Filling In The Blanks
A/N: :) I'm happy today. (June 5th)
Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy 9 or any of the characters.
Chapter 25: It's Not You, It's Me
"Gaaaaaaaaarrrrrrgh!" A fireball was shot across the room, zipping past the man, heating his armor until he could feel it on his face, and hitting an unfortunate plant on the other side of the room. It blew up in flames, and its now-withered leaves began to fall onto the floor, creating a pile for the fire to ignite from.
As it danced to its own ballet, ice began to form across the leaves of the plants charting the sides of the glassless windows lining the walls.
"This couldn't possibly be happening!" A simply venomous voice snaked its way out of the man's mouth, causing the general to flinch back slightly, though not enough for the furious being to notice.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!" He whipped his hand across the wooden table, a warped piece of glass from the heat rises and falls in the room smashed against the wall, falling into a million glittering pieces in the ice and fire whose reflection caught it. "Tell me it isn't true!" He hissed.
"I am sorry M'lord..." He bowed as low as he could, his eyes even seeing the blue thread of the carpet leading to his Excellency's desk.
"How did this happen? How?" He demanded, slamming a curled fist onto the wood, shaking everything upon it, quite like an earthquake would to the world... His fist was the earthquake to the world of the desk as a marbled ball held on a stand fell and plummeted to the floor.
As catastrophic as it seemed for the marble to fall from its world, it only make a slight chinking noise on the floor, and the gliding noise it made as it rolled away was the only sound, though almost silent in reality, was brought forward front and center, to make it the only heard noise in the room.
After it rolled long enough to be stopped by something, the general took in a breath to speak.
"Their resistance was quite large -"
"I sent more soldiers than there could ever be! No matter how large the resistance was!" He barked and snarled, angry fire burning fury in his eyes.
General Strand calmly stood as he waited to continue. Once it was silent again he began to speak once more, "it was cut in half... That was a very good thing for us - however... They were then able to fit on two airships hidden away, that we were unaware that they possessed..."
"If the ratty Regent of Lindblum is still with them, they of course would have ships!" He threw his hands up, before lashing out and pounding a column behind him. His fist did no real damage... The architecture must have been reassured for exactly this reason...
"Shall we have them followed?"
"What?" He shrieked, tromping forward like a dinosaur ready to eat after three weeks without food.
He got right up in the generals face, about ready to kill him, and out of fear, and respect he shrunk back.
"No one has even began to follow them yet? Of course I want them fucking followed!" Kuja boomed, shoving the man backwards, "Get out and get started!" He roared, as the man scrambled from the chamber.
His breathing had increased after he slammed the two wooden doors shut, and he stumbled to hold himself against the wall opposing the door. He would live to see his children again...
He watched as the mysterious blonde woman walked by, her head held high and proud, emerald eyes shining with an all knowing sparkle. She pushed open the door only to have some sort of glass break right next to her head. Quickly shutting the door, eyes bewildered, she whipped around accusingly.
"Why didn't you say anything?"
"You had to see it to believe it... Besides, I have a family I want to get home to see..." He stood then, his composer better now, and strode on by, his crimson cape swaying behind him, as he felt the girl's eyes pierce into him.
?
Everyone was tired as they all wondered off the ship, extremely weary of where they were exactly. Once again, they all looked around for people who they thought they had lost, and some found who they were looking for, others did not. As soon as every last person was off the ship, tears broke out, but out of joy or sorrow would depend on the person.
Dagger stood in front of everyone, not bothering to look. She didn't want to yet - she was scared of whom she wouldn't find... She had known some of these people since before she could remember, others joining her, knowing her for the full length they had been in the resistance as well. It seemed as though the close bond everyone shared was being slowly ripped in half, and she imagined it like pulling apart something sticky. The strings of substance left, sagging more and more, before the pressure was too much and they broke, each end falling against the side it took...
Shaking her head of the silly metaphor, she stood on a cliff, looking around. She wondered just how far north they had gone, and exactly where they were.
The terrain was horrid. All of her life, she had been used to lush land, able to lie in the grass and close her eyes in comfort. Rich soil covered the area, and beautiful, tall, old trees stood with their emerald leaves shining and shimmering in the wind.
This place though... It was sandy and barely any grass grew there. Some parts, there wasn't even dried dirt, but simply sand. The sun was hot, and she couldn't see any water at the moment. Biting her lip, she turned back at someone approaching her. It was Beatrix.
Yelping in an almost relief, she hugged the older knight as Beatrix laughed, a smile dancing upon her lips at seeing the girl up close once again. After they pulled back from their embrace, Beatrix ran an armored hand through Dagger's hair, causing the girl to flinch.
