queentaejin:

When she closed her eyes, she could still hear the falling debris around her, the sound of crumbling earth and the clash of metal against metal as her sword and Lightning’s sword made contact. The soldier had matched her strike for strike, parrying each of her blows with ease and experience. Despite being a newer recruit, she had put up a fight unlike any Queen had ever been in before.

Perhaps, the difference had been in their resolve; though stubborn and narrow-minded, there was no doubt that Lightning’s strength had been a result of her desire to protect those around her. That in itself was enough to make Queen feel even more guilty about the situation and her inability to act. Had she been stronger - had her resolve been as strong as Lightning’s - the outcome may have turned out very differently.

However, there was no point in dwelling about the past now. She needed to look forward towards the future, no matter how painful it was to let go. Rising to her feet, she took several deep breaths, blinking the tears from her eyes. She needed to be strong; she couldn’t let anyone see her weakness.

Having lost track of how long it had been since she left camp, Queen thought it best to return. There was still much that needed to be done in regards to treating casualties and foreseeing the wellbeing of survivors. As chief medic, she needed to be there to assist Faris and Serah. Taking one last look at the ruined landscape, she squeezed her eyes shut and spun on her heel, refusing to look back.

Times like this, I’m ‘specially grateful I’m just a Commando. Faris wiped a slight sheen of sweat off her forehead and lowered the water bottle she had been drinking out of. Their mission of establishing the camp complete, Faris and Serah had parted ways. The medic had other duties to attend to now, like caring for the countless victims of the disaster.

Faris had been assisting with moving boxes of supplies throughout the camp as well as setting up some more of the makeshift medic facilities and so on. It was mostly physical labor, nothing that required higher thought. For that she was grateful. After the trying circumstances of Agardon’s crisis, the strenuous task of setting up camp was a welcome way to occupy herself.

Throughout the camp there was still some panic and discord amongst the citizens, and even some of the Army members. People were naturally upset and people were crying over loved ones as well as their way of life in general. Faris sighed and leaned back against the tree she was sitting next to, placing the water bottle beside her for now.

Scanning the area around her, Faris spotted a familiar face making its way back to camp. Indeed, knowing Queen had been out there in the chaos as well had been a great source of comfort to her. A weary smile finding its way to her face, Faris lifted a hand in greeting to Queen.

“Queen!” she called to the medic to make sure the other soldier would spot her, and gestured for her to come over. After lifting heavy crates and all sorts of equipment for the past hour right after the mission, there was no way Faris was moving from her resting spot.

Her smile faded a bit when she spotted the other’s rigid stance and posture. Something didn’t seem right.

ingustaejin:

A smile began to form at the corner of his lips, as the battle began to unfold according to plan. Clash after clash Faris’ nimble form was pushed further back into the linear darkness of the cave. Light was soon becoming a problem for Ingus, so much so that he couldn’t make out her exact figure when it came time to deliver the skyward strike. As soon as his blade met the thinness of the air, he braced himself for a counter attack. Due to the position of his arms and blade, blocking was out of the question, so Ingus simply tightened his whole body. A swift and sturdy kick met with his lower obliques, delivering sharp yet minimal damage. 

I tensed… If she had decided to sweep my legs, I would have buckled like a frightened goat. But if I hadn’t then I could have sustained much more damage to my midsection. It’s this light… I can’t predict, or plan in this environment. Not to mention my opponents speed and flexibility.


To his dismay, Faris began to back quickly into the darkness. A clear lure, of course, one that Ingus would have to follow. He could just spark another fire, perhaps make it portable this time, but decided to rise to Faris’ challenge. Innovation would be required.

Ingus placed his palm on the face of his blade, and closed his eyes. 

“Blizzard.”

As the word parted his lips, chilling wisps slithered from his palm, and engulfed the length of his sword. Translucent crystals coated the dim steel, until it settled into condensed layers. A moment or two after this happened, whatever light was left from the fire grew intensely brighter for a second before going out completely. Darkness.

If Ingus could boast anything, it would be his control over magic. Under normal conditions, bigger and stronger was the usual use of magic. Ingus however took a different approach to the art. Rather than using it for damage purposes, Ingus liked to limit it as to use magic as a tool. For example, the fire back there was able to stay lit for so long because Ingus stretched the amount of energy it took to cast it. Instead of costing him a lot of energy at once, it slowly fed away at him until he no longer needed it. Hence the flare of light before being extinguished. 

