A/N: Would you believe it? After finishing the last chapter I just couldn't stop writing! Damn, I forgot how good this feels. So here we are, with a sort of interlude chapter, enjoy the combined might of FEELS and FEELS(?). I'm sure many should get the references, and I felt obligated to include the songs that inspired the chapter itself, much like how the FATE theme was a large inspiration for the battle in the previous chapter. I hope everyone enjoys reading these as I did writing them. edit huh, really should do proofreading before posting, now I'm sure I missed even more errors and derpy text.
Quest Recieved:
A Bard's Tale: The Songbird, the Treasure Hunter, the Gallant Thief.
Deep within the wooded regions of mainland Albion, an unassuming cottage was bustling with activity, anxiety, and excitement. Midst it all a gentle song rung out from within the cottage itself.
"You are the ocean's gray waves, destined to seek, life beyond the shore just out of~"
"TIFFANIA!"
And the song was abruptly halted. A harried and disheveled Mathilda burst through the front door.
"Oh? You got here quick, all things considered," Tiffania smiled innocently at her almost adoptive 'sister'.
Mathilda strode with long steps to stand before the half-elf, panting heavily. Tiffania looked over the weary image standing in front of her, idly plucked at the harp she had been tuning.
"Did...did you run all the way here, I mean, from the port?" She furrowed her brows as she tilted her head, the harp letting loose an off-tune twang which caused her to quickly shift her attention back to her maintenance of the instrument.
"Y-you're damn right I did!" Mathilda screamed, causing the children that clamored about to sharply stare at her.
"Oooo~, auntie Matty said a bad wooooord!" One of the girls crowed, causing the others to giggle at her expense.
"I-I thought something bad happened...," a blush deepened on Mathilda's face, "Why did you send me such an urgent message calling me here from work?"
"Well, obviously it wasn't anything really bad...or dangerous...or anything like that. You know what our newest addition to the family is like, right?" The blonde's ears twitched in amusement.
Mathilda's blush deepened further at the thought of the newest addition to the 'family'.
"W-well, now that you mention it...whatever," she shook the idle thoughts that crept into her mind away, "then, what was this all about?"
The beaming smile that Tiffania flashed Mathilda may very well have blinded those present as she stood revealing her current attire. Unlike her usual summer dress or simple green tunic, she wore an ornately stitched blue open doublet over an almost sheer white undershirt. A gauzy shawl was draped over her shoulders and a form fitting, brightly colored dual blue and red pants covered her legs. A series of beaded sashes acted as a belt of sorts and heeled sandals held together by braided soft leather completed the attire.
"That is...?" Mathilda started, baffled by the change.
"My late mother's travel clothes, silly. You've seen them before," Tiffania leaned forward with her harp behind her back to poke jokingly at Mathilda's shoulder.
"Yes, yes, I know. But why are you wearing it?"
"That would be because of the calling, my good lady," a deep voice from behind caused Mathilda to shudder and brought the blush back in full force.
A large deeply tanned man walked past with an equally large bundle of chopped wood, each step causing highly trained muscles to ripple along his bare back.
"C-c-c-calling?" Mathilda shrunk into herself with her hands drawn close to her face in a futile attempt to hide her continuously reddening face.
"Oh, are you feeling ill? Truly you should take better care of yourself!" The man quickly dropped the bundle and rushed to Mathilda and sheepishly placed the back of his hand to her forehead, causing her to sputter at the touch.
"Oh, Mr. Gil, you shouldn't tease Matty so much," Tiffania giggled.
"What? I'm not teasing! She's burning up! Can't you see she isn't feeling well!?" Gil retorted, with Tiffania giggling harder and the children surrounding them joining in.
"Hee, anyway, yes. As Mr. Gil said, I've finally received what mother wished for herself for so long before she...left...," Tiffania's face contorted momentarily to that of melancholy before shifting to that more akin to fondness as she pulled brought her mother's ring she wore into view.
The pale green gem embedded in the silver setting seemed to glimmer as if in response to being mentioned.
"Tiffania...," Mathila looked to her 'sister' with a mix of understanding and sinking dread.
"AH! That reminds me! I've found what you wished for Lady Tiffania," the impossibly masculine man turned excitedly to the half-elf, pulling an empty quiver from it's place wedged under his belt at his hip.
"Oh my! Really, how DO you do these thing Mr. Gil? You really must be a legendary treasure hunter!" Tiffania beamed at the man before narrowing her eyes in a dangerous glare, "you didn't...steal this did you?"
The question was innocent enough, but caused Mathilda to grin nervously.
"Oh, no no no...unless by steal you mean appropriate from a den of orcs...pesky things those are."
The radiant smile once again returned as Tiffania grasped the quiver to her ample chested and squealed in joy.
"And just what is that, might I ask?" Mathilda's brows raised in confusion.
"Well, an enchanted quiver, granting the user an unending supply of equally enchanted arrows, my dear woman!" Gil grinned as he placed his fists on his hips, posing proudly at Tiffania's flow of unintelligible praise.
Mathilda sighed in defeat as she turned to face her 'sister' once more.
