Post by gantzgun74 on May 11, 2011 13:04:12 GMT -5
While this fic doesn't have that name on Deviantart, I've recently posted it up at Fanfiction.net and gave it this name to give it a distinguishing title from the other fanfics in the 'Final Fantasy Tactics A2' category. For those of you who are curious, I'll post up said prologue chapter as a preview. If you want to review, your free to go to deviantart to do as such. I'd like to hear what you guys think of this story thus far.
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Story Start!
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Story Start!
...
What does it truely mean to live? To exist?
What does it mean to have a purpose in life?
And most importantly, what does it mean to be real?
And in relation, what does it truely mean to pretend?
At what point does pretending become a truth?
...
And at what point does pretending become a lie?
----------------------------------------------------------------
Gantz Gun Productions presents...
The Journals of Clan Highwind
Book 3
Dear you
A Final Fantasy Tactics A2 based original fanfiction
Title copyright to the creators of 'Higurashi When they Cry' by 07th Expansion.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Prologue
Young Love in Clan Highwind
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...
"YEE-HAW!" To be honest, in Gantz's perspective, nothing in the world could beat dragon hunting. There was so much to enjoy about the profession, from the diversity of his marks to the diversity of ways to kill them. Dragons were usually huge and powerful creatures, so toppling something that bad always gave him a sense of accomplishment.
And of course, it was fun as hell to antagonize the beasts.
"HAHA! You're gonna have to do better then that!" Gantz yelled as he bounced up and down the top of a dragon's head. The beast was bucking like wild, while the reins the boy held on to was hooked into the dragon's cheeks. "Come on! You call that a buck? You're mother was a Salamander! And Yes... I WENT THERE!" This was responded to by an infuriated roar as the horn covered dragon continued to buck wildly, while it flew a few hundred feet above the ground.
As all of this went on, three figures watched the action unfold on the ground. One was a gruff looking Bangaa (A lizard-like race native to Ivalice) at around 7 foot 2 wearing dark purple dragoon armor plates, topped with a leather helmet and goggles. The Bangaa had an impatient frown on his face, as he watched the dragon continue on. "Peh... What a ssshow-off..." ... Upon making that clear, he couldn't help but grin. "But what can ya' sssay? He learned from the besst after all.. Heh, looksss like he'sss having fun too..." It was common behavior for Bangaa's to hiss out their 'S's given their lizard like appearance.
The second figure was considerably shorter then the Bangaa, likely around 4 foot 6, and more plump as well. Being of the seeq tribe (One could tell by his pig like nose and tail), he wore a hunters jacket that couldn't quite reach all the way around his body, baggy white pants that thankfully did, as well as a ten-gallon hat atop his head. The snout and impatient frown on the man's face continued to follow Gantz and the dragon. "Which is a mystery to snort me, Luk." The Seeq turned to the bangaa. Though he called him Luk, his real name was Lukino, and the word Luk was used simply as an abbreviation. Regardless, a raised brow was given to the bangaa. "How can anyone snort find something like THAT fun?" He pointed upwards as he said that. "Look, I've heard of snort 'Thrill seekin' before, but this? This is just pushin' it..."
The third figure was much different from the first two, being that she was notably female. Being of the Gria Race, she had long slender horns, bat-like wings, and a small tail poking out of a hole on the back of her baggy brown pants. Along with the pants, she wore a simple white and red ensemble, short sleeved, and with an open back, allowing her wings rome to maneuver. She had long pink hair pulled into two pony tails, like orange eyes, and was quite pretty looking. Putting aside appearances however, she watched the sky as carefully as Lukino and the Seeq. Though unlike either of them, her eyes were widened, as if in panic or terror, seemingly heedless of the conversation her two friends had started. "What do you think, Rose?" The Seeq turned to the gria girl, known as Rosaline or simply 'Rose' to her friends, but looked confused to find an astonishing lack of response. "Rose?"
She only continued to look to the sky with her worried expression, otherwise unaware that the seeq was now trying to speak directly to her.
When Lukino himself took notice, he rolled his eyes at the display, seeming quite annoyed. "Great... 'Little Misss horomonesss' isss at it again..."
This, in turn, caught the Seeq's attention, "[i/]SNORT What are you talking about Luk?" He motioned to the gria with a raised brow. "She's just worried about snort Gantz. They ARE dating after all, snort So what's wrong with that?"
Scoffing at the question, Lukino waved him off. "Jarvisss, she'sss ALWAYSSS worried about the kid... He'sss been through and handled far worsse crap then thiss, you should know that." He rubbed his chin a moment, obviously trying to think of one of those times. "Don't you remember that one missssion that ended up turning into a Behemoth hunt?" Jarvis the Seeq lowered his head with a shrug; oh he knew about that alright. That mission was what made Gantz a celebrity amongst monster hunters.
"I've heard of it snort. It was the main reason why I sought ya'll out to join the clan... figured you'd be snort pretty rich after that event." He got rid of his little grin, before shrugging. "Anyways, I guess ya snort have a point... But still, Gantz may be a daredevil, if nothing else. I don't blame Rose for snort worrying about the kid. " He crossed his arms as his gaze turned back to the sky. "He does seem to like going about things the hard snort way."
The Bangaa shrugged himself, looking concerned himself, but less so then Jarvis and Rosaline. "Granted he doesss, but if you asssk me? 'What doesssn't kill ya, makesss ya stronger', and in this kid'sss casse, he'll become a forccce to be reckoned with... And he'sss tough ass he iss already."
FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Everyone on the ground squinted as a jet of flames shot out of the obviously furious dragon's mouth, it's bucking intensifying. Atop the dragon, one could make out a small dot bouncing around atop the creature, making it's way down the neck. "Pfff... Perfect... It'sss breathing fire now..." So muttered the bangaa as he tried to watch on, squinting while doing so.
Rosaline only watched on, her expression squinting, but no less horrified.
Jarvis cursed under his breath, as he covered his eyes. "Luk, if that kid dies horribly because of this, snort I'm blaming you..."
Gantz, meanwhile, lept into the air, the rope he had used as reins tied around his waist, thereby keeping him from falling off the beast completely. Grinning in his snarky fashion, he pulled out his blade, the Eclipse. When the dragon heard him draw the blade, it knew it was in trouble, and as thus, tried to crane it's neck to try and incinerate it's it's passenger. However, the boy was quick, and ducked a jet of flames that came close to hitting him, but missing by a few inches. Making note to check if he still had eyebrows later, he approached the base of the neck quickly.
Dragons may have been impervious to magic, Gantz's specialty...
But they WEREN'T impervious to a stab wound in a prime nerve pressure point at the base of the neck. A fact the boy knew, and had just taken advantage of...
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(Several hours later)
"And with that last stab, the beast's flames died away, it's roaring stopped, and it's body went still."
Reopening the scene, we find Gantz without his turban (Thus showing off a head of spikey black hair) wearing new dragon scale gauntlets, and holding up a goblet filled with water. He appeared to be standing in front of a bar inside a tavern, telling the story to several grown men and women who listened intently, holding their own goblets filled with various drinks.
Ah the Serene Sprite, Gantz thought. No place like it.
Grinning giddily at his captive audience, he continued the story. "But of course, that lead to another problem. Sure the beast was dead, but now came the problem of it's husk falling out of the sky, threatening to crash against the ground! Taking me with it!" He paused as he listened to the murmorings of the crowd. "Okay settle down please... If you must know, landing was indeed a lot harder then killing the dragon, but it was still easy to do." He grinned as he stretched casually. "All I had to do was ride atop it, JUST long enough to reach close to the ground-"
As the hume boy continued on, we turn our attention to a table not too far from the crowd where Rosaline sat, looking too concerned to drink from her own sugary drink. Sitting along with her was a mature looking young woman with deep brown tanned skin, that was tall and willowy, rabbit ears topping her head of short silver hair. Wearing a light orange tunic and a green cape with a green barret hat, complimented by calf high green boots, she was definately a strange looking figure, but when your race was that of the Viera, strange was accepted. The viera looked to Rosaline's anxious expression with her own concerned one. Rose took a drink of her beverage as she continued to listen in; Gantz's story reaching it's resolution. "Rosaline..." The Gria girl turned to the viera, though she generally kept her in the corner of her eye. "Is something the matter? You haven't been acting like yourself recently."
Rosaline sighed, as she turned her head back to the scene before her; it appeared the boy was overdramatizing his 'hairy' escape from the dragon, by using a short ranged teleportation to teleport off the dragon when it reached the ground. "Oh..." She sighed as she downed the rest of her drink. "I... I just don't know anymore, Luna..." Luna, apparently the viera, looked to Rosaline with a sympathetic expression.
"HAHAH! I'll drink to that!" From the bar, an adult male hume stood up holding his goblet. "To Gantz van Drake and Clan Highwind; conquerers of the Redwings and Borozoi, and heroes of Moorabella!"
"To Clan Highwind! Here-here!" The crowd's cheerful response was followed by them downing their drinks. Even Gantz got into the spirit and downed his water...
Back at her seat, Rosaline blushed as she watched him down his drink, followed immediately by him laughing jovially with the others. She lowered her head whilst Luna's sympathetic expression turned into a curious one. "You just don't know what, Rosaline?" After a second, she turned to look to the crowd. "Does this have to do with Gantz?"
A small nodd was Rose's response. "Y-yes..." There was a small sigh. "Luna... Do you think my worrying about Gantz's wellbeing is over-reacting?"
That seemed to confuse the viera somewhat. "Whatever do you mean Rose? I'm not sure I understand."
"You heard that story!" The Gria girl snapped, looking frustrated. "Gantz is completely reckless... I spent the entirety of the events in that story worrying about his wellbeing and safety, while HE had his fun riding on top that dragon!" Moaning, she rubbed her temples. "Honestly Luna... Is... Is it just me, or does Gantz like playing the 'Daredevil Loner' during missions? I mean, I more then noticed it during the whole 'Clan Redwings' advent, but..."
Luna nodded when Rosaline stopped, an understanding coming between them. "Trust me Rose, I understand." Sighing, she looked to where Gantz sat at the front bar as the crowd began to dissipate and go back to their seats. "Gantz wasn't always like this however. Once upon a time, he used to be very timid and meek." That clearly surprised the gria girl as she turned to Luna with a disbelieving expression. "Oh yes. Issac used to tell me that when he joined the clan, he always second guessed himself out in the field. Once, they were out on an escort mission and the boy refused to leave the cart even by a few inches, fearing an attack from any direction."
The Viera let out a sigh, as she looked to Gantz as he sat at the bar talking to Jarvis, Lukino, and a young male hume wearing a light blue, white, and green kimono, obviously another member of Clan Highwind. "Now look at him, what was once someone so cautious is now someone so reckless... Sometimes I wonder about that boy." She shook her head, before turning her gaze back to Rosaline. "To be honest, while I do worry about his safety as you do, I'm just glad he always turns out okay, despite all of it."