"At least it's even..." She smiled, "It still looks beautiful Dagger, don't worry..."
The girl nodded, unsure of the whole thing all together. Her shoulders and neck felt bare without her hair there, but she knew it wasn't growing back as quick as she wanted, but she could only agree with Beatrix... That was all that was in her power, after all.
"Where are we?" She questioned to the knight, hoping that she had seen more than Dagger in her life.
"I..." She bit her lip, and glanced back at all the people, still having or lacking a reunion. "couldn't really say..." She trailed, looking at the situation from a rather negative point of view. "Maybe if I saw a map or something like it, I would be able to tell where we are..."
"I guess our best bet is to keep everyone moving?" Dagger tilted her head, and made a decision, "I see something that might look like shelter up there, so let's head that way..."
"Sounds good, I'm sure everyone would be happy to stretch their legs."
The walk there was more difficult than not. There were a lot of people who pasted out, simply from lack of food and water. Not to mention the injured needed a lot of attention from Dagger, her being the only one who could cure. She instructed everyone not to use potions - a waste of supplies... Hopefully they would find a place to rebuild, but from the lack of good structure, they weren't sure if they'd be able to. Everything was hot and dirty, and there didn't seem to be anything very stable that they wouldn't have to worry about the dryness killing their buildings simply by the dirt slipping out from under everything.
When they finally got close to the structures, everyone began to moan and complain. It was up a steep and narrow path, some people not able to walk well enough to stay upon it. But they all knew they had to try, so they took a little time to rest up.
Dagger sat with her back up against a rock, closing her eyes when she felt the presence of someone sit next to her. She expected it to be Beatrix or her uncle, but when she looked up, she saw Zidane. Glancing away, she tried to use an old tactic - hiding her face in her hair. It seemed though, that that didn't necessarily work anymore. Coughing awkwardly, she looked at him again.
"Hey..." He said, his voice as awkward as she felt.
"Hi..."
"So... Your Highness... Do you want me to like, bow or some shit?"
Her cheeks grew hot, and she bit down on her lip - she knew this would happen, "Please Zidane... I'm still the same person."
"I would have acted a little different, if I knew who I was talking to all the time..."
There was a long pause, before he finally made a face and spoke again, "Ahh, probably not, but you get what I mean."
She let out a laugh, and that's what he had been hoping for. "What happened to your hair?" He asked, tilting his head, "I mean! It looks good - really good... Just, why did you cut it?"
"It wasn't a big deal..." She smiled, "It was more or less getting in the way... I just thought the time was convenient. People tend to use it against me - and they know what I look like too much..."
"So... Is that a way of hiding what happened, or keeping me from worrying?"
"A little of both? You don't have to worry about me, Zidane."
"Oh I know..." He laughed, "I mean, I was going to say - you being gone would kind of ruin my chances with you... But I guess... Damn, since you're a Princess or Queen or whatever you are - that really blows my shot." He stood then, taking in her dumbfounded face.
Before he left, he winked, "See you at the top..." He walked away then, wondering over to where Vivi lay in the sand, his ever glowing eyes unable to be seen as he tried to get some shut eye.
"What did he mean?" She mumbled out loud, unsure of his exact intensions behind his words.
?
Beatrix sat confused and worried upon a rock, nursing the last bit of water she had left with her. She glanced over all of the resting people, and wondered, 'Where is Steiner?'
Yes, she was definitely worried. If he wasn't there, he would be thought to be dead... Or worse - what if he had been left behind? Though the heat was causing her to be uncomfortable, and her armor stuck to her, chills branched up and down her spine.
What if that had been the case? Then she would have hoped Steiner was dead - the torture he would endure from them was too much to think about. He wouldn't be able to protect Dagger along side her... More importantly, she would never see him again.
They were both stubborn people when it came to emotions besides pissed off. She had always had a fondness towards Steiner, whether it was returned or not. To think of him gone, especially without having told him how she felt, just to see if he felt the same back, was frustrating and not to mention heart breaking. Shaking her head, she stood and sipped the last bit of water in her canteen.
"Everyone listen up!" She yelled, making more than just a few people jump with surprise, "I'm going to start up the path! Anyone who wants to come with me, may - someone else will lead a group sometime later, when more people are ready to go!"
Only a small amount of people, including Zidane, Ruby, Quina, Marcus, and a few others rose to follow Beatrix up the steep slope, and narrow path.
As they walked around the corner, they looked up the path. It was about the thickness of the root of a tree - actually, some thought that's what it really was... And if you fell, you fell an amazing distance depending on how far up it you got. The only hope you would have to survive is hanging on, swinging around, and getting back up, and having some very trustworthy friends.
