AN:\ Hello! I just wanted to say thanks to the people who added this story to their alert subscriptions/favourites and who reviewed :D
Lightning was annoyed.
No, not just annoyed. Very annoyed. She got no sleep last night whatsoever. But that wasn't what was making Lightning teeter on the verge of insanity. No, that accomplishment was reserved to one Oerba Yun Fang. Ever since the night before, Lightning kept having thoughts about her. Fang invaded every one of her senses, until all she could think about was her. It's ridiculous really, Lightning didn't particularly like Fang, and now she was having inappropriate thoughts about the huntress. To say Lightning was surprised at herself was an understatement. She didn't even know if she liked girls, or men for that matter. She never had time to experiment, she was always too busy looking after Serah, or working.
Lightning sighed, and moved to get up from her sitting position. All she needed was a little exercise, and all of these thoughts about Fang would disappear.
Apparently the maker couldn't even grace her with that privilege, because everyone started waking up.
Lightning watched with a frown as Sazh slowly roused from his slumber, grimacing when he lifted his head off of the ground.
"Ahh...owwww. I'm never sleeping on the ground...again. Ever." He mumbled. Snow was the next to wake up, jolting awake as if he was having a terrible nightmare. He immediately noticed the bandana in his mouth, and spit it out with a disgusted look on his face. Lightning barely bit back a smirk when he started to look around for the culprit who put it there. Vanille crawled out of the other tent, with a content smile on her face. At least one of them had a good sleep.
Lightning didn't fail to notice the lack of Fang in their group. She observed the area, but the Pulsian was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Fang?" She asked.
"How should I know? I just woke up, woman! Ah-damn! I have several different knots in my neck." Grumbled Sazh. He then looked at Lightning pointedly, to which she said she would rather die than work out the kinks in his neck. She then glared at his blatant disrespect.
This wouldn't be the first time Fang ran off, in fact, it had become a daily occurrence as of late. Lightning understood that being back in Pulse was a big deal for Fang, but with their L'cie brands opening millimeter by millimeter everyday, they just didn't have time. She did secretly respect Fang, ever since they met in Palumpolum. Lightning didn't like the idea of partnering with Fang at first, but she found settling into it a rather easy accomplishment. Fang and Lightning fit together perfectly, she found that she could even count on Fang's strength and skill in battle. The soldier always had a social complex, which only got worse after her parents died and she was forced to look after Serah. This made it hard and aggravating for her to work with a group or another person; she always preferred to fight alone. But here comes Fang, waltzing in on her life like she owns the place, and all of a sudden, the nervousness of working with a partner ceased to exist. Of course, she didn't let it show. If Fang knew that Lightning actually didn't mind her company, she would abuse that fact to no end. The corners of Lightning's lips curled up slightly. Partner. I like that idea.
Being truthful, Lightning was a little frightened at first when she found herself gravitating towards Fang. She didn't really know what it was like to actually care for someone, or to trust someone. She lost that ability years ago. But with Fang, it was a different story. In some ways, Fang reminded her of herself. Strong, and swift. Deadly in battle. Perfect for planning battle strategies, and being a leader. Fearless. That was all Fang, and Lightning respected that. She knew that she could always rely on Fang in battle, one look into those emerald orbs and they would already have a battle plan. Lightning would attack, and Fang would always follow through, perfectly. She especially noticed Fang's talent for fighting when they would spar. It was apparent that Fang had more strength, which Lightning made up for with her unbeatable speed. Together, they were an unbeatable team, perfectly in sync, destroying every obstacle in sight. Lightning sighed. if she didn't stop thinking about Fang soon, she would go insane.
"Damn, Snow! What is wrong with you?"
Lightning was yanked from her thoughts by a whining Sazh, clearly complaining about something Snow did wrong, which didn't surprise Lightning at all. She pushed herself up, and moved to the camp. She was greeted by a very unpleasant smell, wafting from the fire pit. She wrinkled her nose in disgust; Snow had tried to cook.
"Hey, c'mon now! It's not that bad!" Snow then grabbed a piece of very unappetizing looking meat, which was an unhealthy grey colour, and greedily shoved it in his mouth. His face twisted into an expression of immense distaste, which he quickly tried to hide. Sazh stared at him in horror, trying not to gag when Snow finished chewing and then swallowed the disgusting mystery meat.
"See? ...s'not bad at all..." Snow was beginning to turn green. Sputtering an incoherent sentence, he excused himself from the fire, looking very ill.
