FFXII: A Name Worthy of You 1/1
Title: A Name Worthy of You
Fandom: FFXII
Characters: Balthier, Fran, OC
Warnings: G, spoilers, gen fic
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy XII characters do not belong to me. No monetary profit gained through this venture - just an ample amount of self-satisfaction and self-indulgence.
A young and naïve Archadian flees his home to find a new life, little did he realise he would stumble upon his destiny and find the wings that he hadn't known he had longed for. A Balthier prequel.
~*~
Year 700 Old Valendian
The Sochen Cave Palace
In hindsight, Ffamran realised that going through The Sochen Cave Palace solo was probably one of the more foolhardy things he'd done. However, being a man of ... selective integrity, he would complete his journey simply because he started it. Turning back seemed too much like giving up, too much like a coward; and as irrational as it was, he felt that it would validate his father's opinion that he would amount to nothing without his father's help and influence.
If nothing else, this would prove to his father that he could make decisions for himself, that he was a man of his own. Even if it meant dying in this fiend-infested hell hole - something that was very likely to happen. At least he'd have died on his own terms and not by the whim of a madman.
Ffamran gulped down his last potion and hoped for the best. The blasted wendigos and strikers were difficult enough to dispatch one by one, but when they swarmed him, it was all he could do to stay alive. One more hit from them sent him flying. Normally not a religious man, Ffamran actually uttered a short prayer as his vision began to blur. In anticipation of the final blow, he lifted his chin defiantly, even if death would claim him, he would not cower. Instead, he heard a loud bang echo through the caverns followed swiftly by the twang of a bow. He smiled wanly; it would seem fortune smiled upon him. Closing his eyes, Ffamran let the darkness take him.
~*~
"You cannot leave him here. Certainly not before he awakens," Ffamran heard a gentle melodious voice said. It was distinctly female and had an unfamiliar accent.
"Why not? The beasts are dead, you've healed him, there is nothing more to do," another voice, polished and urbane, replied.
"The beasts will return soon enough. Moreover, he is but a boy."
The second voice laughed a deep throaty chuckle. "I never pictured you for a mothering type, Fran. You do like them young, don't you?"
"They are easier to bend to your will when they are young," Fran replied and her companion laughed again.
Ffamran dragged his eyes open and his two rescuers swam into vision. First he saw a beautiful Viera with long silvery hair and clothing that didn't leave much to the imagination. Not that Ffamran was complaining considering the view he had. He guessed that this was Fran. Fran's companion was a tall, young Hume, perhaps twenty-something, with long bronze hair and sparkling green eyes. He wore a long beastlord hide jacket and a charming smile. A gun was slung across his back.
"Ah, you are awake. We were wondering if you had hit your head a trifle hard," he grinned at Ffamran. "I trust you are healed?"
Ffamran sat up. "Yes, thank you."
"You're welcome. Come, Fran, shall we carry on? Time waits for no man."
"Wait!" Ffamran cried, quickly standing up. While he may embrace his independence fiercely, he was smart enough to know that he wasn't half as experienced as he thought he was to journeying through places such as The Sochen Cave Palace.
"Yes?" Fran replied.
"Help me get out of here."
"And why would we do that?" The brunet asked.
"Just to Tchita Uplands. I can pay."
The brunet and Fran exchanged a quick look. Fran looked away, her shoulders rising ever so slightly, as if to say, "If you want."
"We have matters to attend to here," the brunet continued.
"Then perhaps you could use another sword arm," Ffamran persisted.
The brunet laughed. "How can I be certain you will not prove to be more of a hindrance? Did we not come to your rescue a mere moment ago?"
Ffamran lifted his chin defiantly. "I made it thus far on my own. I can defeat them well enough individually."
"You have spirit, boy," the brunet grinned. "I like it. And how shall we address you?"
Ffamran hesitated.
"Perhaps you did hit your head too hard to have forgotten your name," Fran said, cocking her head, clearly amused.
"Alright then, keep your secrets," the brunet shrugged. "Come, don't be a hero, stay close to Fran and pray I will regret this not."
