Around the Campfire

"Damn it, Vanille, will you give it a rest?" Fang growled.

Vanille grinned and poked Fang's jaw again. The taller woman flinched and gave her a look that would have had most people quaking in their boots. Problem was, Vanille wasn't most people. Besides, it wasn't often someone got the jump on Fang, let alone managed to rough her up some. "Aw, come on, Fang. You have to admit, your jaw does look kind of funny – it's all purple looking."

"I know that!" Fang slapped Vanille's hands away. "It hurts too, so if you want to keep those hands of yours, you'd better keep them to yourself."

Vanille's grin widened. For all the tough talk, they both knew that Fang would never do something like that to her. "No, I don't think I will." She poked Fang's jaw again and giggled. "This is the most fun I've had in weeks, except for maybe breaking that chair over Nabaat's back. That's pretty hard to pass."

"You know, Vanille, I'd shoot you, but I like you too much." Fang drew in a deep breath and caught Vanille's hands in her own. "But so help me, if you don't stop poking me, I'll put you over my knee right now and tan your backside."

Vanille was about to laugh, but then she caught the look in Fang's eyes. If Fang had been glaring at her, she'd have called the bluff, but right now, Fang was almost grinning and Vanille knew from past experience that a grinning Fang meant trouble. Smiling a mite nervously, she pulled her hands away from Fang. "Well, I guess I could stop." And she really would have, but then Fang gave her that smug look and she knew she couldn't let things stop there. "Want me to put more salve on the bruises, or maybe something else? I picked some stuff up in town that we could cover it up with." She reached over into her saddle roll and pulled out a small jar.

Fang's eyes widened. "Make up? What in blazes are you doing with make up?"

Vanille huffed. "A girl should be able to look her best if she wants. How else am I supposed to blend in when I hit the town?"

"Hit the town?" Fang glowered. "You're supposed to be picking up supplies when you're in town, you know that, Vanille."

"And I do." Vanille waved the jar of make up around like a weapon. "And it's not like you don't have fun while I'm in town in some ugly wig. I deserve to have some fun!"

Fang's eye twitched and her gaze sharpened. "Fun? The last time we were in town, Vanille, I was getting punched in the face. Repeatedly."

Vanille had to hold back a laugh at the look on Fang's face. Honestly, Fang had a knack for smirks and teasing, but it had been a long while since someone had stood up to her, and even longer since someone had come after her with enough guts and skill to really work her over. "Yep, Fang, that sheriff really beat you up good."

"She did not beat me up!" Fang growled.

"That so?" Vanille chortled. "I seem to remember a certain somebody getting punched in the face a fair bit."

"Yeah, well who had a gun to the damn marshal's back and still got jumped?" Fang asked as Vanille felt a flush spread across her cheeks.

"Well, pardon me for getting distracted," Vanille replied as she waved threw her hands up in the air in frustration. "Kind of hard to keep on my toes, what with you and the sheriff getting all friendly like."

"I had things under control," Fang shot back. "I knew what I was doing."

"Not from where I was standing." Vanille shook one small fist at Fang. "Seemed to me like you were hitting on her pretty strong, only she hit back even stronger."

Fang was about to reply when there was a rustle from the bushes around their camp. Had someone managed to follow their trail? She signalled for Vanille to act like everything was normal and crept around behind the bushes. There was a man there, a pretty big one too, with blonde hair. Quickly, she checked to see if there was anyone else. No, he was alone, which meant good news for her and Vanille and trouble for him.

"That's about far enough," Fang said. "Now, how about you go stand up and take a seat by the campfire." He looked like he wanted to say something, but Fang shifted her hand just far enough to let the moonlight play off the barrel of her gun. He shut his mouth pretty quickly after that.

"So, stranger, care to tell us what you're doing sneaking up on us?" Fang said as she made him sit across the campfire from Vanille. True to form, the little red head already had her shotgun out and trained squarely on the man's chest.

He laughed nervously and Fang got the feeling this wasn't the first time he'd found himself in an awkward situation. He also didn't seem to be too surprised that it was a woman pointing a gun at him. "Well, I have a place around here. My damn fence broke and some of my cattle wandered off. I've been looking for them since late this afternoon I figured they might have headed this way, what with the river and all."