"There you are, soldier! I thought I was going to die of food poisoning! You think you can uh...get some food? I'm starving over here." Lightning rolled her eyes.
"I'm not your personal maid, Katzroy. You can get your own food." Sazh grumbled for a few seconds, before disappearing into the forest in search of fruit.
"You know sunshine, we have to stop meeting like this." The voice of Fang said. Lightning was hit with déjà vu. Fang was once again above her, in a tree.
"Whatever." Lightning sighed. She was too tired for this. She started to continue onwards, before Fang interrupted her, once again. She hopped down from the tree, and stopped Lightning in her path.
"You don't want to go that way, Lightnin'." Lightning quirked a brow. "And why is that?" She asked, thoroughly annoyed.
"You see that thing over there?" Fang pointed across from them. Lightning did see it. It was an ugly, blue thing, that looked like it was composed entirely out of water.
"That's an Ectopudding. You do not want to go that way, those things are nasty buggers to deal with."
"Ectopudding? As in the dessert? That's the stupidest name I've ever heard." Lightning said, incredulously.
"Wouldn't be the weirdest name in the world. What about Lightning? That's a strange name if I've ever heard one." Fang smirked. She sure did like smirking.
"You're one to talk. Fang? What kind of name is that?"
"Aw, and now you've gone and hurt my feelings. My name can't be as bad as Hope's, right? Isn't that a girl's name?"
"It can be either! At least they aren't as bad as Snow. I mean, Snow? Really?"
"Yeah, you're right. Pfft, Snow. That ain't a name."
"No it is not."
Fang chuckled softly. The soldier was finally beginning to act human.
Fang sighed when Lightning started to make her way towards the Ectopudding again. "Suunshiiine." She sang. "Where are you gooooiiiing?"
"To kill the, ahem, Ectopudding. Don't wait up." Fang stared at her in disbelief.
"Were you not listenin'? I'm not letting you get yourself killed. I'm comin' with ya." Lightning shook her head, not feeling entirely comfortable being around Fang at the moment.
"I think I can handle this one, Fang." Lightning turned away, and quickly used a librascope on the beast.
"Oh, well look at that. Looks like I'm in luck. It has a weakness to lightning." Fang stared at her for a moment, her brain not fully processing that Lightning had just made a joke. Before she could reply however, Lightning charged at the Ectopudding, taking it by surprise. Fang gaped at her. She may have just made a very bad mistake.
Fang immediately cast deshell and poison, but growled when her deprotect took no effect. With the gelatinous monster slightly weakened, she charged with her lance, only to have it go right through the Ectopudding, leaving it unharmed. Shit...I forgot these things are immune to physical attacks...I'm screwed, Fang thought, grimly. Fang wasn't that great with spells. In fact, she was horrible at them. She decided to go with a small lightning spell, which quickly materialized in the air. It shot out from her hands, out of control, and headed straight for Lightning. Sensing the spell rapidly approaching her, Lightning ducked out of the way, sending Fang a vicious glare. Fang smiled sheepishly, she was in trouble after this.
Lightning was having more luck, swiftly casting successive thunder spells at the enemy, occasionally hitting it with Thundaga. She found it much easier to control spells when she was motivated. Despite her successful spell casting, the monster was barely weakened. Lightning grit her teeth when the monster swung one huge, strong hand straight at her. She backflipped over the oncoming hand, landing on her feet a few meters back.
Fang was desperately trying to control her spells, without much luck. She conjured up a small lightning ball, which crackled and buzzed in her hands. She felt the familiar tingle go up her arm as the spell intensified. She used all of her strength to launch the spell at the enemy, which quickly barreled through the air. It luckily buzzed just passed Lightning's head, and hit it's target, causing the monster to stumble. Fang was practically happy dancing with her accomplishment, which Lightning didn't find very amusing. In the middle of her happy dance, she failed to notice the watery hand swinging straight for her.
"Fang, get out of the way!" Lightning shouted. By the time Fang noticed the clawed hand, it struck her in the stomach causing her to double over in pain. "Ow! Shit!" She yelled, not fully expecting the strength behind the monster's attack.
"Don't be so careless, Fang!" Lightning yelled, while casting more thunder spells at the Ectopudding. "You're going to get yourself killed!"