Rosaline groaned, "I know, I know... I am too but... But I..." She blushed a bit as she continued. "I still can't help it... I'm always afraid, I'm afraid of what he'll do next." 'Whack!' went her fist as she hit herself in the head. "I know it's stupid to worry about what hasn't happened yet, or what hasn't happened... but..."
A hand placed itself on the Gria's shoulder in a comforting matter, Luna's arm at the end of the wrist. "Rose, I don't think it's stupid. You're doing what anyone would do... ... Heck, I can't help but worry about that boy myself. He's definately given me and Roland our fair share of heart attacks." Luna shook her head, "We have tried before to confront him before, but he merely shrugged us off."
Rose let out a breath. "At least I know I'm not the only one. Lukino and Jarvis don't seem to think too much of it... Albeit Jarvis is more hesitant about it. Lukino though? He's quite proud of Gantz's stunts."
"That sounds like him." Luna groaned. "Look all I'm saying is, is that while I am glad Gantz is becoming more self-reliant and is capable of looking out for himself, there IS a difference between bravery and stupidity."
"Well what should we do about it?" Luna curled a lock of her silver hair in thought at the question...
... Her expression suddenly brightened, as she turned to Rose, smiling. "Rose... You and Gantz are close right?"
Going wide eyed and then turning red within a couple of seconds, it looked like Rosaline was unsure what to make of that question. "Well... I... I don't know..."
"What do you mean? You two have went out on a date before, haven't you?"
The gria blushed even more. Truth be told, she and Gantz had went out on a date before. It was a simple walk around town followed by dinner in a restaraunt... Did that count as a date? She really wanted to believe it did, since everyone else seemed to think so, but she wasn't really sure. "Well..." Thinking back, Gantz became quite the comedian during that time, trying to make her laugh when he found the opportunity. That could've been him just trying to be casual and making sure she had a good time though...
But...
"I... I think it was a... A date... It wasn't really too much though... Just a stroll around town, then dinner at this restaraunt... Does that count?"
Luna couldn't help but giggle at Rosaline's cuteness, before she nodded. "Yes I would say that is a date Rosaline." Rose blushed even more, biting her lip quite persistently. "Look Rose, what I'm saying is, you like Gantz... Don't you?"
Rose turned to where Gantz sat, chatting between his clan members, laughing at a joke that had been told. She took notice of his raven black hair, his deep cerulean eyes after he laughed and his joking expression as he fired off his counter joke...
"... Y-yes." She sighed, a love struck smile on her face. "Yes I do..."
"And Gantz likes you back?"
That caught Rosaline's attention quickly; obviously she had never thought of that before. "W-well..." She trued to think back to their date, trying to remember if Gantz himself left any hint that he liked her that way. Upon coming up empty, she shrugged helplessly, "I... I don't know..."
Considering this a moment, Luna smiled to the girl. "Well... Why don't you go find out?" That seemed to properly scare Rosaline, making her start a retort, only to be cut off. "Rose... Look. You're never going to know for sure until you try right? So why delay it? And besides, if he does like you, and I'm sure he does, because who COULDN'T like you, maybe he'll listen to you about his antics." She smiled, "One conversation; two birds with one stone."
Unassured, Rosaline turned away, looking red. "I... I don't know..."
Luna smiled as she leaned on the girl, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Rose, you'll be fine." Rosaline looked frightened and confused. "You are a very beautiful individual, I'm more then sure Gantz holds you dear, as the rest of us does. Don't be afraid to find out how close you are too him."
...
"..." Another few seconds passed before Rosaline smiled along with Luna. "Yes... Yes!" She nodded more energetically before standing up out of her chair quickly. "Yeah! Okay! I'll do it! Thank you Luna, thank you!" With that said, she ran over to the bar where Gantz and the others was.
Luna nodded as well, giggling at Rosaline's newfound courage and urgency.
Ah young love.
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"Sheesh Gantz. Riding on the back of a dragon, are you serious?"
"Oh come on Issac, you can't deny that that sounds fun." Gantz responded to the hume male in the Kimono, a sword sheathe latched to the cloth belt, sitting on the stool next to his. He downed his glass of water, apparently having gotten a refill earlier, before turning his attention to Lukino, whom was drinking a cup of saki. Just past him was Jarvis, eating dinner in peace. A little section for the male warriors of Clan Highwind in otherwords. "Sides my plan worked, didn't it? We got dragon hide to sell, and we got the bounty for slaying the beastie."
Issac, the swordsman, looked at Gantz with a questionable stare... Before sighing in defeat. "Yeah... True I suppose..." Scratching behind his head awkwardly a moment, he crossed his arms as he turned back to the boy. "Still, it would have been less risky to come up with a plan, you know." Sighing, he dropped a sugar cube into his tea and began stirring it. "As members of a clan, it usually does a mission good if the clan works together as a team."
Downing another glass of, what Gantz could only assume was, sake, Lukino looked to Issac. The swordsman was thankful to note that he didn't look flushed yet, so the bangaa wasn't really tipsy yet he assumed. "Oh give it a ressst Isssac. No need to lecture the boy on crap he already knowsss." The bangaa shrugged idly as he collected a refill from a cup that was just set down by the bartender and drank it casually.
"Mayhaps you should slow down there Luk snort don't want ya gettin' drunk on us." Gantz looked to Jarvis, whom appeared to be polishing off chocobo wings with potatoes and a caffeinated brew to drink. "We ARE supposed to snort make a good impression you know, so why do snort drink so much sake?"
