinning their fresh kill. Zell stared at the happy families. They had little to nothing, yet they were happy. They had a home, food, water and each other. Zell had been raised with his cousin Quistis, the Princess of the Eastern Kingdom. His father had died in a hunting trip when he was a small boy, his mother was the sister of Quistis mother and his aunt took them in graciously.
He was raised in the lap of luxury. But compared to his two years in jail, this little town was heaven. His stomach growled again as he looked over at two children who were eating their bowls of meaty, chunky rabbit stew. He glanced over at a shepperd who was gathering his flock of his in their pen. When the man closed the wooden gate and left, Zell made his move.
He jumped over the wooden fence and opened the gate ushering the flock out. The folk began to yell and chase after the sheeps as Zell took advantage of the few empty homes and quickly ate a loaf of bread that had been left out in a window, he grabbed a pair of freshly washed clothes and a pair of boots. A little girl and a boy looked at him as Zell grabbed a small coin pouch that was on the floor.
"He's taking daddy's shoes." Mumbled the girl.
"You've go it, little kiddies." Zell said as he ran quickly into the forest to change.
"Your Highness!" Called a cheery voice. "Princess Quisty!"
A small and petite brunette stormed into the room wearing a bright canary yellow dress and bright green eyes. Her light brown hair was curled upward at the end as she quickly bowed at the young woman who sat at a desk. The woman had silky blonde hair that was tied up at the back with a few strands framing her fine features. She had sapphire blue eyes and scarlett red lips, it matched her elegant silky pink dress that hugged her waist perfectly. She turned to face her energetic friend and smiled.
"Drop the formality, Selphie." She said in an elegant voice. "It doesn't suit you."
Selphie grinned sheepishly. "It really doesn't, huh?" She walked up to the Princess and frowned. "What's wrong?"
"It's been two years today since Zell ran away." Quistis replied. "I'm still puzzled over it. Why did he leave?"
"He was a pretty weird guy." Selphie said. Quistis raised her eyebrows at her, and Selphie giggled. "I'm kidding! How should I know why Zell ran off?"
"And not only Zell...but..." Quistis lowered her head before muttering something.
"Eh?" Selphie said as she brought her ear close to Quistis face. The princess waved her off and smiled.
"Prince Squall." Quistis finished.
"Ahh..." Selphie said as she sat down on Quistis bed. She grabbed a large rose colored pillow. "I thought you were only marrying him for political reasons?"
"Well yes, but...Selphie, I can't lie to you." Quistis said frustratedly. "I...was over joyed when father told me I was engaged to him. I've known Squall since I was a child and..."
"You've always dreamt of marrying your childhood friend." Selphie said wisely. "Don't blame you, Quisty. That's really romantic."
"Thank you, but...he's gone." She whispered. "He left three days after the engagement was official. I'm assuming that he didn't it want to marry me..."
"Non-sense!" Selphie said happily. "He's just as weird as Zell! Didn't want the responsibilities of ruling over a kingdom, so he bolted!"
"Zell doesn't rule this kingdom." Quistis pointed out.
"But the moment that you marry Squall, Zell would inherit this kingdom, since he's the only one remaining in the bloodline." Selphie grinned triumphantly.
"Remind me to give you more credit than usual." Quistis laughed. "You know your kingdom's history."
"Proud of it!" Selphie sang in a sing-song voice. "Now, come on! You're supposed to be getting ready! We're visiting your 'in-laws'!"
She jumped off the bed and tugged on Quistis arm and the two of them giggled out of the room.
Zell walked with a new spring to his step. His stomach finally satisfied, the young Duke walked up to a small inn and pulled out his money pouch, luckily for him, the pouch had 1000gil. Normally this wasn't enough for him to buy any type of luxurious item, but hell this was getting him food and a place to sleep in.
"Innkeeper!" He called to a balding old man with a heavy frown. "A cup of your finest wine!"
"Yeah yeah...Show me your money." The old man grumbled. He pulled out a large bottle and a ceramic cup and began to fill it up as Zell gave 25gil.
"Would you like to join me?" Zell asked as he took his cup. The frowned and turned his back on him. "Old grouch."
He turned to face the people that were gathered out in the inn's courtyard. There were some women chasing after their kids who were chasing after chickens. There was a small group of men that were sitting in some tables with red capes with the hoods over their heads.
"I'll pay for anyone that would like to join me in a toast!" Zell boomed.
"What are we toasting to?" Said one of the caped men.
"To a brave man that was inside the dungeons of Aquila and lived to tell the tale, baby!" Zell boasted happily, taking a sip of wine.
"Then you drink to me, little man." Said the soldier. "I've been inside those dungeons."
" A blacksmith perhaps? A carpenter? A stone cutter maybe?" Zell chuckled. "But a prisoner? Try that one for size, man!"
"I didn't say I was a prisoner." The man removed his hood and Zell recognized him. Andrew Biggs stood up and swung his cape over as he flashed his sword at Zell. "You should have stayed in the woods. You would have stood a chance, little 'mouse'."
"Y'know, you're right..." Zell said as he took a few steps back.
Biggs looked over at the man on his right, the man was the guard of Zell's cell. "Get him."
The soldiers and Wedge walked up to Zell. Wedge grabbed him by the shoulders when Zell threw his wine at Wedge's face, breaking the cup. He then scurried himself down underneath the tables as the soldiers shoved people out of the way and knocked the chairs out. When they tossed the tables aside, their 'mouse' wasn't in sight. Wedge ordered the peasants to move, he spotted a man with a cloak on and yelled at him to move. But the man didn't bother. Wedge snarled and shoved the man aside.