"So, it's finally happened, huh? But what about the orphanage? You know I can't stay here AND keep it funded right?"
"Ah, that's right, you haven't shown Matty yet have you?" Tiffania ceased her crooning over the quiver to look to Gil.
After some rapid blinking and something clicking within his head...as well as a high pitched rooster crowing from outside.
"Yes yes, I know Enkidu...ah, just what ARE you doing?"
The rooster entered the cottage sitting upon the head of a child in the midst of a giggle fit, cawing as it flapped it's arms in joy.
"Er...focus Mr. Gil...," Tiffania had to force herself to not facepalm at the massive man's lack of attentiveness.
"OH, RIGHT!" In an exaggerated twist to Mathilda with a hand outstretched and finger pointed skyward, "neither you or Lady Tiffania or anyone here shall have to worry of funds again!"
Rushing to a small coffer wedged beneath a pile of what many would consider junk that Gil had accumulated. Pulling it free, he faced it towards the dumbfounded Mathilda with a happy grin and flipped open the top. The sight nearly caused her eyes to pop from their sockets.
"By...the...Founder..."
A myriad of brightly colored gemstones shimmered in the light as Mathilda allowed herself to sink into the chair Tiffania once occupied, her mouth imitating that of a fish out of water.
"And, no, these weren't appropriated by illicit means. They were rightly liberated from evil brigands and various caches hoarded by mindless beasts!" Gil smiled fully in pride, turning his head to Tiffania for approval.
"See? Now you can stay here and take care of the children without worry...with Mr. Gil," Tiffania smiled knowingly at Mathilda, causing the woman's eye to twitch.
Gil alternated his view between the two women as an uncomfortable silence befell the cottage and the children barely held back their giggling.
"Anyway, now you have no reason not to allow me to leave, right sister?" Tiffania states with a finality and resolve that left Mathilda speechless.
Strapping the quiver to the back of her waist and tucking the harp beneath her armpit, Tiffania made for the door with a smile on her face. Only the weak tug on the sashes around her hip brought her to a halt, and set a pit in her stomach. Turning in place she found one of the younger boys grasping at the fabric with tears welling up in the corners of his eyes.
"Oh...oh my, I'm so sorry, I was so excited I forgot something so important, I'm sorry," she fell to her knees, embracing the boy.
"Big Sis? We...," the boy sniffled," we, know you have to go."
"W-we won't try to make you stay...," one of the older girls continued.
"And, we'll miss you...a lot," another boy tried his best to hide his tears, wiping his eyes in futility.
The youngest of the children, a girl with bright green eyes that shimmered with her own tears, hugged Tiffania from behind.
"Big Sis? Could you play a song for us? One more time?" The girl gripped Tiffania's stomach and buried her face in her back.
A sorrowful smile graced Tiffania's face as she shifted from her knees to a cross-legged position, bringing both clinging children to her sides.
"Of course, what would you like to hear?" She asked with tears that threatened to spill freely.
"THAT one, could you sing THAT one?" The green eyed child half whimpered and chirped excitedly at the same time.
"Ah...yes, I know what you mean. Ok, could you go sit with Matty and Gil? I can't play with my arms around you can I?"
"Ok~" both children chirped in unison.
The girl scampered to Gil, who had taken a seat in another chair by Mathilda, while the boy did the same with the flustered woman. Each climbed nimbly into their laps, Gil petting the girls head gently as Mathilda likewise wrapped her arms around the boys waist almost on instinct.
Tiffania looked once more at the gathering of children now seated orderly before her, and then to her older housemates that she considered family. With a wide smile she readied her harp. Soon the cottage was filled with a haunting melody and the unified voices of the children joining Tiffania's own.
(Final Fantasy V, Dear Friends – My Home Sweet Home)
Quest Received:
So cute yet fierce, is he from hell?
Cattlya stood before a suit of armor that now stood as a centerpiece of the main entrance-way parlor to her rather modest manor. It was somewhat wicked, being pitch black with spiked shoulders, elbows, and knees. It held an equally wicked battleaxe upside down in it's hands front and center, resting on the short display podium the getup was placed on.
"No self respecting noble would be without a suit of armor..so he said," she sighed.
It was a gift from the resident blacksmith and armorer in her early inherited fiefdom of Fontaine. She appreciated the gesture for sure, but wasn't so sure about how fearsome the gift itself was. Just how did the man see her? She laughed nervously, dismissing the thought. Instead she decided to attribute it to simply being the armorer's own taste and eccentricities.
"Lady Cattlya, I've returned with the...stuff...you requested," a young maid interrupted Cattlya's musings.
The poor maid stood trying to maintain some semblance of composure while pinching her nose and holding a large basket filled to the brim with bitter smelling leafy greens.
"Oh! Miss Eliza! Thank you so much!" Cattlya turned pulled the basket gently from the maid's hands, "Please, take the rest of today and tomorrow off, and help yourself to some wine from THE cabinet!"
The busty but sickly Valliere sister meant, of course, the really good wine normally reserved for guests and family.
