{Fan Fic} Chaos and Order
Username: Yin (of breyzyyin)
Class: White Mage
Title: Chaos and Order
Summary: After a rather harsh encounter, the Warrior of Light has a conversation that leads him to better understand one of his newer comrades.
Characters/Pairings: The Warrior of Light from the Dissidia: Final Fantasy games. Zafina from the Tekken series.
Notes: My second ever attempt at a crossover fic for FF...so I apologize if it is horrible or anything like that! I'd originally gotten the idea for this story in the fourth game, when Breyzy suggested that I try writing a Tekken/Dissidia multi-chapter story...that fic idea kind of fell through because I'm not too great with multi-chapter fan fics, but the one concept that really stayed in my head from that idea was having a bonding interaction between the Warrior of Light and Zafina. I was originally attempting to write this interaction out in some way for the Crossover challenge at ultima_arena, but it kind of got a life of its own and became its own story by the time I was finished with it...so I figured I'd post it here before I chickened out and deleted it, orz. XD Zafina is a character recently introduced into the Tekken series in the sixth game: she's an assassin with a mysterious personality, but she actually is working to prevent the whole world from falling into calamity thanks to the actions of two of the series' main antagonists...so she's rather interesting in regards to her thoughts and viewpoints on things. For some reason, I always just thought interactions between her and the Warrior of Light could possibly be pretty neat to write out given how differently they tend to respond to things and their differing viewpoints--which is how this story came about. Essentially, I just used the story concept of Dissidia (characters from differing worlds having to find common ground and fight together on a new battleground) as the reasoning for the two of them meeting...so there's really no need to know too much of the Tekken mythos to understand the fic's plot, given how it's more focused on the FF side of things. ♥
Word count: 1,611
Rating/warnings: G.
----Legal Disclaimer: I do not own Dissidia: Final Fantasy or any of the characters from that game. They are the rightful property of Square-Enix. I do not own Tekken or any of the characters from that game series either. They are the rightful property of Namco-Bandai.----
The water covering the ground of Order’s Sanctuary was cool to the touch and would have made for a soothing experience in more peaceful times if one absently bent downwards and ran their fingertips over the almost glass-like surface, as he’d done on occasion when lost in his thoughts.
...It was not nearly as refreshing or peaceful an experience when one was having their face slammed into the water after a well-placed low kick.
The Warrior of Light stayed still for a few seconds where his body had been thrown, unsure of how to approach the situation he found himself in now.
Truthfully, the impromptu sparring session had been his idea, as he had hoped to gauge one of the newer Warriors of Cosmos to assess their skills for himself (and, hopefully, to assuage some doubts he had given the woman’s often harsh mannerisms). But he had not expected the ferocity of the attack his “comrade” had launched at him in response.
"Don't say I didn’t warn you."
Ripples formed on the water to his side and he caught a glance of sandaled feet right by his face. He looked up quickly into dark eyes that assessed him with an iciness that could chill one’s bones with all the subtlety of a sudden blizzard.
"...Would you still like to test my loyalty, Warrior?"
The tone of her voice matched the look in her eyes perfectly.
Not waiting for a response, the woman held out her hand in a surprisingly peaceful gesture in light of their recent skirmish. The indifferent look on her face indicated that she held very little personal interest in how he responded to her offer.
He reached out a gauntleted hand, allowing her to help him into a sitting position.
He regarded her carefully before choosing his next words, her last question floating through his mind.
"...You were angry at the insult, then?"
A narrowed glare was her only response to that, a clear indication that he should know the answer well enough without even having to ask.
The Warrior of Light frowned in turn, "I would not expect it to have angered you so much. You’ve made no comments when others have voiced..." he chose his next words carefully, remembering the spider-like movements he'd just witnessed that had sent him flying, "...Their misgivings towards you."
Zafina drew in a sharp breath at the remark and scoffed, "I hardly think Warriors of Chaos saying such things is the same concept."
"..."
"They are not my comrades. I care little if they say such nonsense."
She knelt down, bare knees skimming the surface of the water next to him. Her fingertips touched the surface of the water in a fashion surprisingly similar to when he often did so when on his own, lost in his thoughts about the battles looming ahead. The reminiscent movement surprised him slightly.
She spoke her next line in a slow, deliberate manner, "I do not care to hear such talk from those I am expected to fight beside, however."
"...It is hard to consider you a true companion when you reveal so little about yourself."
The excuse sounded feeble the moment it passed his lips, and he couldn't meet her gaze directly.
He could picture her eyebrow raised skeptically as she regarded him from where she knelt by his side, the amusement unconcealed in her voice, "And you reveal so much?"