The bark was woven together in exquisite detail, and though it was entrancing to look at, everyone had to keep their focus. Beatrix led up the path first, followed by Ruby, then Zidane, and bringing up the back were Quina, then Marcus. Ever so carefully they walked, attempting to balance, and hoping that they didn't make a single mistake.
Zidane did the liberty of looking down, to see wondering eyes from the camp. Everyone's eyes looked scared from what he could see, and he glanced over the people's faces that he knew, wondering if they were scared or not for the ten of them making their way up. His eyes washed vaguely over Dagger, but by the simple glance he could tell she was confused and worried about him. His conversation must have really puzzled her mind.
Chuckling slightly, he kept going up.
As they got further and further, more death defying off the ground, the tree's thickness and walking area began to widen, and they more easily could stand without holding on. As they walked forward, more confident than ever, Beatrix's heavy armored foot hit smack in the middle, and the bark gave way. She gasped as he whole leg slide though, as she now sat, straddling one side of the root.
Everyone made a sudden moment, causing a couple more people to fall. They all grabbed on, Marcus leap-frogging over Quina to pull the people in front of them up. Zidane turned around behind him to help one struggling man, in his upper fifties back to safety. Ruby side stepped Beatrix, taking the lead and sitting down on the log.
"How stuck are ya darlin'?"
"Dammit Ruby, what's it look like?" She barked, trying to keep her balance. She suddenly couldn't trust this wood, and it scared her being this far off the ground.
"Well... Pretty darn stuck if ya'll ask me..."
Beatrix almost snarled at the girl, but managed to contain herself. With a small amount of energy, and almost no sleep, her desire and ability to stay calm - just like her knight training - was failing. Zidane came to her aid as quickly as he could.
"Don't freak out on me, okay?"
"Oka -" In the middle of the word, she let out a scream of distress, as he kicked a hole right behind her butt, and her fear of falling backwards, plummeting to her death was more apparent now than ever. "Zidane! What the fuck are you doing?"
"Don't worry, you're doing great. I'm the one who should be worried."
"What's that supposed to mean?" She barked.
He stomped again on the wood, causing another piece, this time under Beatrix's right thigh, to collapse, and she was sitting on something closer to a pole than anything now. One last time he kicked, ignoring her protests, and her hair flew up, and her arms automatically rose, as she fell through, about to free-fall over fifty feet to her death.
?
A few people, including Freya herself, jumped to their feet. They saw what Zidane was trying to do, and they understood - unstick Beatrix... But the problem was, he was doing it in a way where she would fall, and they weren't entirely sure he knew that.
With that last kick, the Bermecian was sure that the Genome was going to kill the knight, and so she had to ready herself to summon a dragon... Either that or make a horrific sprint she wasn't sure she could finish in time.
"What is he doing?" She heard Dagger ask Cid in a panic, and she could tell Vivi came to stand right next to her, wondering the same thing.
"Beatrix isn't going to die, is she?" Vivi asked in a quiet and scared voice.
Freya shook her head, a very determined manner in her voice... Somewhere in the back of her intelligent mind, just staring at how alert the blonde was - more than anyone else in the group most likely, she knew she could trust Zidane.
?
As the woman began to fall, Zidane took a sky-diving position, and dove, to reach her faster. At the last moment, he hooked his tale to the more narrow, but sturdy part of the log, and threw out his hands, reaching hers just in time.
There were a few people below who screamed at that display, and some were unsure if Zidane's tail could hold the both of them without being ripped off.
He began to swing left and right, staring in to the brunette's frightened eyes, as to tell her silently not to worry. When he got enough force, he threw her onto the log, and knowing just what he would do, she latched her legs around it, and got a good grip with her arms. She now hung like a koala bear around the log, as Ruby stood to help her.
Zidane then swung around and easily landed back on the log, instructing everyone where to move around the smashed area.
They soon found the real why the wood began to get unstable in the middle, was because it broke into a fork. One narrow path (just like the beginning) to the left, and one to the right. Every other person took each way. Beatrix started with the right, and Ruby went to the left. Zidane followed to Beatrix's right, and so on and so fourth.
What seemed like a complicated and hard journey didn't turn out to be that way, because only a few minutes later, they had found solid ground, and a small town. Excitement flooded the small group's mind, as they moved forward, ready to see what this place about.
A small man, his beard long and grey, in green pants, and an odd red shirt waved to them, his stubby fingers wiggling slightly.
"Rally-ho!"
"Rally what?" Zidane tilted his head.
"Rally-ho!" Another mini person waved, walking by, and wearing the same type of clothing.
"Rally-ho?" Ruby questioned, turning and having her blue hair fall slightly in front of her eyes.