As for the sword, Ingus simply wanted the presence of ice in the already cold cave, rather than use it as a weapon. Ingus had many layers of clothes, which insulated body heat very well. Faris on the other hand was far more exposed. And once he was finished with it, he could explode it into an attack. 

I have to watch my energy. Even though maintaining it costs less, the little things tend to add up. Plus, if i do decide to release the Blizzard spell in mid swing, that would cost even more. 

Ingus began to advance slowly on Faris, his attention briefly switching to the 4 or 5 ethers that were nestled safely against his body. 

“Getting chilly, aye?”

Although it was nearly impossible to see Faris, thanks to the linear construction of the cave, Ingus knew where she was. Without another thought, he lunged forward, and aimed a horizontal slash at the dark form in front of him. 

He’s getting better, she thought to herself, as he managed to take her kick rather well. He’s relying a little more on instinct. Good.

This training session with Ingus, evalutating his skills or whatever it was she was tasked with, was rather impromptu on the whole. However one of the things that had struck her during their meeting was his rigid posture and even tight-laced personality. That was all well and good but he needed to loosen up a little. At least enough to keep up with the ever changing and unpredictable circumstances of missions.

At his intonation of “blizzard,” she grinned to herself while feeling her way through the maze of rocks. She was pleased with his use of magic. Obviously, it wasn’t her area of expertise but even she could tell that Ingus had demonstrated great ingenuity with his Ravager skills so far.

Silence ensued after his spell, and she welcomed it. Faris continued roaming through the maze of rocks; it was almost predatory, the way her boots gripped the rugged surfaces of the room silently as she slowly made her way towards Ingus, waiting for a glimpse of him and a suitable angle.

His taunt took her off guard. That was surprisingly playful and devious talk coming from the new recruit. Still, she remained silent. A feral smirk appeared on her face. Faris had just made out the outline of Ingus’ hat just beyond another rock formation; he was facing the other way.

She realized what he was about to do an instant before his iced blade met the somewhat (roughly) humanoid looking stone in front of him. As the loud clang echoed throughout the room, Faris took the opportunity to rush forward past the last rock formation and straight at Ingus.

A loud bark of a laugh escaped her followed by, “Don’t ye worry about the cold! I’m turning up the heat starting now.”

That was the only warning Ingus got before Faris charged at him from behind, unleashing a melee of sword attacks and combinations. She kept up a relentless barrage with the goal of pushing Ingus to his limits. He would either have to keep up with her blow for blow, magic his way out of it, or find some other creative escape.

Speaking literally, Faris aimed to have his back up against a rock by the time she was done.

bartztaejin:

Bartz smiled widely relieved by her response. “Glad to hear. I like being straight forward if possible. And of course you are also welcome to be as straight with me as you wanna be.” He stole another glance at her and grinned to himself. ‘Well, maybe I should hold back a few compliments for later. Don’t want to overwhelm her or anything… Okay, just one more.’ “‘Though, I really have no idea why you’d not be used to getting complimented. If anything, shouldn’t you get more now that you’re open with your identity opposed to earlier? Unless you are like, a real bully towards the other soldiers or something.”

As they stood in front of her house Bartz considered the surroundings. ‘A house at the beach? Nice. It sure has it’s perks to be a more veteran soldier in the army, I guess.’ When he was about to follow her into the building she jumped in front of him and blocked the way. The sudden movement startled him and he looked at her in confusement.

But after Faris had given him her next warning he couldn’t stop himself from laughing out loud. He tried to restrain himself and after a few deep breaths started to explain: “So, you are telling me,” another giggle escaped him, “Faris, you are saying, the little princess,” he paused for another moment to take a slow, deep breath and contain the next wave of laughter, “the highborn lady who ran away from home to escape all the pomp got herself a crew of pirates so she didn’t have to take care of the cleaning herself?!”

With amusement all over his face he kept looking at her and continued: “And when she loses her personal army of battle hardened, sea robbing butlers she is unable to get the housework done on her own? Oh, that’s so precious!” It might have come off harder than he intended but he couldn’t help pointing out the irony or what seemed to him quite ironic. “I hope you didn’t use your charms on me just so to bring me home and get me to clean up your mess. Because, you know, that would totally work if it’s you doing it but,” and he emphasised that last word distinctly, “it would be very malicious!” Bartz kept looking at Faris and just couldn’t wipe the evil grin from his own face no matter how hard he tried.