The Bangaa snorted at the question, before downing another cup. "Wouldn't you like to know?" The barman appeared once more, gave Lukino an odd look, and looked around, trying to figure out whether it would be a good idea to leave another drink or not. "But if you have to know tough guy, it'ss how I unwind after a misssion." He tapped the bar, ordering the barman to leave another cup. Looking hesitant, the man did just that. "Nothin' wrong with that now isss there?" He reached for the cup...
Only to have Gantz swipe it away at the last second, "Yeaaaaaaaah no. That was how we did things in the old days. Now? We're trying to keep up an image." He immediately brought his hand back, keeping the cup away from Lukino. "Hey Waiter! Stop bringing Luk drinks." The waiter nodded, ever understanding the request, as he took the cup from Gantz.
The boy grinned at the deed... Only to see Lukino glaring at him. "... I don't like you kid..."
"Oh get used to it, ya snort big scaley baby, he's just looking out for ya." Jarvis monotoned as he got a mouthful of potatoes.
"Ex-excuse me..."
All four males turned to see Rosaline standing behind them. "Ah Rosaline." Issac smiled at the welcome arrival. "What can we do for you?" Lukino, however, grumbled grumpily at the question, before turning back to the bar.
Non-dettered by Lukino, since she was quite used to his disposition by now, Rose continued. "May I possibly borrow Gantz for a while? I..." She took a breath... It was time to take that step. "I wish to speak with him... In private."
... That caught all KINDS of attention from the clan Highwind members; even Lukino turned his head back to the girl, grinning after he took a second to absorb the request. "Oh-hoh! In private, eh Rossse?" Grinning, he turned to Gantz and elbowed the boy playfully. "Well, well! Thiss ssoundsss sseriousss, lover boy!"
Gantz took the teasing good naturedly, blocking the highly muscled elbow with his own skinny one. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up scale head. She just wants to talk; nothing serious."
Issac joined in the good natured teasing himself, messing up the young paladin's hair with a noogie, "Come on Gantz, a talk always means more then you think. I mean, 'the pen IS mightier then the sword after all', and we all know why."
Jarvis lifted up his cup and caffeinated brew, as if to toast. "Words to live by snort Roland Jr.!" An offhanded comment as that was, it lead to a few chuckles all around, even Rosaline giggled. In truth, Roland, the Clan's resident wiseman was very well respected by the clan due to his well-read nature, and philosophical mindset... However he did come off as preachy sometimes, so the clan liked poking fun at him, though they kept it both playful and respectful either way.
With that said, Gantz stood up from his stool and looked to Rosaline curiously. "So... Where are we going to talk Rose? I'm open for anywhere, really."
The gria girl considered this... "Well-"
"How about the bathroom?" Came Lukino, proving that those last few drinks had made the bangaa quite tipsy. "Get plenty of privaccy in there!" Regardless of whether that was an intended joke or not, Gantz and Rose turned pure red, after all, they were no fools.
"Hey-hey-hey!" Gantz, in a flustered tizzy, waved Lukino off. "Keep the humor CLEAN, Luk, got it?" He slapped his forehead. "I mean, ULTIMA, Lukino, me and Rose are just friends after all!"
...
'Just friends...' That phrase echoed in Rose's head even more the Luk's early bit of dirty humor.
Issac, whom had been about to reprimand Lukion for his ill-placed, ill-tasted joke, stopped and winced when he saw Rose's face. Luna, from where she sat, slapped her forehead at Gantz's equally ill-timed response. "Oh, Gantz..."
Gantz himself failed to notice Issac's facial expression, as well as Rosaline's, before he turned back to her. "So you were saying Rose? Where should we cha-" However it was at that moment that he finally noticed the gria's expression, which was properly fuming. "Uh... Is something wrong?" He sounded like he was growing ever concerned.
But of course, concern was NOT going to fix this alone. Rosaline's growl grew in volume before she finally answered with, "You know what? Never mind! Like I'd ever wanna talk to you anyways you... You... GAAAAAAAAGH!" With that frustrated yell, she stormed past the tables and right out the doors of the tavern...
... And Gantz could only stand rooted to that spot, wide-eyed. "What... What just happened?"
"Looks to me like you just earned yourself some trouble with Rosaline."
Gantz jumped in surprise, as did a few other Clan Highwind members, before the looked to another table to see a small, hunched over creature sitting there, reading two stappled sets of paper, three pages for each, with a mace set up against it's chair. The creature appeared male with grey skin, and a small silverish white beard offsetting it's orange, red, and dusty light brown robes. "R-Roland!" Came Luna with a smile. "Wh-when did you get here?"
"Not too long ago my student, though it looks like I arrived just in time too." Smiling humorously, he turned to Gantz. "Before you go running after Rose, Romeo, may I trouble you with your temporary attention? You do help run the Clan's affairs when Marco is not around."
Looking between Roland and the door where Rosaline had stormed out, Gantz looked fairly conflicted. "B-but..." ... Eventually, he groaned, before walking up to Roland's table, and taking a seat. "Please make it quick Roland, I want to make sure Rose is alright."
Roland nodded in understanding, before he held out the papers he appeared to be looking through. "I merely wish you to look at these papers." The boy took the papers and looked through them quickly. "They are requests that I'm sure you will be interested in, young man."
Looking at the papers, Gantz quickly found out why.
-----------FFTA2--------------------------
On the paper, the front sheet, it said this specifically.
"To whom this may concern;
It will be Silversun soon, and in Camoa, Silversun means the Great Land Festival! We're looking for people to join in the festivities and help decorate our town! The work will last for five days up until the official opening of the festival, with lodging and board provided! So come one, come all, to our cherished festival!