The white-haired warrior bristled at that, "...That's different. I have nothing to reveal."
"Because you do not know the truth about yourself or your past." Her voice had taken on the cryptic, sage-like quality he found to be so perplexing in contrast to her normal tone and harsh movements.
He nodded curtly to her statement, not wanting to say anything further.
The subject always made him feel uneasy in a way he preferred not showing to others. Especially not to people who he suspected already could see that uncertainty in him as though he was bearing it like a beacon for everyone to see...which he suspected included the dark-haired warrior sitting next to him from the assessing, critical look she always regarded him with.
...Perhaps that was the real cause of the uneasiness he always felt around her.
"And what you've revealed about yourself is...odd." He suddenly found himself defending his earlier actions, wanting to change the topic to something less introspective, "You do not hide that you are an assassin in your world. You do not try to hide the pleasure you sometimes get from battle."
The woman stared down at the ornately sewn red skirt covering her pants thoughtfully, "And you feel that those traits are more chaotic in nature?"
"Both together, yes."
"...A blunt answer." Her mouth quirked upwards slightly in a smirking manner, "I suppose it makes sense given how seriously you approach things."
"..."
He said nothing to that.
Zafina sat down fully next to the Warrior of Light, crossing her legs and looking for all the world as though she were about to engage in peaceful meditation. She remained silent for a few moments, eyes closed and a pensive look falling over her features.
"...On my world, my role as assassin was a noble one." When she finally spoke, her voice was so soft that if Order's Sanctuary wasn't so still and silent he might not have heard her, "It might sound odd to say that, but I was tasked with keeping the secrets of my people safe. I was entrusted to keep one of my visions from coming true: to keep the world from being swallowed in the chaos of a great war."
He remained silent, unsure of how to respond to her admission. It seemed as if it was a hard one for her to reveal to another person given how quieter her voice became the longer she spoke, his ears actually straining to hear what she said next.
"Life was hard, and though I was proud of my duties, they often required that I kept myself detached from everything."
She opened her eyes then, turning to look him squarely in the eyes for the first time after beginning her tale with a sardonic smirk on her lips, "My fighting skills, the thrill of a challenge: the times when I got to seek them were the only times when I ever felt free. So if I seem to lose myself during the heat of battle at times and it frightens you, forgive me."
He frowned, "...I never said it frightened me."
Her smirk widened, "And yet you felt disconcerted enough to challenge me to a fight to prove my loyalties."
He could almost feel his face redden slightly in embarrassment at that remark, "That's..."
An arm decorated in bracelets held up in the air between them thankfully stopped him from digging himself in further, "Please, Warrior. Do give me more credit than that."
"..." He said nothing, unsure of the direction the conversation was taking.
"...That being said, I can’t blame you for thinking that way either." She admitted evenly, "I suppose I do seem a bit odd in comparison to the other Warriors of Cosmos because of that."
"We're all different from one another." He heard himself saying before his mind was even registering that he was speaking, "...But your heart is the same. I should have seen that before."
She raised an eyebrow at his nervous attempt at assurance, "Is that an apology?" she asked, a teasing tone to her voice that he had never heard in there before.
He nodded, the uncomfortable feeling that had been settling in his stomach at the conversation's direction earlier dissipating as it seemed some wall had been broken through between them with the talk's flow now. The conversation now felt similar to talks he'd had before with some of their other companions once he'd become more familiar with them, something he'd not expected to happen at all when he'd first challenged the woman to battle.
"It is."
"Good." She stood then, stretching, "...Because I mean it when I say my loyalty is true, Warrior. I do not desire to see this cycle end in destruction either."
She offered him her hand again, a genuine smile gracing her features this time. He couldn't help but return it slightly when he took her hand as he rose to his feet as well.
"I don’t doubt it." He looked at her approvingly, despite the ache in his side from their harsh earlier encounter returning tenfold now that he was standing again, "...I would not want to face you in battle as a true adversary anytime soon."
"Better to stay on my good side then. It would be over far too quickly otherwise." She said, though she also gave him an approving glance, "...Though things might have gone differently if I had allowed you the opening move. You have a lot of skill yourself."
"...I suppose I should take that as a compliment?"
A dismissive shrug, "Take it as you will. It's just good to know when one has strong allies that they can entrust their futures in part with them."
The Warrior of Light nodded his head in agreement, a silent look of newfound respect passing between the two.
Then Zafina broke the eye contact, her face slipping into its usual mask of cool indifference as his retained its customary stoic façade...neither speaking a word more about what transpired between them when they rejoined the others later.
...Though the Warrior of Light did occasionally wonder still about the kind of world Zafina came from at times, absentmindedly, when they would fight back-to-back in battle and he heard her laugh.
