Rosa - "The Long Road - 3"
Title: The Long Road - 3
Theme + Number: #88 Uncertainty
Claim: Rosa (challenge)
Characters/Pairings included: Kain
Rating: K
Warnings: None.
Writer's Notes: I've gotten a little bitter lately. The focus is always on Rydia. Any time Rosa should be in the scene too, she's left out. Any time Rosa's alongside Rydia, she gets ignored or downcast as a lesser to Rydia. Rydia gets built up as the bestest character ever, Rosa has people making up things like saying that she dated Kain then dumped him for Cecil because she's power-hungry. And with the recent TGS poll showing people like CID more than Rosa, that's pretty much the end for her good treatment in promo material for FF4DS. That's my biggest motivation right now for continuing a story series with Rosa as the main character: knowing that I'm probably the only person who ever will. This chapter doesn't make much head-way, but this felt like the proper point to end a chapter rather than where I originally wanted to end.
Summary: Rosa learns more about the Mist situation with Cecil, and makes plans to check Mist personally. [This story arc takes place in the time between Cecil leaving for Mist and Rosa appearing in Kaipo.]
"No..." Rosa cried. In times like these, you expect to shout to the heavens, breaking down into an uncontrollable mess. Instead, Rosa grew soft, and quiet. Her head fell as she shrank back. A tear spattered and soaked into the pink cloth of her gown. She could feel her heart, and placing a lone hand to her chest was all she could do to assuage the feeling that it would leap out at any moment.
"Rosa... I...," Kain's voice trailed. He was a dragoon. He didn't have the gift of empathy. He didn't need it. Rosa's feelings were plain to see as the radiance of the setting sun which shone on her hair. He loathed the sight of his cherished friend in this state. In that moment, he wished he knew how to ease Rosa's pain, yet his mind failed to find the words he so desperately needed. He could think of only one way to help her, and as he removed the object from a pouch to his side, he held it before Rosa's gentle blue eyes.
Rosa's gaze followed the black, cold chunk of metal that had ripped away from Cecil's armor. Her hands inched to it, ever closer, until she held it in her grasp. Her slender, delicate fingers turned it over to inspect the little piece of her beloved that remained. Even with such a small fragment, she could picture the precise spot where it once held to his suit. She imagined the tips of her fingers running along his arm and up to his shoulder, holding there for just a scant second before she would pull open the mask of his helmet to view his sweet, noble face. Only, she would never get to do that again. Not if Kain's words were true.
"I was going to take that to the King, but seeing you like this...," Kain admitted, "... you deserve it this much."
"Thank you, Kain," Rosa said somberly. She barely noticed Kain pass to her right, too caught up in the swirl of tension that threatened to ravage her mind. When her friend spoke, it took all her strength to turn and face him.
"I'm going to see the King now," Kain said. "He must learn of what happened in Mist."
Thoughts lingered in Rosa's mind of what happened, questions that needed to be answered. She needed to know, no matter how much it would hurt to hear it.
"Kain." Rosa caught the dragoon as he had taken a few steps toward the castle.
"Yes?" he asked.
The words pulsed in her heart, traveling into her lungs to escape through her tender lips.
"How much did he suffer before he died?"
Rosa hung on to his every sound, and when the dragoon gave his answer, she felt the weight scatter from her chest like the mists of the cave from which Kain had returned.
"Honestly, I don't know. I never found his body."
Hope. That's the one virtue that beamed down from this horrific situation. For as beat up as Kain looked on his return, there was the vague chance that Cecil just might have survived the landslide in the village of Mist. Her tears ceased as the thought crept deeper into her mind. She smiled in spite of herself, the relief setting in almost more than she could bear. It strained her nerves, yet given a choice, she much preferred this over the dark dread that was on the verge of snuffing the light from her heart mere seconds ago.
"Rosa?" Kain asked. His confusion over Rosa's reaction was more than obvious enough by the way he spoke.
Rosa wiped the remnants of a tear from her cheek and nodded. "You never saw his body. He may still be alive!"
It took a few seconds for the idea to fully sink in for Kain, but when it did, he perked up in an instant. "I'll tell the King!"
This one last vestige of hope coursed through Rosa. She thought on all the wonderful times she had with Cecil. She remembered the nights she came to Cecil's room to see him, and the days they spent out in fields, talking as they basked in the warmth of the afternoon sun. These and many more events returned to her mind. With the flood of memories, she knew what she had to do.
"Kain, wait," Rosa implored. "I can't stand the thought of waiting here for word of Cecil. I have to go to Mist. Will you escort me?"
"I will as soon as I return from the castle. Though something seems amiss about our king, he may send a search party with us to look for Cecil."
As she heard Kain's words, Rosa couldn't hold back her impulses any longer. Approaching the virtuous dragoon, she embraced him for the first time in days, her arms wrapping behind his dark armor. She felt her good friend's arm against her back, the sturdiness of his gauntlet impressing itself against her flesh even through the cloth of her cape and gown. Then, just as suddenly as it happened, she pulled away. She looked up at him with eyes of shimmering blue, a warm and affectionate smile showing on her lips that carried all the friendly love in her heart.
"Be careful, the king has been acting stranger than you know," Rosa said. "I will prepare everything and wait for you at my home." With a strong nod, Kain turned.
As they parted ways, Rosa lingered there to watch Kain march his way toward the castle. His gait showed no signs of the horror she had seen upon his return, and for that, she could be especially grateful. Kain shrank in the distance. Rosa reflected on him a final time, then turned, making her way back to her house. All the while, she looked to the fragment of armor in her hands.