Lightning was suddenly struck with a brilliant idea. "Fang!" She shouted, trying to get the Pulsian's attention. "Ack-what?" Fang sputtered, still holding her aching stomach. "What happens when water gets cold?" she asked, still dodging attacks. "It freezes, so wha- oh. Oh!" Fang quickly got the idea, and started to conjure a small blizzard spell in her hands, and then thrust it in the Ectopudding's direction. It hit the monster's side, momentarily freezing it.
"It works!" Fang shouted, grinning. Lightning poured all of her concentration into her Blizzara, which was quickly forming in her hands. The cold was radiating off of it in waves, making it hard to continue charging it up. She released it, and it shot towards the Ectopudding, freezing it and the ground around it. In a desperate final attempt at defeating them, the Ectpudding swung a half-frozen arm out. Lightning quickly unsheathed her gunblade, switching it to sword form. She swung the blade out harshly, which connected with the monster's arm, shattering it. She then turned it the gunform, and shot the monster three times in the chest. The force of the bullets caused the rest of it the shatter; the only thing left of it was the iced over body, which was already melting in the Sun. For one horrifying moment, Lightning thought that the beast would reform from the melting water. Fang apparently noticed this.
"Don't worry, sunshine, It's dead. It won't reform again." Lightning gave her a curt nod, then turned to leave.
"Hey, i'm hurtin' over here!" Fang then pointed to her stomach, which was starting to go purple from the bruises that were forming there.
"Get Vanille to heal you." Fang, still clutching her stomach, started to pout.
"But I can barely walk..." Lightning sighed, and made her way over to the injured huntress. "Er...Fang...I'm going to need you to move your clothes out of the way." Fang smirked, and pulled her sari aside, leaving her stomach bare for Lightning to see. Lightning couldn't help but stare at the toned and tan muscle that was now on display. She lightly touched the skin that was bruised, which rippled under her touch.
"You're staring, sunshine." Fang grinned.
"I'm checking the extent of your injuries!" Lightning said, a little too quickly.
"Sure, sure." Fang replied, grin still in place.
Fang relaxed as the warm and comforting sensation of Cure spread over her midsection. The sensation seeped straight through her skin, until she could feel it spreading throughout her entire body. The magic flowed from Lightning's fingertips and onto Fang's stomach, which greedily accepted it to heal the bruises.
After she was done, she helped Fang to her feet, who noticed that her stomach was feeling good as new. She could still feel the lingering sensation the the cure just beneath her skin, it was a warmth that burrowed inside her body, refusing to leave.
After Fang and Lightning finally got back to the camp, (doing a fine job of avoiding monsters) they were greeted by an awkward silence that covered the air. Sazh was sitting on a log in front of the crackling fire looking deep in thought; Snow stood off to the side, looking agitated. Hope was asleep on the ground next to the fire to keep warm. All in all, no one really knew what to say.
The two women opted to stand and wait for someone to speak up. All of a sudden, Snow exploded, causing Lightning to jump and Fang to look at him in surprise.
"So this is how it ends?" He shouted, catching everyone's attention.
"Now wait just a minute. How long has it been since we left Cocoon, hm? Not a single soul for miles around, not a single clue to this whole L'cie mess." Sazh remarked. At first, his tone stated that he was annoyed, but his body language told differently. He was sitting, slouched over, not looking Snow in the face. Snow was about to protest, before Sazh cut him off.
"What I'm saying is...we did well just getting this far." Lightning couldn't help but agree. Never could she imagine that she would be fighting against Fal'cie, or traveling to Pulse. It was unreal what they had accomplished, especially being strangers when they first met. But now, they were...almost like a family.
Snow sputtered for a moment, before Vanille spoke up. "Well...we could go a little further..." Lightning straightened up, her interest now peaked. Sazh sat up. "Meaning?" He asked.
"There's still one place..." Vanille's cryptic speech was putting Lightning a little on edge. She wished she would just spit it out, they were wasting time.
Fang's head snapped up at Vanille, looking at her in shock. "Vanille! Are you sure?" She inquired. Fang stared at Vanille, looking for any signs of unsureness. Vanille nodded. "I'm sure." Lightning turned to the pair, still not absolutely sure what they were talking about.
"You know, if we don't find something this time, we won't get another chance." And that was true. Their L'cie brands were transitioning rapidly, and one wrong path would doom them. Hope chose this moment to speak up.