~*~
Several long hours later, Ffamran stepped into the glorious sunlight bathing the Tchita Uplands. He was certain that he would never see the light of day again. More than once he wondered why he had so readily agree to help his newfound 'friends'; more interestingly - why they had indulged him and allowed him to follow? They were clearly better fighters than him. He feared that he had proven to be more of a hindrance, which begged the question, why was he trying to prove himself to two strangers? Strangers, whom he largely suspected were sky pirates.
"It is three days' walk to Balfonheim," Fran said looking towards the south east. "If fast is our pace."
"Indeed, it’s a long, unadventurous trek; and arduous, if I were to match your lengthy stride. Let an old man rest his weary bones before we journey on," her companion agreed as he sat himself down in the nearest shade. He then looked at Ffamran, and asked, "Was there something else you needed, young master?"
"You're sky pirates doing performing a service, are you not? Perhaps I should get my share of the bounty?"
He laughed uproariously. "Spirit and spunk, Fran! They rarely breed them this well in Archades." He turned back to Ffamran. "I do recall a promise of payment for your escort out of the Palace. Consider our services rendered as your share of the bounty."
Ffamran was ready to protest but thought better of it. He had promise to pay, and seeing that his funds were now limited, he decided not to complain, at least not out loud.
"And sensible too. I do like him, Fran."
Fran hummed indifferently as she, too, took a seat in the shade. She rummaged through her pack and took out a skin of water and a small paper-wrapped package. She gestured to Ffamran. "Come, sit. You require sustenance." She handed him the skin and several pieces of jerky, which were in the package.
"You seem to enjoy mothering him, Fran. Should we keep him?"
"Excuse me?" Ffamran exclaimed indignantly.
"You have some place better to go? Noble Archadian sons like yourself do not wander into The Sochen Cave Palace on a whim. I wager you are running from something," he smirked at Ffamran. Then pausing to take a bite of the jerky, he continued, "If you were running to something, you'd have journey on instead of lingering here with unscrupulous miscreants like us."
Ffamran was astounded this pirate could read him so well. Determined not to let him have the last word, he said, "I am not a pet to be kept."
"No, but you are surely lost. So tell me, what are you running from? Perhaps punishment from taking that sword from a Judge?" He gestured to the blade at Ffamran's side.
"What makes you think it belonged to a Judge?" Ffamran replied as nonchalantly as he could. In hindsight, he should have left his sword back in Archades. He had reasoned then that it was a good sword, better than what he could've bought in Tsenoble. Perhaps he could get a better weapon in the Port at Balfonheim
"I recognise an Imperial Judge Magister seal when I see one." He pointed to the seal emblazoned on the blade. "You must be either foolhardy or very confident to steal from a Judge. Or perhaps you took it from him?"
Ffamran glared at him. All this time he had been allowing the pirate to push his buttons, but he was better than that. He had always been in control. So instead of rising to the dig, Ffamran merely waved him off in disdain and said, "You are very nosy."
"Yes, he is," Fran agreed.
"Merely trying to get to know our new apprentice."
"I have made no agreement to follow you," Ffamran tossed his head.
"Then by all means, go," the rogue replied with a shrug. "You are hardly bound or Immobilised."
"You haven't even told me your name," Ffamran protested.
"Nor have you."
Again Ffamran hesitated, but eventually he said, "Ffamran."
"Ffamran? What kind of a name is that?" The rogue clicked his tongue and shook his head. "No, that just won't do for a soon-to-be respectable sky pirate like yourself. No, henceforth, you shall be known as... Balthier."
~*~
Balthier peered out the window even though the sensors would've given him a more accurate assessment of the situation. Just for peace of mind, he wanted a little visual confirmation. "I daresay we have evaded capture, oh fearless leader," he said.
"There was doubt we would? Your faith in my flying is heartening," the Captain drawled sarcastically. "If it is but one thing a sky pirate learns, it is how to flee from unwanted attention."
Balthier snorted. "What am I to think, when you proclaimed you have never seen an airship such at this, much less flown one? I should be piloting this," he finished sourly.
"The Archadians air brigade wasn't well pleased with our acquisition," Fran interrupted, effectively heading off another impending squabble. She then directed her question to Balthier. "Did you not say it was to be decommissioned?"