Sincerely; The Camoa Great Land Festival Committee
Request Rank: A
Reward: 10,000,000 Gil"
A stamp was prevalent on the paper, a stamp that looked like a thick evergreen tree with the letters 'GLFC' imprinted at the foot of the tree.
What does it truely mean to live? To exist?
What does it mean to have a purpose in life?
And most importantly, what does it mean to be real?
And in relation, what does it truely mean to pretend?
At what point does pretending become a truth?
...
And at what point does pretending become a lie?
----------------------------------------------------------------
Gantz Gun Productions presents...
The Journals of Clan Highwind
Book 3
Dear you
A Final Fantasy Tactics A2 based original fanfiction
Title copyright to the creators of 'Higurashi When they Cry' by 07th Expansion.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Prologue
Young Love in Clan Highwind
-----------------------------------------------------------
...
"YEE-HAW!" To be honest, in Gantz's perspective, nothing in the world could beat dragon hunting. There was so much to enjoy about the profession, from the diversity of his marks to the diversity of ways to kill them. Dragons were usually huge and powerful creatures, so toppling something that bad always gave him a sense of accomplishment.
And of course, it was fun as hell to antagonize the beasts.
"HAHA! You're gonna have to do better then that!" Gantz yelled as he bounced up and down the top of a dragon's head. The beast was bucking like wild, while the reins the boy held on to was hooked into the dragon's cheeks. "Come on! You call that a buck? You're mother was a Salamander! And Yes... I WENT THERE!" This was responded to by an infuriated roar as the horn covered dragon continued to buck wildly, while it flew a few hundred feet above the ground.
As all of this went on, three figures watched the action unfold on the ground. One was a gruff looking Bangaa (A lizard-like race native to Ivalice) at around 7 foot 2 wearing dark purple dragoon armor plates, topped with a leather helmet and goggles. The Bangaa had an impatient frown on his face, as he watched the dragon continue on. "Peh... What a ssshow-off..." ... Upon making that clear, he couldn't help but grin. "But what can ya' sssay? He learned from the besst after all.. Heh, looksss like he'sss having fun too..." It was common behavior for Bangaa's to hiss out their 'S's given their lizard like appearance.
The second figure was considerably shorter then the Bangaa, likely around 4 foot 6, and more plump as well. Being of the seeq tribe (One could tell by his pig like nose and tail), he wore a hunters jacket that couldn't quite reach all the way around his body, baggy white pants that thankfully did, as well as a ten-gallon hat atop his head. The snout and impatient frown on the man's face continued to follow Gantz and the dragon. "Which is a mystery to snort me, Luk." The Seeq turned to the bangaa. Though he called him Luk, his real name was Lukino, and the word Luk was used simply as an abbreviation. Regardless, a raised brow was given to the bangaa. "How can anyone snort find something like THAT fun?" He pointed upwards as he said that. "Look, I've heard of snort 'Thrill seekin' before, but this? This is just pushin' it..."
The third figure was much different from the first two, being that she was notably female. Being of the Gria Race, she had long slender horns, bat-like wings, and a small tail poking out of a hole on the back of her baggy brown pants. Along with the pants, she wore a simple white and red ensemble, short sleeved, and with an open back, allowing her wings rome to maneuver. She had long pink hair pulled into two pony tails, like orange eyes, and was quite pretty looking. Putting aside appearances however, she watched the sky as carefully as Lukino and the Seeq. Though unlike either of them, her eyes were widened, as if in panic or terror, seemingly heedless of the conversation her two friends had started. "What do you think, Rose?" The Seeq turned to the gria girl, known as Rosaline or simply 'Rose' to her friends, but looked confused to find an astonishing lack of response. "Rose?"
She only continued to look to the sky with her worried expression, otherwise unaware that the seeq was now trying to speak directly to her.
When Lukino himself took notice, he rolled his eyes at the display, seeming quite annoyed. "Great... 'Little Misss horomonesss' isss at it again..."
This, in turn, caught the Seeq's attention, "[i/]SNORT What are you talking about Luk?" He motioned to the gria with a raised brow. "She's just worried about snort Gantz. They ARE dating after all, snort So what's wrong with that?"
Scoffing at the question, Lukino waved him off. "Jarvisss, she'sss ALWAYSSS worried about the kid... He'sss been through and handled far worsse crap then thiss, you should know that." He rubbed his chin a moment, obviously trying to think of one of those times. "Don't you remember that one missssion that ended up turning into a Behemoth hunt?" Jarvis the Seeq lowered his head with a shrug; oh he knew about that alright. That mission was what made Gantz a celebrity amongst monster hunters.
"I've heard of it snort. It was the main reason why I sought ya'll out to join the clan... figured you'd be snort pretty rich after that event." He got rid of his little grin, before shrugging. "Anyways, I guess ya snort have a point... But still, Gantz may be a daredevil, if nothing else. I don't blame Rose for snort worrying about the kid. " He crossed his arms as his gaze turned back to the sky. "He does seem to like going about things the hard snort way."
The Bangaa shrugged himself, looking concerned himself, but less so then Jarvis and Rosaline. "Granted he doesss, but if you asssk me? 'What doesssn't kill ya, makesss ya stronger', and in this kid'sss casse, he'll become a forccce to be reckoned with... And he'sss tough ass he iss already."
FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Everyone on the ground squinted as a jet of flames shot out of the obviously furious dragon's mouth, it's bucking intensifying. Atop the dragon, one could make out a small dot bouncing around atop the creature, making it's way down the neck. "Pfff... Perfect... It'sss breathing fire now..." So muttered the bangaa as he tried to watch on, squinting while doing so.