Fang looked him over for any signs of lying and found none. Whoever this stranger was, he seemed honest enough and while he had a gun at his side, he wore it in a way that left little doubt in her mind that he wasn't much accustomed to using it. The strap on the holster was still on, which meant that just to get his gun free, he'd have to unbuckle it. She nodded. If he tried anything, she'd have him down before he even cleared the holster. Best of all though, she thought, he didn't seem to recognise her or Vanille. She smirked. This could be fun.

"You got a name stranger?" Fang asked.

"Mind taking the gun off me first?" he asked before Fang glared. "I mean… uh… please?"

Vanille giggled and at Fang's nod, lowered her shotgun. "Well," Vanille said, "A girl can't be too careful around these parts. After all, who knows what kind of riff raff might be wandering around at night?"

Fang snickered. Riff raff? Hell, they were the riff raff. She lowered her gun. "So, stranger, that name of yours?"

The man smiled. "Snow Villiers. Nice to meet you two."

"Well it's nice to meet you too, Snow." Vanille smiled. "I'm…" she paused for a moment in thought. "I'm Thelma and this here." She pointed to Fang. "This here's Louise."

"Thelma and Louise, huh?" Snow grinned. "What are two ladies like you doing out here?"

"We're just passing through," Fang said.

"That so?" Snow rubbed his hands together and placed them closer to the campfire. "You should be careful out here. There're some people around these parts who can be a little quick to pull the trigger if you wander onto their patch of land."

"Really?" Fang asked. "Mind explaining that a little?"

Snow shrugged. "I'm new out here, got a place of my own just a little while ago." He pursed his lips. "My place runs right to the river so I've got a fair few neighbours. Most of them are pretty nice, but those Cocoon fellows are pretty grim."

"Cocoon, you say." Fang's eyes narrowed a fraction and she saw Vanille tense just a little. "I didn't know they had a place out near Bodhum just yet." She was careful to keep her voice even. Her source had mentioned that Cocoon was sniffing around Bodhum, but he hadn't said anything about them owning any property there just yet. That would explain why there were supposed to be Cocoon employees on that stagecoach, although it didn't explain how Jihl had known she'd be hitting the stagecoach. Either her source had set her up, or someone was on to him. She still wasn't sure which one it was, and wouldn't be until she'd had time to look into it more, but there was something just a little bit unsettling about a grown man who liked to keep a stuffed cat around.

Snow shrugged. "I didn't know about it either, at least, not until I got my claim filed. Seems Cocoon owns a fair stretch of land, right where the river hits the hills." Snow paused and shook his head. "I wanted to have a look over there, actually, but they've got patrols going all hours and they aren't too keen on anyone getting close. Far as I can tell though, they aren't running any cattle or planting any crops." He paused and looked into the campfire. "It looks mighty suspicious and I've heard a bit of talk saying they might have struck gold or some such. It certainly would explain things."

Fang and Vanille exchanged a look. They both knew what Cocoon would do to protect their business.

"I guess they're worried about things going bad again," Snow said. "I remember hearing some things about some other place… Oerba or something like that. Heard some nasty stuff…" Snow trailed off as Louise's eyes bored into his. Despite the difference in size, he suddenly found himself feeling awfully small.

"You seem to know an awful lot about Cocoon, Snow," Fang said slowly. "You work for them or something?"

Snow swallowed. They weren't pointing guns at him right now, but the way Louise was looking at him was just as bad. Those green eyes of hers were flashing like green lightning and her jaw had gone all tight. The big splotch of purple along her jaw line just made her seem scarier. Thelma was also looking at him now too, not as scary as Louise, but plenty scary for someone so small. What exactly what he said to make them both so angry? At least with Lightning, he knew why she wanted to put a bullet in him

"Or something, I guess," Snow said at last. "I was a stockman… I ran cattle for them a couple of times, mostly for old man Barthandelus at that big ranch of his." To his relief, the two women relaxed.

"A stockman?" Fang grinned as a thought occurred to her. She and Vanile hadn't ever been able to get too close to Barthandelus. The old man was too sharp to anywhere without some pretty heavy security and his people were always on the lookout for them. But Snow had worked at the ranch, and from what she'd heard, Barthandelus liked to stay at the place. "Say, Snow, what was that ranch of his like?"