The Captain laughed and replied in Balthier's stead, "They are a possessive, irrational lot, those Archadians. The mere notion of other people having their things is sacrilegious, even if they have little use for those aforementioned things." The Captain continued, "Now, we shall need a name for her."
"She has a name, I believe it is 'Airship X-169,'" Balthier supplied, reading off a panel at his side.
"How positively unimaginative," the Captain exclaimed scornfully. "Archadians do have problems with naming things, wouldn't you agree?"
Balthier decided to ignore that dig. It had only been a mere week that he had been with them, but he had learnt fast that their fearless leader had a sharp and witty tongue. When addressing comrades, he meant little by it, other than to rattle one's cage. Woe upon those whom he would address with true animosity. Instead of retorting, Balthier asked, "What do you suggest then?"
The Captain hesitated, as he smoothed his palm across the console of their newly acquired airship. "A suitable name will come to her soon enough, and it would be worthy of her. You will learn, my young apprentice, that names are of great import. Do not be too hasty to name something on a whim. Names can and will define those which bear them."
Balthier crooked his head at him, and said somewhat petulantly, "I noticed you failed to hesitate in christening me."
"And it is not a name worthy of you?" The Captain smirked at him. "Or perhaps it is you who need to prove worthy of it?"
"Fran, pray tell it is not a fool's name he has so readily bestowed upon me."
Fran smiled indulgently at Balthier. "It would not surprise me if it were."
"You are painting a rather poor picture of me, Fran," the Captain complained.
"Better to show Balthier the truth now than to have him harbour some illusions of grandeur of your honour and nobility," Fran replied blithely.
Balthier laughed as the Captain clutched his heart in feigned agony. "A wise pirate knows when he is beaten," he declared dramatically. Then with a childlike twinkle in his eyes, he exclaimed, "Let us be off to new adventures, then. Time waits for no man."
~*~
Year 704 Old Valendian
Nabudis
From horizon to horizon, a malevolent Mist swirled. Where once the proud city of Nabudis stood was nothing more than smoking rubble; the broken ruins still ringing with the cries of the slain. The attack came as little surprise but the sheer destruction that the Archadians wrought upon the capital of Nabradia was unimagined.
As they watched from a safe distance, a numb silence filled the cockpit.
"Don't be a hero, he told me," Balthier whispered harshly. He gritted his teeth, determined not to let the tears fall. It was unbecoming of a sky pirate to be weeping like a child who had lost his mother. For indeed, he felt the grief as keenly as the day his mother died. "Don't be a hero! And what does he do thus? Play the confounded hero only to get himself blown up, to what end?"
Fran, who was not so hesitant at showing her emotions for a loss such as this, was crying openly. "Nabudis was important to him. He had to do something."
"He did nothing!" Balthier slammed his fists against the ship's console. Then with a voice full of sorrow, he whispered, "It was all in vain. That fool."
After a moment, Fran reached out to close her hand around his. "Let us be off. There is little left for us here."
~*~
Aerodrome, The Port of Balfonheim
Fran entered the cockpit as Balthier readied the ship to fly. Wordlessly, she handed a small envelope to him.
"What's this?" he asked as he took it. Fran gestured for him to open and he obliged. In it, he found a short note, written in the familiar, elegant script. It said:
"I hereby bequeath all my worldly possessions to Ffamran Mid Bunansa."
Balthier smiled. So he had known; although Balthier would've been surprised if he had never found out in the four years they were together. Balthier continued reading:
"Take care of her, Balthier. She may be fickle and temperamental, but treat her right and you'll be fain to find no truer companion."
Another smile curled Balthier's lips, briefly wondering if the Captain was speaking of the ship or of Fran. It wouldn't surprise Balthier if the Captain was referring to both.
"So, now it falls upon your shoulders to name her," Fran said.
"Indeed. It has been too many years since she has been without name," Balthier nodded, folding and pocketing the letter. He grinned. "And I have just the worthy name for her - The Strahl," he said with certain flourish.
Fran laughed. "Yes, he would have approved."
"I'm surprised he didn't think of it."
A fond smile graced Fran's lips. "Many a thing he may have been, but certainly not narcissistic enough to name the ship after himself."
Balthier chuckled. "Let us be off to new adventure then, my dear Fran. Time waits for no man."