Class: White Mage
Title: Chaos and Order
Summary: After a rather harsh encounter, the Warrior of Light has a conversation that leads him to better understand one of his newer comrades.
Characters/Pairings: The Warrior of Light from the Dissidia: Final Fantasy games. Zafina from the Tekken series.
Notes: My second ever attempt at a crossover fic for FF...so I apologize if it is horrible or anything like that! I'd originally gotten the idea for this story in the fourth game, when Breyzy suggested that I try writing a Tekken/Dissidia multi-chapter story...that fic idea kind of fell through because I'm not too great with multi-chapter fan fics, but the one concept that really stayed in my head from that idea was having a bonding interaction between the Warrior of Light and Zafina. I was originally attempting to write this interaction out in some way for the Crossover challenge at ultima_arena, but it kind of got a life of its own and became its own story by the time I was finished with it...so I figured I'd post it here before I chickened out and deleted it, orz. XD Zafina is a character recently introduced into the Tekken series in the sixth game: she's an assassin with a mysterious personality, but she actually is working to prevent the whole world from falling into calamity thanks to the actions of two of the series' main antagonists...so she's rather interesting in regards to her thoughts and viewpoints on things. For some reason, I always just thought interactions between her and the Warrior of Light could possibly be pretty neat to write out given how differently they tend to respond to things and their differing viewpoints--which is how this story came about. Essentially, I just used the story concept of Dissidia (characters from differing worlds having to find common ground and fight together on a new battleground) as the reasoning for the two of them meeting...so there's really no need to know too much of the Tekken mythos to understand the fic's plot, given how it's more focused on the FF side of things. ♥
Word count: 1,611
Rating/warnings: G.
----Legal Disclaimer: I do not own Dissidia: Final Fantasy or any of the characters from that game. They are the rightful property of Square-Enix. I do not own Tekken or any of the characters from that game series either. They are the rightful property of Namco-Bandai.----
The water covering the ground of Order’s Sanctuary was cool to the touch and would have made for a soothing experience in more peaceful times if one absently bent downwards and ran their fingertips over the almost glass-like surface, as he’d done on occasion when lost in his thoughts.
...It was not nearly as refreshing or peaceful an experience when one was having their face slammed into the water after a well-placed low kick.
The Warrior of Light stayed still for a few seconds where his body had been thrown, unsure of how to approach the situation he found himself in now.
Truthfully, the impromptu sparring session had been his idea, as he had hoped to gauge one of the newer Warriors of Cosmos to assess their skills for himself (and, hopefully, to assuage some doubts he had given the woman’s often harsh mannerisms). But he had not expected the ferocity of the attack his “comrade” had launched at him in response.
"Don't say I didn’t warn you."
Ripples formed on the water to his side and he caught a glance of sandaled feet right by his face. He looked up quickly into dark eyes that assessed him with an iciness that could chill one’s bones with all the subtlety of a sudden blizzard.
"...Would you still like to test my loyalty, Warrior?"
The tone of her voice matched the look in her eyes perfectly.
Not waiting for a response, the woman held out her hand in a surprisingly peaceful gesture in light of their recent skirmish. The indifferent look on her face indicated that she held very little personal interest in how he responded to her offer.
He reached out a gauntleted hand, allowing her to help him into a sitting position.
He regarded her carefully before choosing his next words, her last question floating through his mind.
"...You were angry at the insult, then?"
A narrowed glare was her only response to that, a clear indication that he should know the answer well enough without even having to ask.
The Warrior of Light frowned in turn, "I would not expect it to have angered you so much. You’ve made no comments when others have voiced..." he chose his next words carefully, remembering the spider-like movements he'd just witnessed that had sent him flying, "...Their misgivings towards you."
Zafina drew in a sharp breath at the remark and scoffed, "I hardly think Warriors of Chaos saying such things is the same concept."
"..."
"They are not my comrades. I care little if they say such nonsense."
She knelt down, bare knees skimming the surface of the water next to him. Her fingertips touched the surface of the water in a fashion surprisingly similar to when he often did so when on his own, lost in his thoughts about the battles looming ahead. The reminiscent movement surprised him slightly.
She spoke her next line in a slow, deliberate manner, "I do not care to hear such talk from those I am expected to fight beside, however."
"...It is hard to consider you a true companion when you reveal so little about yourself."
The excuse sounded feeble the moment it passed his lips, and he couldn't meet her gaze directly.
He could picture her eyebrow raised skeptically as she regarded him from where she knelt by his side, the amusement unconcealed in her voice, "And you reveal so much?"
The white-haired warrior bristled at that, "...That's different. I have nothing to reveal."