"Oerba...the place it all began." Hope's arm stretched up, reaching for the stars. "The place where the Pulse Fal'cie lay dreaming. Vanille and Fang's home. Just maybe...it will hold the answers we're looking for." Hope turned his arm and regarded his brand wearily. Fang didn't look very optimistic. "Yeah...if we can get there." Exhaustion was etched onto Hope's face; it was clear that he needed to rest.
"Go ahead without me." He said, immediately causing protest within the group. Vanille scurried to Hope's side. "We can't just leave you!" She exclaimed. "I'll be fine." He answered, but it was clear that he was far from it. "You've all taught me so much...taught me how to fight." He continued. He attempted to stand up, but stumbled a few steps upon doing so. He was steadied by Snow, who's arm shot out to catch him.
"What did I tell you? Leave the fighting to me." Said Snow.
"I'm scared." Hope croaked. Lightning was immediately concerned, it wasn't like Hope to show so much emotion. She decided the best way to go was to comfort him.
"We understand. You're not going to go through this ordeal alone, you know." She smiled at him in assurance, and lifted his chin to look at her.
"But that's what scares me! I don't...I don't want to see you guys get hurt because of me!" Tears started to fall from Hope's eyes, no matter how hard he tried to dam them back. He covered his face with his hand, not wanting Lightning to see him at his weakest moment. A white light then enveloped his hand, before covering his entire body. The familiar symbols appeared on the ground below him. And then a behemoth Eidolon- probably the largest of the group's- materialized a few meters in front of them. The shock waves from it's appearance caused everyone to be flung back. Fang and Lightning both landed on their feet, while Snow was not so lucky. He landed on his back, most likely harming his already broken ribs.
"Mention ordeals, and look what comes along!" Fang shouted, raising her spear.
"This is not an ordeal. This is a gift-Hope! This is the kind of power you've got inside. And it's telling you not to give up. Trust me." She stated, a fiery determination burning in her eyes.
"Oh, I get it!" Fang exclaimed. "It's here to show you the way. Here to show you you've got what it takes to get back on your feet and take this thing!" Hope stared at the monstrous being, aghast.
"You mean... that thing came from me?" He asked, not quite believing it. He ran up in front of the pair and took out his boomerang in a defensive stance. And so the familiar dance of battle began.
"Fang! use steelguard!" Lightning ordered. Fang positioned herself to take the heavy blows the monster was delivering. Lightning kept the group healed while Hope began to cast synergist buffs. Occasionally, the Eidolon would fire missiles, effectively sweeping all of the group off of their feet. "Fang, Hope! Delta attack!" Fang and Hope complied; Fang quickly cast mediguard, while hope cast Blizzard and Fire. Lightning charged the beast with her gunblade in sword mode, slashing at every available piece of metal in sight. She then back-flipped, shooting the monster in mid-air.
His gestault gauge was slowly but surely rising with each hit. Hope's synergist abilities were holding, protecting the group from harm while Fang's mediguard prevented her from being seriously injured. Eventually, the gestault gauge filled the entire way, allowing Hope to board the Eidolon, who was now even larger due to his transformation.
The entire party was standing in a broken circle around Hope, who was staring at his L'cie brand in awe. "That's some Eidolon you tamed there." Said Sazh, unmasked surprise on his face. "Yeah..." Hope said, his breath coming in short gasps. Lightning zoned out for a few minutes, not really listening to the group's banter anymore. She decided to move things along.
"So, we're all decided then?" Everybody nodded in agreement. She looked at each individual person before her eyes settled on Fang. She got momentarily lost in the swirling hues of green that occupied Fang's eyes. "Yeah." Fang said, effectively snapping Lightning out of her trance.
"Yep!" Squeeked Vanille.
Lightning sighed and allowed herself to lead the group back to camp. Maybe, just maybe, they would be allowed to rest now that Hope's eidolon was dealt with.
She had no idea that their real journey was just beginning.
AN:\ Hai! So, obviously, this chapter was a lot longer than the first one. I figured I would give Hope his Eidolon before I go on with my main plot. And the main plot is coming up, so don't worry. I realize there wasn't very much Fang/Light lovin' in this chapter, but i'll get to that later. I literally have nothing at all to do, so the chapters will probably be coming pretty fast. I'll probably post a short chapter that relates to the plot, before I continue with the group, but i'm not sure yet.
To be honest, I'm not really satisfied with this chapter. It's like, I was writing it, and then BOOM! I started to draw blanks. So, I just kind of started to write the chapter with nothing specific in mind. I'll have to work on that.