~FIN~
Fandom: FFXII
Characters: Balthier, Fran, OC
Warnings: G, spoilers, gen fic
Disclaimer: Final Fantasy XII characters do not belong to me. No monetary profit gained through this venture - just an ample amount of self-satisfaction and self-indulgence.
A young and naïve Archadian flees his home to find a new life, little did he realise he would stumble upon his destiny and find the wings that he hadn't known he had longed for. A Balthier prequel.
~*~
Year 700 Old Valendian
The Sochen Cave Palace
In hindsight, Ffamran realised that going through The Sochen Cave Palace solo was probably one of the more foolhardy things he'd done. However, being a man of ... selective integrity, he would complete his journey simply because he started it. Turning back seemed too much like giving up, too much like a coward; and as irrational as it was, he felt that it would validate his father's opinion that he would amount to nothing without his father's help and influence.
If nothing else, this would prove to his father that he could make decisions for himself, that he was a man of his own. Even if it meant dying in this fiend-infested hell hole - something that was very likely to happen. At least he'd have died on his own terms and not by the whim of a madman.
Ffamran gulped down his last potion and hoped for the best. The blasted wendigos and strikers were difficult enough to dispatch one by one, but when they swarmed him, it was all he could do to stay alive. One more hit from them sent him flying. Normally not a religious man, Ffamran actually uttered a short prayer as his vision began to blur. In anticipation of the final blow, he lifted his chin defiantly, even if death would claim him, he would not cower. Instead, he heard a loud bang echo through the caverns followed swiftly by the twang of a bow. He smiled wanly; it would seem fortune smiled upon him. Closing his eyes, Ffamran let the darkness take him.
~*~
"You cannot leave him here. Certainly not before he awakens," Ffamran heard a gentle melodious voice said. It was distinctly female and had an unfamiliar accent.
"Why not? The beasts are dead, you've healed him, there is nothing more to do," another voice, polished and urbane, replied.
"The beasts will return soon enough. Moreover, he is but a boy."
The second voice laughed a deep throaty chuckle. "I never pictured you for a mothering type, Fran. You do like them young, don't you?"
"They are easier to bend to your will when they are young," Fran replied and her companion laughed again.
Ffamran dragged his eyes open and his two rescuers swam into vision. First he saw a beautiful Viera with long silvery hair and clothing that didn't leave much to the imagination. Not that Ffamran was complaining considering the view he had. He guessed that this was Fran. Fran's companion was a tall, young Hume, perhaps twenty-something, with long bronze hair and sparkling green eyes. He wore a long beastlord hide jacket and a charming smile. A gun was slung across his back.
"Ah, you are awake. We were wondering if you had hit your head a trifle hard," he grinned at Ffamran. "I trust you are healed?"
Ffamran sat up. "Yes, thank you."
"You're welcome. Come, Fran, shall we carry on? Time waits for no man."
"Wait!" Ffamran cried, quickly standing up. While he may embrace his independence fiercely, he was smart enough to know that he wasn't half as experienced as he thought he was to journeying through places such as The Sochen Cave Palace.
"Yes?" Fran replied.
"Help me get out of here."
"And why would we do that?" The brunet asked.
"Just to Tchita Uplands. I can pay."
The brunet and Fran exchanged a quick look. Fran looked away, her shoulders rising ever so slightly, as if to say, "If you want."
"We have matters to attend to here," the brunet continued.
"Then perhaps you could use another sword arm," Ffamran persisted.
The brunet laughed. "How can I be certain you will not prove to be more of a hindrance? Did we not come to your rescue a mere moment ago?"
Ffamran lifted his chin defiantly. "I made it thus far on my own. I can defeat them well enough individually."
"You have spirit, boy," the brunet grinned. "I like it. And how shall we address you?"
Ffamran hesitated.
"Perhaps you did hit your head too hard to have forgotten your name," Fran said, cocking her head, clearly amused.
"Alright then, keep your secrets," the brunet shrugged. "Come, don't be a hero, stay close to Fran and pray I will regret this not."