The man moved aside, and she entered, but when Zidane tried to follow, he stopped him, and moved back to his position blocking to door.
"Rally-ho!" He repeated, smirking up at the confused Genome.
"Whelly-Woah?" Marcus scratched his head, moving forward to question the man once more, but instead of speaking, he moved to the side, and the Tantalus member entered. This time, Beatrix tried to move forward, but the man once again stood in her way.
"Rally-ho! Or ye cannae get into tae city of tae dwaves! Rally-ho!"
"Rally-ho!" Quina cheered, waddling in, squishing the man slightly to the archway, causing him to grunt and mumble a rally-ho back.
"Rally-ho!" a few people followed the lead, and others weren't so sure.
There were a few different pronunciations of it, but everyone ended up getting in. "Rally-ho!" A few other dwarf creatures waved and called - the group of resistance members glanced at each other in slight confusion, but moved into the city.
"There must be an inn here somewhere," Beatrix said to everyone, "They're going to have plenty of business - at least there are a lot of buildings - just offer the money that you can, but remember you're going to have to get supplies too, so don't blow it all."
Everyone let her words absorb into their heads as they went their separate ways.
Zidane went wondering straight through town, wondering if there was a way past it, so that they could make a resistance somewhere - these people were too weird and simple - they would have to move on soon enough. As he came to what looked like the edge of the city, he saw land that looked far more fabulous than the land they had seen previous of entering the city.
He decided he would come back to town in a while, perhaps maybe after more people had come, so he had someone to explore with, and ask of their entrance to the city, but a guard stopped him.
"Ye cannae go forward!"
"Why not?" Zidane asked, scratching his head.
"It's forbidden! Ye have tae have a ceremony! It's the sanctuary!"
"Ceremony?"
"Marriage!" The dwarf laughed merrily, causing the blonde to moan. "Tis the honeymooning place!"
"Wonderful..." He murmured, slightly - actually largely - irritated. "What's this town called anyways? Where are we? Like, can I buy a map?"
"Rally-ho!" The dwarf called and pointed to a vendor behind a counter, "Maps are over there! We dwell in the city of the dwaves!"
Zidane rolled his eyes and turned, "That helped oh-so-much..." He purchased a map from the vendor, and opened it up. Glancing around on it, he saw where they were - the long line representing the root that he just traveled up. "Conde Petie..."
He looked up to come face to face with a girl. Her hair was a bright purple, and her eyes were a sparkling turquoise color. There was a tiny horn coming from the middle of her head, just above her hairline, and she dressed in brightly colored clothing, with a big yellow bow on her head.
"Move it!" She yelled, snatching his map, and a few others from the shelf, along with some other stuff. A peculiar moogle traveled with her, floating and snatching things as well. "Let's hit it!" She called to the moogle, as the scampered off.
"Thief!" The locals all yelled, with about five of them running behind the pair. "Thief!" They repeated, "Get her!" They roared.
It was a comical event, but Zidane didn't think about humor - he wanted to know what just happened. "Hey! What happened?"
"Damn thief!" One dwarf grumbled, turning around.
"I catch her next time! Fer sure!"
"Does someone live out there?"
"Course not! It's forbidden!" It was the same guy who laughed at him about the ceremony earlier, but he didn't seem quite as thrilled anymore.
Zidane shook his head, wondering about the strange girl. She didn't talk like the people here, and she was dressed and simply looked different. There was no beaten up clothing upon her, and her hair - well she had hair at least - brightly colored and noticeable, and she didn't carry the definite accent, thick with years of no proper teachings.
Shaking her from his mind, since he probably wouldn't see her again, he bought yet another map, and moved away, trying to look at where their options were.
The map was helpful, as it showed the whole world. Carefully looking about it, he saw where they were - Dali... A small dot on the map, probably not even there anymore... He saw Alexandria as well, the castle white and beautiful (for being on a map anyways), unlike its real dreary color and atmosphere alike now. He wondered if these people were aware of Kuja's existence - evil ruler of the world - or if he even knew of theirs.
He looked around, trying to spot somewhere they could make camp that wasn't by this city... Where their secret would be safe, and they could get supplies. Though in the northeast part of the world, there weren't many options. Well no wonder no one wanted to inhabit the place - it was dry and hot.
He saw a scribbled in mess of a forest with a village that he couldn't quite make out, and he saw Conde Petie... That about summed it up. Biting his lip he looked around.
With no supplies, and fewer people, things were going to be tough...
And they were running out of options.
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A/N: So I know this chapter was kind of uneventful - well actually we got Zidane to say he likes Dagger - to a certain extent. Whether he was kind of joking with her or not :D Well I hope you enjoyed anyways.
Please review!
-zesty-