Rosaline only watched on, her expression squinting, but no less horrified.
Jarvis cursed under his breath, as he covered his eyes. "Luk, if that kid dies horribly because of this, snort I'm blaming you..."
Gantz, meanwhile, lept into the air, the rope he had used as reins tied around his waist, thereby keeping him from falling off the beast completely. Grinning in his snarky fashion, he pulled out his blade, the Eclipse. When the dragon heard him draw the blade, it knew it was in trouble, and as thus, tried to crane it's neck to try and incinerate it's it's passenger. However, the boy was quick, and ducked a jet of flames that came close to hitting him, but missing by a few inches. Making note to check if he still had eyebrows later, he approached the base of the neck quickly.
Dragons may have been impervious to magic, Gantz's specialty...
But they WEREN'T impervious to a stab wound in a prime nerve pressure point at the base of the neck. A fact the boy knew, and had just taken advantage of...
-----------------------------------------------------------
(Several hours later)
"And with that last stab, the beast's flames died away, it's roaring stopped, and it's body went still."
Reopening the scene, we find Gantz without his turban (Thus showing off a head of spikey black hair) wearing new dragon scale gauntlets, and holding up a goblet filled with water. He appeared to be standing in front of a bar inside a tavern, telling the story to several grown men and women who listened intently, holding their own goblets filled with various drinks.
Ah the Serene Sprite, Gantz thought. No place like it.
Grinning giddily at his captive audience, he continued the story. "But of course, that lead to another problem. Sure the beast was dead, but now came the problem of it's husk falling out of the sky, threatening to crash against the ground! Taking me with it!" He paused as he listened to the murmorings of the crowd. "Okay settle down please... If you must know, landing was indeed a lot harder then killing the dragon, but it was still easy to do." He grinned as he stretched casually. "All I had to do was ride atop it, JUST long enough to reach close to the ground-"
As the hume boy continued on, we turn our attention to a table not too far from the crowd where Rosaline sat, looking too concerned to drink from her own sugary drink. Sitting along with her was a mature looking young woman with deep brown tanned skin, that was tall and willowy, rabbit ears topping her head of short silver hair. Wearing a light orange tunic and a green cape with a green barret hat, complimented by calf high green boots, she was definately a strange looking figure, but when your race was that of the Viera, strange was accepted. The viera looked to Rosaline's anxious expression with her own concerned one. Rose took a drink of her beverage as she continued to listen in; Gantz's story reaching it's resolution. "Rosaline..." The Gria girl turned to the viera, though she generally kept her in the corner of her eye. "Is something the matter? You haven't been acting like yourself recently."
Rosaline sighed, as she turned her head back to the scene before her; it appeared the boy was overdramatizing his 'hairy' escape from the dragon, by using a short ranged teleportation to teleport off the dragon when it reached the ground. "Oh..." She sighed as she downed the rest of her drink. "I... I just don't know anymore, Luna..." Luna, apparently the viera, looked to Rosaline with a sympathetic expression.
"HAHAH! I'll drink to that!" From the bar, an adult male hume stood up holding his goblet. "To Gantz van Drake and Clan Highwind; conquerers of the Redwings and Borozoi, and heroes of Moorabella!"
"To Clan Highwind! Here-here!" The crowd's cheerful response was followed by them downing their drinks. Even Gantz got into the spirit and downed his water...
Back at her seat, Rosaline blushed as she watched him down his drink, followed immediately by him laughing jovially with the others. She lowered her head whilst Luna's sympathetic expression turned into a curious one. "You just don't know what, Rosaline?" After a second, she turned to look to the crowd. "Does this have to do with Gantz?"
A small nodd was Rose's response. "Y-yes..." There was a small sigh. "Luna... Do you think my worrying about Gantz's wellbeing is over-reacting?"
That seemed to confuse the viera somewhat. "Whatever do you mean Rose? I'm not sure I understand."
"You heard that story!" The Gria girl snapped, looking frustrated. "Gantz is completely reckless... I spent the entirety of the events in that story worrying about his wellbeing and safety, while HE had his fun riding on top that dragon!" Moaning, she rubbed her temples. "Honestly Luna... Is... Is it just me, or does Gantz like playing the 'Daredevil Loner' during missions? I mean, I more then noticed it during the whole 'Clan Redwings' advent, but..."
Luna nodded when Rosaline stopped, an understanding coming between them. "Trust me Rose, I understand." Sighing, she looked to where Gantz sat at the front bar as the crowd began to dissipate and go back to their seats. "Gantz wasn't always like this however. Once upon a time, he used to be very timid and meek." That clearly surprised the gria girl as she turned to Luna with a disbelieving expression. "Oh yes. Issac used to tell me that when he joined the clan, he always second guessed himself out in the field. Once, they were out on an escort mission and the boy refused to leave the cart even by a few inches, fearing an attack from any direction."
The Viera let out a sigh, as she looked to Gantz as he sat at the bar talking to Jarvis, Lukino, and a young male hume wearing a light blue, white, and green kimono, obviously another member of Clan Highwind. "Now look at him, what was once someone so cautious is now someone so reckless... Sometimes I wonder about that boy." She shook her head, before turning her gaze back to Rosaline. "To be honest, while I do worry about his safety as you do, I'm just glad he always turns out okay, despite all of it."
Rosaline groaned, "I know, I know... I am too but... But I..." She blushed a bit as she continued. "I still can't help it... I'm always afraid, I'm afraid of what he'll do next." 'Whack!' went her fist as she hit herself in the head. "I know it's stupid to worry about what hasn't happened yet, or what hasn't happened... but..."