"Thank you milady, have a pleasant day," the maid, all too glad to be rid of the foul smelling vegetable, briskly walked past the pink haired woman towards the kitchens.
Cattlya giggled as she held the basket close and nearly skipped off out of the manor. She had set her sights on visiting her favorite animal 'friend', though she wouldn't ever admit to playing favorites with her many 'friends' that took up residence at her manor. She took up a brisk pace, waving happily to the hired help and various residents of her fiefdom that milled about the outer facilities of her manor. She quickly took furtive glances for any observers before completely bypassing the stables and wandering into the thick woods that were behind it.
Scant few minutes of walking passed, though she breathed as though winded from a long jog, until she found the clearing in the woods spent an inordinate amount of time with her 'friend'. Setting the basket near the edge of the clearing, she fished out a tiny bird shaped whistle from a hidden pocket in her long skirt. A brief toothy and excited grin stretch across her face before taking a deep breath and blowing into the whistle. A shrill, high-pitched whine echoed through the forest.
After pocketing the whistle once more, she sat down beside the basket of greens and waiting with a slightly goofy smile, rocking side to side in excitement. The sound of shrubbery being crushed caught her attention, causing her to lean forward in anticipation.
A pregnant pause caused her to hold her breath as she focused on the opposite edge of the clearing. Then a bird of ridiculous proportions crashed into the clearing.
"WAAAARK!" it screeched.
"HEEE~" Cattlya clapped her hands in joy before gracefully bringing herself to her feet.
The bird stared at her with a fierce glint in its eyes as she grabbed a handful of the foul smelling greens and started to slowly walk to it. The fierceness quickly vanished and was replaced by a loving sparkle as it sniffed the air and eyed the contents of her hand. It happily munched on the leaves as she stroked the feathers atop its head.
She took this moment to admire the 'beauty' of the bird. The feathers of its head, chest and back were bright crimson, and the wings an equally bright sapphire blue. It quickly finished the contents of her hand and chirped shyly as Cattlya itched the underside of its neck in affection, she cooed softly to the bird as she did so.
The bird jolted rigidly as if consumed by a sudden thought.
"Oh?" Cattlya tilted her head with a finger to her lips as the massive bird seemingly began to preen its feathers under its right wing.
Her surprise heightened as her 'friend' turned its head back to her, now with a shimmering stone of a similar ruby red hue as the bird gently held in its beak.
"This is for me? Why thank you," she giggled as the bird nudged the stone to her chest prompting her to let it fall into her cupped hands.
"Oh, it's so pretty, I wonder were you found this?" She held the stone up to the dappled sunlight in pinched between her forefinger and thumb, with only a cheerful chirp from the bird.
"And to think I haven't thought of a name for you yet, now I feel a bit guilty."
She hummed as she stroke the side of the bird's head affectionately.
"Oh, I know, how about...Boko? Do you like that?"
"WARK...wark wark...," it stared blankly at Cattlya for a moment before nuzzling the top of its head to her chest.
"So I take it you like it then? Great! So, Boko...," she let the name roll off her tongue as if testing how it sounds, "yes, Boko sounds nice...so, Boko, can I ride you again?"
Boko chirped and hopped in place, before lowering itself to a seated position.
"Hee, thank you so much, I've wanted to ride again for so long," Cattlya wasted no time circling to Boko's side and hitching up her skirt to straddle the bare back of the bird.
She struggled a moment to remain atop the bird as it stood to its full height, before leaning forward to wrap her arms around its neck, effectively pulling Boko into a big hug from behind.
"Ok, I'm read~yyy," without waiting for her finish, Boko started off in a dash.
Boko gradually build up a blistering speed, leaning further into it, causing Cattlya to nearly lay on her stomach while clutching tightly with her arms and legs as the wind began to whip around her fiercely. As she adjusted to her new position and the gaining speed, Cattlya looked forward to view the world pass by in a blur. The tunnel vision only allowing the point directly in their path to be seen clearly, everything else being a rapidly changing palette of color. Upon the back of Boko, Cattlya felt truly alive.
(Final Fantasy XIII-2 – Crazy Chocobo)
Tiffania
LVL30 - Bard (Soulstone belonging to her mother)
Hyur-Elezen half-breed (constantly channeling her mommy to a small degree)
Loves children, music, and shipping Gil x Mathilda
Gil/Gilgamesh
LVL-Awesome - Treasure Hunter
LVL-Epic - Reality Hopper
Is surprisingly great with children as well as chickens. Completely oblivious about women.
Mathilda/Foquet
LVL? - Thief
LVL(negative)1 - Homemaker
Is surprisingly great with children, very poor at keeping secrets from Tiffania, has a massive crush on Gilgamesh. Also, cooks worse than Gilgamesh. No one says anything though.
Enkidu
He's a freakin' chicken!
Cattlya
LVL? - Frail Cutey
Loves animal, Louise, and GOING FAST
Boko
LVL METAL AS F**K - Giant Bird (chocobo)
Loves stinky vegetables, Cattlya, and GOING FAST AS F**K BOI!