A Change of Pace (Fanfiction)
Title: A Change of Pace
Username: naliarenegade
Class: Black Mage
Word Count: 589
Fandom: FFXIII
Characters: Fang, Vanille, Sahz
Rating: G... maybe PG
Summary: Fang and Vanille are caught by the military and Vanille starts to question their Focus.
Warning: Hints at Violence? Honestly, I don't know.
Note: I wanted to explore Fang and Vanille's pre-game adventure and this is the result. I also wanted to explore what Vanille was saying to Hope in Chapter 11. Also, the reason for why Vanille chickened out was either unclear or lame, so I wanted to make it stronger. I may make this part of a longer fic later.
A Change of Pace
“Fang! Fang, wake up!” Vanille shook Fang's limp form, looking behind her shoulder for any signs of the guards waking up from their spelled slumber.
“Vanille?” Fang struggle to sit up, rubbing her head. She hissed when her hand glanced over the large bump on her head. “Bastards...” Fang's head snapped up suddenly and her hands went to checking Vanille over. “Are you all right, pretty girl?”
Vanille giggled and hugged Fang tight, “I'm fine. Hehe, those soldiers were no match for me. I'm here to save you.”
“But you- you were caught? I told you to run.” Fang shook her, “Why didn't you run Vanille?”
“I did,” Vanille looked down, ashamed of her actions. Then steeling herself she looked up defiantly at Fang. “But I came back and gave myself up. I figured I would have a lot easier time getting you out if I played the part of scared, weak little girl. And it worked. I saved you for a change.”
“Did they hurt you?”
“No.”
“Vanille don't lie-
“Then don't ask such silly questions. Of course they hurt me, but I knew they would. We're in the middle of a war and as much as I want to just crawl under a bed and hide, I couldn't let them take you away from me. They were planning on executing you.” She was quiet for a moment, tears welling up in her eyes. “They already killed everyone else. Probably a good thing, they wouldn't have made it... weren't strong enough to kill this wretched moon.” Vanille stood, pulling Fang to her feet. “Let's go. It looks like not everyone is so bad. One of the guards gave me his key, said he couldn't stand the thought of them killing me, no matter what my Focus was.”
“That's lucky. Suspicious too.” Fang stretched and hummed, calling her spear to her. It punched through the wall of the storage closet next to her cell. “Alright, that must have caused some sort of ruckus. Let's go.”
“Alright.” Vanille pulled her staff out and dashed out into the hall. She looked down at the handsome black soldier who had given her the chance at freedom. She bent down and touched his face gently, “Thank you. I don't think they'll know you helped me. You can get back to your family, to your sister and your wife. Thank you... Sazh. What a curious name... I hope to see you again. Maybe in another lifetime.”
“Vanille! Let's go!” Fang called from down the hall.
“Coming!” Vanille hollered back. She looked back down at the soldier, something stirring in her heart that felt strangely like regret and guilt. She couldn't start getting weak now. But this man... he had saved her, even knowing her Focus. No one in Oerba would have done the same. Any Cacoonian who ended up in Oerba would have been killed, without a second thought, because of this war. No matter how young. But this man...
“Vanille!” Fang called sharply.
Vanille jumped up, startled out of her thoughts. “Alright!” She dashed down the hall. No time to be thinking about this. These Cacoonians deserved to die. She just had to remember the faces of her family, of her people, that these monsters murdered brutally. She could do that... right?
She glanced over her shoulder at the knocked out form of the man. Tears welled up in her eyes. If they fulfilled their focus then this man and his family would die. Could she live with that blood on her hands?
Username: naliarenegade
Class: Black Mage
Word Count: 589
Fandom: FFXIII
Characters: Fang, Vanille, Sahz
Rating: G... maybe PG
Summary: Fang and Vanille are caught by the military and Vanille starts to question their Focus.
Warning: Hints at Violence? Honestly, I don't know.
Note: I wanted to explore Fang and Vanille's pre-game adventure and this is the result. I also wanted to explore what Vanille was saying to Hope in Chapter 11. Also, the reason for why Vanille chickened out was either unclear or lame, so I wanted to make it stronger. I may make this part of a longer fic later.
A Change of Pace
“Fang! Fang, wake up!” Vanille shook Fang's limp form, looking behind her shoulder for any signs of the guards waking up from their spelled slumber.
“Vanille?” Fang struggle to sit up, rubbing her head. She hissed when her hand glanced over the large bump on her head. “Bastards...” Fang's head snapped up suddenly and her hands went to checking Vanille over. “Are you all right, pretty girl?”
Vanille giggled and hugged Fang tight, “I'm fine. Hehe, those soldiers were no match for me. I'm here to save you.”
“But you- you were caught? I told you to run.” Fang shook her, “Why didn't you run Vanille?”
“I did,” Vanille looked down, ashamed of her actions. Then steeling herself she looked up defiantly at Fang. “But I came back and gave myself up. I figured I would have a lot easier time getting you out if I played the part of scared, weak little girl. And it worked. I saved you for a change.”
“Did they hurt you?”
“No.”
“Vanille don't lie-
“Then don't ask such silly questions. Of course they hurt me, but I knew they would. We're in the middle of a war and as much as I want to just crawl under a bed and hide, I couldn't let them take you away from me. They were planning on executing you.” She was quiet for a moment, tears welling up in her eyes. “They already killed everyone else. Probably a good thing, they wouldn't have made it... weren't strong enough to kill this wretched moon.” Vanille stood, pulling Fang to her feet. “Let's go. It looks like not everyone is so bad. One of the guards gave me his key, said he couldn't stand the thought of them killing me, no matter what my Focus was.”
“That's lucky. Suspicious too.” Fang stretched and hummed, calling her spear to her. It punched through the wall of the storage closet next to her cell. “Alright, that must have caused some sort of ruckus. Let's go.”
“Alright.” Vanille pulled her staff out and dashed out into the hall. She looked down at the handsome black soldier who had given her the chance at freedom. She bent down and touched his face gently, “Thank you. I don't think they'll know you helped me. You can get back to your family, to your sister and your wife. Thank you... Sazh. What a curious name... I hope to see you again. Maybe in another lifetime.”
“Vanille! Let's go!” Fang called from down the hall.
“Coming!” Vanille hollered back. She looked back down at the soldier, something stirring in her heart that felt strangely like regret and guilt. She couldn't start getting weak now. But this man... he had saved her, even knowing her Focus. No one in Oerba would have done the same. Any Cacoonian who ended up in Oerba would have been killed, without a second thought, because of this war. No matter how young. But this man...
“Vanille!” Fang called sharply.
Vanille jumped up, startled out of her thoughts. “Alright!” She dashed down the hall. No time to be thinking about this. These Cacoonians deserved to die. She just had to remember the faces of her family, of her people, that these monsters murdered brutally. She could do that... right?
She glanced over her shoulder at the knocked out form of the man. Tears welled up in her eyes. If they fulfilled their focus then this man and his family would die. Could she live with that blood on her hands?