A hand placed itself on the Gria's shoulder in a comforting matter, Luna's arm at the end of the wrist. "Rose, I don't think it's stupid. You're doing what anyone would do... ... Heck, I can't help but worry about that boy myself. He's definately given me and Roland our fair share of heart attacks." Luna shook her head, "We have tried before to confront him before, but he merely shrugged us off."
Rose let out a breath. "At least I know I'm not the only one. Lukino and Jarvis don't seem to think too much of it... Albeit Jarvis is more hesitant about it. Lukino though? He's quite proud of Gantz's stunts."
"That sounds like him." Luna groaned. "Look all I'm saying is, is that while I am glad Gantz is becoming more self-reliant and is capable of looking out for himself, there IS a difference between bravery and stupidity."
"Well what should we do about it?" Luna curled a lock of her silver hair in thought at the question...
... Her expression suddenly brightened, as she turned to Rose, smiling. "Rose... You and Gantz are close right?"
Going wide eyed and then turning red within a couple of seconds, it looked like Rosaline was unsure what to make of that question. "Well... I... I don't know..."
"What do you mean? You two have went out on a date before, haven't you?"
The gria blushed even more. Truth be told, she and Gantz had went out on a date before. It was a simple walk around town followed by dinner in a restaraunt... Did that count as a date? She really wanted to believe it did, since everyone else seemed to think so, but she wasn't really sure. "Well..." Thinking back, Gantz became quite the comedian during that time, trying to make her laugh when he found the opportunity. That could've been him just trying to be casual and making sure she had a good time though...
But...
"I... I think it was a... A date... It wasn't really too much though... Just a stroll around town, then dinner at this restaraunt... Does that count?"
Luna couldn't help but giggle at Rosaline's cuteness, before she nodded. "Yes I would say that is a date Rosaline." Rose blushed even more, biting her lip quite persistently. "Look Rose, what I'm saying is, you like Gantz... Don't you?"
Rose turned to where Gantz sat, chatting between his clan members, laughing at a joke that had been told. She took notice of his raven black hair, his deep cerulean eyes after he laughed and his joking expression as he fired off his counter joke...
"... Y-yes." She sighed, a love struck smile on her face. "Yes I do..."
"And Gantz likes you back?"
That caught Rosaline's attention quickly; obviously she had never thought of that before. "W-well..." She trued to think back to their date, trying to remember if Gantz himself left any hint that he liked her that way. Upon coming up empty, she shrugged helplessly, "I... I don't know..."
Considering this a moment, Luna smiled to the girl. "Well... Why don't you go find out?" That seemed to properly scare Rosaline, making her start a retort, only to be cut off. "Rose... Look. You're never going to know for sure until you try right? So why delay it? And besides, if he does like you, and I'm sure he does, because who COULDN'T like you, maybe he'll listen to you about his antics." She smiled, "One conversation; two birds with one stone."
Unassured, Rosaline turned away, looking red. "I... I don't know..."
Luna smiled as she leaned on the girl, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Rose, you'll be fine." Rosaline looked frightened and confused. "You are a very beautiful individual, I'm more then sure Gantz holds you dear, as the rest of us does. Don't be afraid to find out how close you are too him."
...
"..." Another few seconds passed before Rosaline smiled along with Luna. "Yes... Yes!" She nodded more energetically before standing up out of her chair quickly. "Yeah! Okay! I'll do it! Thank you Luna, thank you!" With that said, she ran over to the bar where Gantz and the others was.
Luna nodded as well, giggling at Rosaline's newfound courage and urgency.
Ah young love.
-----------------------------------------------------------
"Sheesh Gantz. Riding on the back of a dragon, are you serious?"
"Oh come on Issac, you can't deny that that sounds fun." Gantz responded to the hume male in the Kimono, a sword sheathe latched to the cloth belt, sitting on the stool next to his. He downed his glass of water, apparently having gotten a refill earlier, before turning his attention to Lukino, whom was drinking a cup of saki. Just past him was Jarvis, eating dinner in peace. A little section for the male warriors of Clan Highwind in otherwords. "Sides my plan worked, didn't it? We got dragon hide to sell, and we got the bounty for slaying the beastie."
Issac, the swordsman, looked at Gantz with a questionable stare... Before sighing in defeat. "Yeah... True I suppose..." Scratching behind his head awkwardly a moment, he crossed his arms as he turned back to the boy. "Still, it would have been less risky to come up with a plan, you know." Sighing, he dropped a sugar cube into his tea and began stirring it. "As members of a clan, it usually does a mission good if the clan works together as a team."
Downing another glass of, what Gantz could only assume was, sake, Lukino looked to Issac. The swordsman was thankful to note that he didn't look flushed yet, so the bangaa wasn't really tipsy yet he assumed. "Oh give it a ressst Isssac. No need to lecture the boy on crap he already knowsss." The bangaa shrugged idly as he collected a refill from a cup that was just set down by the bartender and drank it casually.
"Mayhaps you should slow down there Luk snort don't want ya gettin' drunk on us." Gantz looked to Jarvis, whom appeared to be polishing off chocobo wings with potatoes and a caffeinated brew to drink. "We ARE supposed to snort make a good impression you know, so why do snort drink so much sake?"
The Bangaa snorted at the question, before downing another cup. "Wouldn't you like to know?" The barman appeared once more, gave Lukino an odd look, and looked around, trying to figure out whether it would be a good idea to leave another drink or not. "But if you have to know tough guy, it'ss how I unwind after a misssion." He tapped the bar, ordering the barman to leave another cup. Looking hesitant, the man did just that. "Nothin' wrong with that now isss there?" He reached for the cup...