"Cecil... no matter what it takes, I will find you."
Theme + Number: #88 Uncertainty
Claim: Rosa (challenge)
Characters/Pairings included: Kain
Rating: K
Warnings: None.
Writer's Notes: I've gotten a little bitter lately. The focus is always on Rydia. Any time Rosa should be in the scene too, she's left out. Any time Rosa's alongside Rydia, she gets ignored or downcast as a lesser to Rydia. Rydia gets built up as the bestest character ever, Rosa has people making up things like saying that she dated Kain then dumped him for Cecil because she's power-hungry. And with the recent TGS poll showing people like CID more than Rosa, that's pretty much the end for her good treatment in promo material for FF4DS. That's my biggest motivation right now for continuing a story series with Rosa as the main character: knowing that I'm probably the only person who ever will. This chapter doesn't make much head-way, but this felt like the proper point to end a chapter rather than where I originally wanted to end.
Summary: Rosa learns more about the Mist situation with Cecil, and makes plans to check Mist personally. [This story arc takes place in the time between Cecil leaving for Mist and Rosa appearing in Kaipo.]
"No..." Rosa cried. In times like these, you expect to shout to the heavens, breaking down into an uncontrollable mess. Instead, Rosa grew soft, and quiet. Her head fell as she shrank back. A tear spattered and soaked into the pink cloth of her gown. She could feel her heart, and placing a lone hand to her chest was all she could do to assuage the feeling that it would leap out at any moment.
"Rosa... I...," Kain's voice trailed. He was a dragoon. He didn't have the gift of empathy. He didn't need it. Rosa's feelings were plain to see as the radiance of the setting sun which shone on her hair. He loathed the sight of his cherished friend in this state. In that moment, he wished he knew how to ease Rosa's pain, yet his mind failed to find the words he so desperately needed. He could think of only one way to help her, and as he removed the object from a pouch to his side, he held it before Rosa's gentle blue eyes.
Rosa's gaze followed the black, cold chunk of metal that had ripped away from Cecil's armor. Her hands inched to it, ever closer, until she held it in her grasp. Her slender, delicate fingers turned it over to inspect the little piece of her beloved that remained. Even with such a small fragment, she could picture the precise spot where it once held to his suit. She imagined the tips of her fingers running along his arm and up to his shoulder, holding there for just a scant second before she would pull open the mask of his helmet to view his sweet, noble face. Only, she would never get to do that again. Not if Kain's words were true.
"I was going to take that to the King, but seeing you like this...," Kain admitted, "... you deserve it this much."
"Thank you, Kain," Rosa said somberly. She barely noticed Kain pass to her right, too caught up in the swirl of tension that threatened to ravage her mind. When her friend spoke, it took all her strength to turn and face him.
"I'm going to see the King now," Kain said. "He must learn of what happened in Mist."
Thoughts lingered in Rosa's mind of what happened, questions that needed to be answered. She needed to know, no matter how much it would hurt to hear it.
"Kain." Rosa caught the dragoon as he had taken a few steps toward the castle.
"Yes?" he asked.
The words pulsed in her heart, traveling into her lungs to escape through her tender lips.
"How much did he suffer before he died?"
Rosa hung on to his every sound, and when the dragoon gave his answer, she felt the weight scatter from her chest like the mists of the cave from which Kain had returned.
"Honestly, I don't know. I never found his body."
Hope. That's the one virtue that beamed down from this horrific situation. For as beat up as Kain looked on his return, there was the vague chance that Cecil just might have survived the landslide in the village of Mist. Her tears ceased as the thought crept deeper into her mind. She smiled in spite of herself, the relief setting in almost more than she could bear. It strained her nerves, yet given a choice, she much preferred this over the dark dread that was on the verge of snuffing the light from her heart mere seconds ago.
"Rosa?" Kain asked. His confusion over Rosa's reaction was more than obvious enough by the way he spoke.
Rosa wiped the remnants of a tear from her cheek and nodded. "You never saw his body. He may still be alive!"
It took a few seconds for the idea to fully sink in for Kain, but when it did, he perked up in an instant. "I'll tell the King!"
This one last vestige of hope coursed through Rosa. She thought on all the wonderful times she had with Cecil. She remembered the nights she came to Cecil's room to see him, and the days they spent out in fields, talking as they basked in the warmth of the afternoon sun. These and many more events returned to her mind. With the flood of memories, she knew what she had to do.
"Kain, wait," Rosa implored. "I can't stand the thought of waiting here for word of Cecil. I have to go to Mist. Will you escort me?"
"I will as soon as I return from the castle. Though something seems amiss about our king, he may send a search party with us to look for Cecil."
As she heard Kain's words, Rosa couldn't hold back her impulses any longer. Approaching the virtuous dragoon, she embraced him for the first time in days, her arms wrapping behind his dark armor. She felt her good friend's arm against her back, the sturdiness of his gauntlet impressing itself against her flesh even through the cloth of her cape and gown. Then, just as suddenly as it happened, she pulled away. She looked up at him with eyes of shimmering blue, a warm and affectionate smile showing on her lips that carried all the friendly love in her heart.
"Be careful, the king has been acting stranger than you know," Rosa said. "I will prepare everything and wait for you at my home." With a strong nod, Kain turned.
As they parted ways, Rosa lingered there to watch Kain march his way toward the castle. His gait showed no signs of the horror she had seen upon his return, and for that, she could be especially grateful. Kain shrank in the distance. Rosa reflected on him a final time, then turned, making her way back to her house. All the while, she looked to the fragment of armor in her hands.
"Cecil... no matter what it takes, I will find you."