"Because you do not know the truth about yourself or your past." Her voice had taken on the cryptic, sage-like quality he found to be so perplexing in contrast to her normal tone and harsh movements.
He nodded curtly to her statement, not wanting to say anything further.
The subject always made him feel uneasy in a way he preferred not showing to others. Especially not to people who he suspected already could see that uncertainty in him as though he was bearing it like a beacon for everyone to see...which he suspected included the dark-haired warrior sitting next to him from the assessing, critical look she always regarded him with.
...Perhaps that was the real cause of the uneasiness he always felt around her.
"And what you've revealed about yourself is...odd." He suddenly found himself defending his earlier actions, wanting to change the topic to something less introspective, "You do not hide that you are an assassin in your world. You do not try to hide the pleasure you sometimes get from battle."
The woman stared down at the ornately sewn red skirt covering her pants thoughtfully, "And you feel that those traits are more chaotic in nature?"
"Both together, yes."
"...A blunt answer." Her mouth quirked upwards slightly in a smirking manner, "I suppose it makes sense given how seriously you approach things."
"..."
He said nothing to that.
Zafina sat down fully next to the Warrior of Light, crossing her legs and looking for all the world as though she were about to engage in peaceful meditation. She remained silent for a few moments, eyes closed and a pensive look falling over her features.
"...On my world, my role as assassin was a noble one." When she finally spoke, her voice was so soft that if Order's Sanctuary wasn't so still and silent he might not have heard her, "It might sound odd to say that, but I was tasked with keeping the secrets of my people safe. I was entrusted to keep one of my visions from coming true: to keep the world from being swallowed in the chaos of a great war."
He remained silent, unsure of how to respond to her admission. It seemed as if it was a hard one for her to reveal to another person given how quieter her voice became the longer she spoke, his ears actually straining to hear what she said next.
"Life was hard, and though I was proud of my duties, they often required that I kept myself detached from everything."
She opened her eyes then, turning to look him squarely in the eyes for the first time after beginning her tale with a sardonic smirk on her lips, "My fighting skills, the thrill of a challenge: the times when I got to seek them were the only times when I ever felt free. So if I seem to lose myself during the heat of battle at times and it frightens you, forgive me."
He frowned, "...I never said it frightened me."
Her smirk widened, "And yet you felt disconcerted enough to challenge me to a fight to prove my loyalties."
He could almost feel his face redden slightly in embarrassment at that remark, "That's..."
An arm decorated in bracelets held up in the air between them thankfully stopped him from digging himself in further, "Please, Warrior. Do give me more credit than that."
"..." He said nothing, unsure of the direction the conversation was taking.
"...That being said, I can’t blame you for thinking that way either." She admitted evenly, "I suppose I do seem a bit odd in comparison to the other Warriors of Cosmos because of that."
"We're all different from one another." He heard himself saying before his mind was even registering that he was speaking, "...But your heart is the same. I should have seen that before."
She raised an eyebrow at his nervous attempt at assurance, "Is that an apology?" she asked, a teasing tone to her voice that he had never heard in there before.
He nodded, the uncomfortable feeling that had been settling in his stomach at the conversation's direction earlier dissipating as it seemed some wall had been broken through between them with the talk's flow now. The conversation now felt similar to talks he'd had before with some of their other companions once he'd become more familiar with them, something he'd not expected to happen at all when he'd first challenged the woman to battle.
"It is."
"Good." She stood then, stretching, "...Because I mean it when I say my loyalty is true, Warrior. I do not desire to see this cycle end in destruction either."
She offered him her hand again, a genuine smile gracing her features this time. He couldn't help but return it slightly when he took her hand as he rose to his feet as well.
"I don’t doubt it." He looked at her approvingly, despite the ache in his side from their harsh earlier encounter returning tenfold now that he was standing again, "...I would not want to face you in battle as a true adversary anytime soon."
"Better to stay on my good side then. It would be over far too quickly otherwise." She said, though she also gave him an approving glance, "...Though things might have gone differently if I had allowed you the opening move. You have a lot of skill yourself."
"...I suppose I should take that as a compliment?"
A dismissive shrug, "Take it as you will. It's just good to know when one has strong allies that they can entrust their futures in part with them."
The Warrior of Light nodded his head in agreement, a silent look of newfound respect passing between the two.
Then Zafina broke the eye contact, her face slipping into its usual mask of cool indifference as his retained its customary stoic façade...neither speaking a word more about what transpired between them when they rejoined the others later.
...Though the Warrior of Light did occasionally wonder still about the kind of world Zafina came from at times, absentmindedly, when they would fight back-to-back in battle and he heard her laugh.