"Well, it was pretty big. The old man definitely didn't do things halfway."

"I meant the set up," Fang said. "Thelma and I were thinking of maybe trying to get some work out that way and I figured knowing how things were run might give us an edge or two."

"That so?" Snow was a little puzzled by the sudden change in attitude, but didn't give it much thought. People could be pretty strange at times, and these two weren't the strangest he'd met, not by a long shot. "Well, out there, this was how things worked…"

Fang listened closely for the next half hour or so as Snow explained how things at the ranch worked. It was good stuff too. Snow didn't really know everything, but he had a pretty good handle of where all the major buildings were and what sort of people tended to be around, as well as their numbers. It might not have been up to date – fellows like Barthandelus were too crafty to leave their security the same way for long – but it gave her some idea of what she and Vanille were up against.

"That's some good information," Fang said.

Snow grinned. "I don't mind sharing. It didn't cost me a thing and I don't plan on going back there anyway."

"Oh?" Vanille thought she heard a kind of wistful tone to Snow's voice. "Is that cause you've got your own place now?"

"A bit." Snow felt his lips tug up into a smile. "But I've got my eye on someone too."

Vanille giggled and Fang rolled her eyes. "What's she like, Snow?"

"Well, she's got the nicest looking hair. It's pink, just like when you see the sun coming up in the morning, and she's got these blue eyes like you wouldn't believe." Snow sighed.

Fang's jaw nearly dropped. This man had his eyes on Lightning? From what little she knew of the other woman – and most of that consisted of rumours and bruises – she somehow doubted Snow would have much luck. Unable to stop herself, and already picturing Snow going down in either a hail of bullets or punches, she started to snicker before ending up on the ground, curled up in laughter.

Vanille shot Fang a dirty look. "Don't laugh at him. I think it's romantic that he has someone he likes even if she is a bit…. well… uh…"

Fang managed to sit up again, still sniggering. "Yeah, sure. But really, Sheriff Farron?" She slapped Snow on the back. "Good luck, Snow, but I don't think you'll have much luck with Lightning."

"Huh?" Snow's eyes widened before his mouth formed a perfect 'O' of utter horror. They thought he was after Lighting. Just the thought of what the pink-haired sheriff would do to him if he ever tried to get sweet with her was enough to make him woozy. If he was lucky, she'd just shoot him dead. Most likely, she'd come up with something worse. "No, you got it all wrong." He waved his hands in the air. "I'm not after Lightning. I'm after Serah."

"Serah?" Fang asked. Just how many people could there be wandering around with pink hair and blue eyes?

"Yeah, Serah." Snow's expression softened. "She's Lightning's sister. She's a bit younger, but a lot less scary. She runs the school down in Bodhum. She's pretty tough though. Some of those youngsters are pretty tricky."

Fang chuckled. She remembered just what a handful she and Vanille had been growing up. "So, how's the sheriff taking it?"

Snow shuddered. "She's don't like me much." He sighed. "At least she hasn't shot me… yet."

Vanille smiled. "Just stick with it, Snow!"

Snow nodded and then stood. "It's been mighty nice talking to you two. But I've got to get going. I've still got those cattle to find. It might not be winter yet, but the nights can get pretty cold."

"Get going then." Fang pointed off toward where the river was. "I think I saw some tracks back that way a few hours ago. You might want to take a look."

"Thanks."

Fang waited till Snow was gone before she turned to Vanille with a smirk. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

Vanille lifted her shotgun and smirked back. "Yeah, why don't we go pay those Cocoon folks a visit?"

X X X

Author's Notes

First of all, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off this.

Here we are again. I thought it would be nice to have Snow meet Fang and Vanille, and naturally, I couldn't make it too easy for him. As for the whole Thelma and Louise thing, I just couldn't help myself. By the way, who do you think Fang's source is? I also have to admit, I liked writing Vanille in this chapter. I figure she's one of only a few people who could get away with teasing Fang. As for the whole Serah/Lightning mix up thing, I knew I had to slip that in somewhere. Also, I've noted that I have this strange tendency to keep using a Western tone in my Author's Notes. Hmm.

As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.