Only to have Gantz swipe it away at the last second, "Yeaaaaaaaah no. That was how we did things in the old days. Now? We're trying to keep up an image." He immediately brought his hand back, keeping the cup away from Lukino. "Hey Waiter! Stop bringing Luk drinks." The waiter nodded, ever understanding the request, as he took the cup from Gantz.
The boy grinned at the deed... Only to see Lukino glaring at him. "... I don't like you kid..."
"Oh get used to it, ya snort big scaley baby, he's just looking out for ya." Jarvis monotoned as he got a mouthful of potatoes.
"Ex-excuse me..."
All four males turned to see Rosaline standing behind them. "Ah Rosaline." Issac smiled at the welcome arrival. "What can we do for you?" Lukino, however, grumbled grumpily at the question, before turning back to the bar.
Non-dettered by Lukino, since she was quite used to his disposition by now, Rose continued. "May I possibly borrow Gantz for a while? I..." She took a breath... It was time to take that step. "I wish to speak with him... In private."
... That caught all KINDS of attention from the clan Highwind members; even Lukino turned his head back to the girl, grinning after he took a second to absorb the request. "Oh-hoh! In private, eh Rossse?" Grinning, he turned to Gantz and elbowed the boy playfully. "Well, well! Thiss ssoundsss sseriousss, lover boy!"
Gantz took the teasing good naturedly, blocking the highly muscled elbow with his own skinny one. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up scale head. She just wants to talk; nothing serious."
Issac joined in the good natured teasing himself, messing up the young paladin's hair with a noogie, "Come on Gantz, a talk always means more then you think. I mean, 'the pen IS mightier then the sword after all', and we all know why."
Jarvis lifted up his cup and caffeinated brew, as if to toast. "Words to live by snort Roland Jr.!" An offhanded comment as that was, it lead to a few chuckles all around, even Rosaline giggled. In truth, Roland, the Clan's resident wiseman was very well respected by the clan due to his well-read nature, and philosophical mindset... However he did come off as preachy sometimes, so the clan liked poking fun at him, though they kept it both playful and respectful either way.
With that said, Gantz stood up from his stool and looked to Rosaline curiously. "So... Where are we going to talk Rose? I'm open for anywhere, really."
The gria girl considered this... "Well-"
"How about the bathroom?" Came Lukino, proving that those last few drinks had made the bangaa quite tipsy. "Get plenty of privaccy in there!" Regardless of whether that was an intended joke or not, Gantz and Rose turned pure red, after all, they were no fools.
"Hey-hey-hey!" Gantz, in a flustered tizzy, waved Lukino off. "Keep the humor CLEAN, Luk, got it?" He slapped his forehead. "I mean, ULTIMA, Lukino, me and Rose are just friends after all!"
...
'Just friends...' That phrase echoed in Rose's head even more the Luk's early bit of dirty humor.
Issac, whom had been about to reprimand Lukion for his ill-placed, ill-tasted joke, stopped and winced when he saw Rose's face. Luna, from where she sat, slapped her forehead at Gantz's equally ill-timed response. "Oh, Gantz..."
Gantz himself failed to notice Issac's facial expression, as well as Rosaline's, before he turned back to her. "So you were saying Rose? Where should we cha-" However it was at that moment that he finally noticed the gria's expression, which was properly fuming. "Uh... Is something wrong?" He sounded like he was growing ever concerned.
But of course, concern was NOT going to fix this alone. Rosaline's growl grew in volume before she finally answered with, "You know what? Never mind! Like I'd ever wanna talk to you anyways you... You... GAAAAAAAAGH!" With that frustrated yell, she stormed past the tables and right out the doors of the tavern...
... And Gantz could only stand rooted to that spot, wide-eyed. "What... What just happened?"
"Looks to me like you just earned yourself some trouble with Rosaline."
Gantz jumped in surprise, as did a few other Clan Highwind members, before the looked to another table to see a small, hunched over creature sitting there, reading two stappled sets of paper, three pages for each, with a mace set up against it's chair. The creature appeared male with grey skin, and a small silverish white beard offsetting it's orange, red, and dusty light brown robes. "R-Roland!" Came Luna with a smile. "Wh-when did you get here?"
"Not too long ago my student, though it looks like I arrived just in time too." Smiling humorously, he turned to Gantz. "Before you go running after Rose, Romeo, may I trouble you with your temporary attention? You do help run the Clan's affairs when Marco is not around."
Looking between Roland and the door where Rosaline had stormed out, Gantz looked fairly conflicted. "B-but..." ... Eventually, he groaned, before walking up to Roland's table, and taking a seat. "Please make it quick Roland, I want to make sure Rose is alright."
Roland nodded in understanding, before he held out the papers he appeared to be looking through. "I merely wish you to look at these papers." The boy took the papers and looked through them quickly. "They are requests that I'm sure you will be interested in, young man."
Looking at the papers, Gantz quickly found out why.
-----------FFTA2--------------------------
On the paper, the front sheet, it said this specifically.
"To whom this may concern;
It will be Silversun soon, and in Camoa, Silversun means the Great Land Festival! We're looking for people to join in the festivities and help decorate our town! The work will last for five days up until the official opening of the festival, with lodging and board provided! So come one, come all, to our cherished festival!
Sincerely; The Camoa Great Land Festival Committee
Request Rank: A
Reward: 10,000,000 Gil"
A stamp was prevalent on the paper, a stamp that looked like a thick evergreen tree with the letters 'GLFC' imprinted at the foot of the tree.