~*~
Several long hours later, Ffamran stepped into the glorious sunlight bathing the Tchita Uplands. He was certain that he would never see the light of day again. More than once he wondered why he had so readily agree to help his newfound 'friends'; more interestingly - why they had indulged him and allowed him to follow? They were clearly better fighters than him. He feared that he had proven to be more of a hindrance, which begged the question, why was he trying to prove himself to two strangers? Strangers, whom he largely suspected were sky pirates.
"It is three days' walk to Balfonheim," Fran said looking towards the south east. "If fast is our pace."
"Indeed, it’s a long, unadventurous trek; and arduous, if I were to match your lengthy stride. Let an old man rest his weary bones before we journey on," her companion agreed as he sat himself down in the nearest shade. He then looked at Ffamran, and asked, "Was there something else you needed, young master?"
"You're sky pirates doing performing a service, are you not? Perhaps I should get my share of the bounty?"
He laughed uproariously. "Spirit and spunk, Fran! They rarely breed them this well in Archades." He turned back to Ffamran. "I do recall a promise of payment for your escort out of the Palace. Consider our services rendered as your share of the bounty."
Ffamran was ready to protest but thought better of it. He had promise to pay, and seeing that his funds were now limited, he decided not to complain, at least not out loud.
"And sensible too. I do like him, Fran."
Fran hummed indifferently as she, too, took a seat in the shade. She rummaged through her pack and took out a skin of water and a small paper-wrapped package. She gestured to Ffamran. "Come, sit. You require sustenance." She handed him the skin and several pieces of jerky, which were in the package.
"You seem to enjoy mothering him, Fran. Should we keep him?"
"Excuse me?" Ffamran exclaimed indignantly.
"You have some place better to go? Noble Archadian sons like yourself do not wander into The Sochen Cave Palace on a whim. I wager you are running from something," he smirked at Ffamran. Then pausing to take a bite of the jerky, he continued, "If you were running to something, you'd have journey on instead of lingering here with unscrupulous miscreants like us."
Ffamran was astounded this pirate could read him so well. Determined not to let him have the last word, he said, "I am not a pet to be kept."
"No, but you are surely lost. So tell me, what are you running from? Perhaps punishment from taking that sword from a Judge?" He gestured to the blade at Ffamran's side.
"What makes you think it belonged to a Judge?" Ffamran replied as nonchalantly as he could. In hindsight, he should have left his sword back in Archades. He had reasoned then that it was a good sword, better than what he could've bought in Tsenoble. Perhaps he could get a better weapon in the Port at Balfonheim
"I recognise an Imperial Judge Magister seal when I see one." He pointed to the seal emblazoned on the blade. "You must be either foolhardy or very confident to steal from a Judge. Or perhaps you took it from him?"
Ffamran glared at him. All this time he had been allowing the pirate to push his buttons, but he was better than that. He had always been in control. So instead of rising to the dig, Ffamran merely waved him off in disdain and said, "You are very nosy."
"Yes, he is," Fran agreed.
"Merely trying to get to know our new apprentice."
"I have made no agreement to follow you," Ffamran tossed his head.
"Then by all means, go," the rogue replied with a shrug. "You are hardly bound or Immobilised."
"You haven't even told me your name," Ffamran protested.
"Nor have you."
Again Ffamran hesitated, but eventually he said, "Ffamran."
"Ffamran? What kind of a name is that?" The rogue clicked his tongue and shook his head. "No, that just won't do for a soon-to-be respectable sky pirate like yourself. No, henceforth, you shall be known as... Balthier."
~*~
Balthier peered out the window even though the sensors would've given him a more accurate assessment of the situation. Just for peace of mind, he wanted a little visual confirmation. "I daresay we have evaded capture, oh fearless leader," he said.
"There was doubt we would? Your faith in my flying is heartening," the Captain drawled sarcastically. "If it is but one thing a sky pirate learns, it is how to flee from unwanted attention."
Balthier snorted. "What am I to think, when you proclaimed you have never seen an airship such at this, much less flown one? I should be piloting this," he finished sourly.
"The Archadians air brigade wasn't well pleased with our acquisition," Fran interrupted, effectively heading off another impending squabble. She then directed her question to Balthier. "Did you not say it was to be decommissioned?"