"I said out!" He hissed. He pulled off the cloak and Zell rolled on the table and kicked Wedge in the chest. Another soldier grabbed him from behind, but the nimble young man easily slithered himself out of the soldier's grasp. He quickly evaded some of the soldiers that kept getting in the way and climbed on top of the poorly made sunroof of thin tree logs as Biggs watched impatiently. Zell tried to run amongst the logs as the soldiers tried to stab him with their swords. One soldier tried to get up on the sunroof but Zell punched him off. Not having anywhere to go, Zell looked around wildly for an escape, but the only thing he saw was Biggs clapping at him with a sarcastic look on his face. He pointed downward, motioning Zell to get off. Realizing that was his only option, Zell jumped off, but a soldier grabbed him by his hair. As Biggs walked to him, Zell pushed off the soldier but another one with a sword tried to grab him. They struggled a bit until the soldier was spun by Zell, accidentally cutting Biggs's cheek.
Zell stared at him blankly. "M-my bad man!" He stammered.
"Kill him!" Biggs wiped off the trail of blood ans glared at Zell as two soldiers grabbed his arms and pined him against a large trunk. Another Wedge placed a sword on Zell's long neck and the young Duke's pale blue eyes widened.
"May Hyne have mercy on my soul!" He cried to the skies.
As the sword neared his neck, an arrow struck the Wedge's shoulder. "Aagh!"
Biggs turned around and found a man standing there with a crossbow. He had cobalt blue eyes, silky, messy chestnut brown hair that fell around his eyes, and a murderous look. He wore a long black cape with fur lining around the neck and hood. He wore a black vest with a set of black trousers, and two belts criss-crossing at his waist. He looked relatively young, like he was in his early twenties.
A soldier tried to fire an arrow at the mysterious man, but missed. The man however, did not miss. He looked over at Zell. "You. Out." He had a deep and husky voice.
The intimidated soldiers let go of Zell and the startled young Duke walked out of the scene, but not before the taller brunette handed Zell his crossbow. The man then pulled out a sword. Zell ran off leaving his savior behind without a word of gratitude.
Biggs stared angrily at the young warrior. "I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you're interfering with Duke Almasy's business."
The man frowned at the name. Another soldier walked up to the young man. The soldier was clearly the oldest one of the group, he had sandy brown hair with a few grey lines, and a perfect grey handle bar mustache. The soldier's honey eyes teared with joy as he neared the young man.
"You're safe..." The man whispered. "You're alive...! Oh, blessed be the heavens!"
"Francesco." Smiled the young man.
Biggs walked over to Francesco and frowned. "You know this idiot?"
"Biggs!" Francesco looked indignantly. "This is your Prince! Show him respect!"
Biggs's eyes widened as many of the other soldiers gasped. "P-Prince Squall!?" He looked from Francesco to Squall. In his eagerness to walk up to the prince he tripped and pushed Francesco right into Squall's sword. The two men staggered onto the ground, but Francesco no longer breathed. Squall looked down at his old sparring mentor and closed Francesco's eyelids. Squall stood up and punched Biggs and the soldier stumbled to the ground.
As teh other soldiers drew out their swords, the Prince ran to the walls of the inn and found horse shoues in a chain. He threw them at the oncoming soldier as the man fell to the ground. Another soldier ran up to him and Squall kicked him in the knees knocking him down, another man swung his sword at him and Squall dodged the attack, punching the man's back.
Wedge ran up to him and Squall grabbed a log and Wedge drew his sword. He ran straight at the Prince, but Squall was quicker. He knocked Wedge out. Squall then grabbed Biggs by the hem of his uniform and glared at him, as if marking him as prey. Squall then thrust Biggs into a small lit fire and Biggs cried out on pain as his rear was set ablaze.
The Prince walked over to Francesco's corpse and closed his eyes as he pulled out his sword. Behind him Biggs was running around telling the soldiers to put out the fire. Squall walked away as he saw his crossbow thrown in the ground and ran out of sight.
Biggs, in all fours, looked up in the direction of the the Prince. "DAMN YOU!!!!" He turned to his soldiers. "Follow him!!"
"It's okay, I won't hurt you!" Zell told a horse as he tried to mount it, but failed. He was at the the other end of the village, trying his hardest to get on a faster method of transportation other than his feet. He walked over to a bay horse and attempted yet again, to mount it. But the saddle came off.
"Hyne dammit!" He growled. Zell walked over to another one but this one ran off. He snarled in frustration. "You filthy strumpets!"
Deciding that maybe running wasn't a bad idea, he sped off to the north. As he ran past a small grove of trees, when he heard the galloping hooves of a horse. Zell looked behind him and saw his savior from earlier and recognized the large black steed as the same one from the previous day. The rider approached him at a fast speed and Zell bolted.
"No no no no no!!" Zell yelled.
But the rider didn't hear him and easily scooped him up into his horse. At the Northern Gate, one of Biggs men closed off the gates. But the rider kept on going; egging on the steed to pick up speed.
"Are you insane!? We're not gonna make it!!" Zell yelled.
The steed jumped over the fence and landed safely on the other side. The rider punched the soldier as he had been trying to draw his sword. Two other riders came to the gate and one tried to open it, but a large hawk swooped down on them and fluttered its large feathers in their faces. As one of the men tried to scare off the bird, the other one fell off his mount as he failed to get off properly.
The hawk flew off in the direction of the Prince and his new companion.
Okay, so Zell gets the role of Phillippe, Squall is Navarre, but Biggs in NOT Marquet! I had to alter this aspect as I previously said. I think I got the fight scene right...
Anyways, hope you like, and don't forget to leave me a lovely review!!!
Love, Mimi