The Captain laughed and replied in Balthier's stead, "They are a possessive, irrational lot, those Archadians. The mere notion of other people having their things is sacrilegious, even if they have little use for those aforementioned things." The Captain continued, "Now, we shall need a name for her."
"She has a name, I believe it is 'Airship X-169,'" Balthier supplied, reading off a panel at his side.
"How positively unimaginative," the Captain exclaimed scornfully. "Archadians do have problems with naming things, wouldn't you agree?"
Balthier decided to ignore that dig. It had only been a mere week that he had been with them, but he had learnt fast that their fearless leader had a sharp and witty tongue. When addressing comrades, he meant little by it, other than to rattle one's cage. Woe upon those whom he would address with true animosity. Instead of retorting, Balthier asked, "What do you suggest then?"
The Captain hesitated, as he smoothed his palm across the console of their newly acquired airship. "A suitable name will come to her soon enough, and it would be worthy of her. You will learn, my young apprentice, that names are of great import. Do not be too hasty to name something on a whim. Names can and will define those which bear them."
Balthier crooked his head at him, and said somewhat petulantly, "I noticed you failed to hesitate in christening me."
"And it is not a name worthy of you?" The Captain smirked at him. "Or perhaps it is you who need to prove worthy of it?"
"Fran, pray tell it is not a fool's name he has so readily bestowed upon me."
Fran smiled indulgently at Balthier. "It would not surprise me if it were."
"You are painting a rather poor picture of me, Fran," the Captain complained.
"Better to show Balthier the truth now than to have him harbour some illusions of grandeur of your honour and nobility," Fran replied blithely.
Balthier laughed as the Captain clutched his heart in feigned agony. "A wise pirate knows when he is beaten," he declared dramatically. Then with a childlike twinkle in his eyes, he exclaimed, "Let us be off to new adventures, then. Time waits for no man."
~*~
Year 704 Old Valendian
Nabudis
From horizon to horizon, a malevolent Mist swirled. Where once the proud city of Nabudis stood was nothing more than smoking rubble; the broken ruins still ringing with the cries of the slain. The attack came as little surprise but the sheer destruction that the Archadians wrought upon the capital of Nabradia was unimagined.
As they watched from a safe distance, a numb silence filled the cockpit.
"Don't be a hero, he told me," Balthier whispered harshly. He gritted his teeth, determined not to let the tears fall. It was unbecoming of a sky pirate to be weeping like a child who had lost his mother. For indeed, he felt the grief as keenly as the day his mother died. "Don't be a hero! And what does he do thus? Play the confounded hero only to get himself blown up, to what end?"
Fran, who was not so hesitant at showing her emotions for a loss such as this, was crying openly. "Nabudis was important to him. He had to do something."
"He did nothing!" Balthier slammed his fists against the ship's console. Then with a voice full of sorrow, he whispered, "It was all in vain. That fool."
After a moment, Fran reached out to close her hand around his. "Let us be off. There is little left for us here."
~*~
Aerodrome, The Port of Balfonheim
Fran entered the cockpit as Balthier readied the ship to fly. Wordlessly, she handed a small envelope to him.
"What's this?" he asked as he took it. Fran gestured for him to open and he obliged. In it, he found a short note, written in the familiar, elegant script. It said:
"I hereby bequeath all my worldly possessions to Ffamran Mid Bunansa."
Balthier smiled. So he had known; although Balthier would've been surprised if he had never found out in the four years they were together. Balthier continued reading:
"Take care of her, Balthier. She may be fickle and temperamental, but treat her right and you'll be fain to find no truer companion."
Another smile curled Balthier's lips, briefly wondering if the Captain was speaking of the ship or of Fran. It wouldn't surprise Balthier if the Captain was referring to both.
"So, now it falls upon your shoulders to name her," Fran said.
"Indeed. It has been too many years since she has been without name," Balthier nodded, folding and pocketing the letter. He grinned. "And I have just the worthy name for her - The Strahl," he said with certain flourish.
Fran laughed. "Yes, he would have approved."
"I'm surprised he didn't think of it."
A fond smile graced Fran's lips. "Many a thing he may have been, but certainly not narcissistic enough to name the ship after himself."
Balthier chuckled. "Let us be off to new adventure then, my dear Fran. Time waits for no man."
~FIN~