She scratched the back of her neck sheepishly, “Guess other soldiers in the army got their priorities in different places than yours.” She laughed at this.

His reaction to her totally called for and necessary warning was not what she’d expected. However, his laughter was infectious.

She chuckled along, “Well when ye put it that way, it is a sorry state to be in.” She laughed again and added, “I know ye aren’t the deck boy, it’s my mess and I’ll take care of it.”

When Bartz continued laughing, she smirked and slapped him upside the head, “Oi, there!”

Placing her hands on the hips, she assumed a more “captain-y” pose and stared him down from the small step leading to the front door of her house. She quirked an eyebrow at him and took on the voice she used for administering orders.

“No laughing at the Captain in her quarters!”

Dropping the pose, she opened the door to her small home and stepped inside. She held the door open for Bartz, gauging his reaction to the mess that lay inside.

A couple of books were strewn around the room but the vast majority of the mess lay in her clothes which were laying about. On top of that, there was equipment scattered everywhere. From miscellaneous weapons, cleaning rags for said weapons, stones for sharpening a blade, and so on and so forth. And then there was the matter of dishes. Faris cringed a bit at that. Dishes.

“I did warn ye,” she said, scratching her nose sheepishly, “Careful where ye step and sit now. There’re some loose daggers around here somewhere.”

(Source: faristaejin)

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bartztaejin:

Bartz couldn’t help noticing her blush even though she apparently tried to hide it from him. ‘Why is she embarassed?’ he wondered and frowned a little. ‘It can’t possibly be the first time someone told her she’s charming. Even if she was hiding her true identity all these years there must have been the occasional person she revealed her true self to, and surely they would have told her so. If no one else, the men she took into her cabin occassionaly.’

He started following her and picked up her pace. “Ah, don’t worry. I might not be a Medic but as a Saboteur I know a thing or two about hazardous environments. I think we’ll be fine, somehow. Worst case I’ll see to using Veil to give us a better survival chance.” He grinned at her and then looked ahead along the surrounding buildings. “Though if you think we’d better do some shopping rather than eat whatever digestable we can salvage from your kitchen you better say so.”

“… You know,” he began hesitantly after a while, “I don’t mean to make you umcomfortable. I know I’m kind of more straight forward than people are comfortable with most of the time. I guess I should be glad at least in front of my superiors I can keep my mouth shut.” ‘Well, most of the time, anyway.’ he reconsidered. “What I’m trying to say is, if I’m too blunt and you’d rather want me to hold back and not tell you how beautiful your violet hair is, just tell me. No need to be embarrased about it or think you offend me.” He smiled at her and gave her a friendly jab. “After all, we’re buddies from way back, right, Faris?”

Get a grip, Scherwiz! she yelled internally. This was getting out of hand and in was time to get her head back on straight. Slapping herself mentally, Faris hitched a grin back on her face and joked along with Bartz.

“Well, I recently took up a Sentinel position myself so I’m sure together we’d be able to protect against most of the perils of cooking.”

She scratched the back of her neck and thought over her kitchen back at home, “Hasn’t been too long since I went shopping. I think we’ll be fine with what’s there.”

They continued making their way to her house, passing through the residential area. That was when Bartz finally broke the silence again, tentatively. She blinked and looked over at him, fighting off another blush that threatened to rise up.

“Don’t worry about that!” she said, making a point to not stutter, “I’m just not used to… This kind of talk anymore! But straightforward’s better than beating ‘round the bush!”

They rounded a corner and Faris’s home and the beach came into view simultaneously. She darted in front of him, pausing in front of the door to warn him of what lay ahead.

“It’s, ah, my house is a mess,” she explained, “ye see, the ship always had a crew to do the cleaning and I’m not, ah, one for keeping things spick and span myself.”

(Source: faristaejin)

serahtaejin:

Serah looked around the wreckage, hoping to find any sign of this being a good base camp, hearing Faris’s words, she moved her pale pink hair from her face, and turned to respond.

“Yeah that sounds like a plan, anything to help these poor people” Serah sighed with signs of worry leaping from every breath. They weaved themselves around the danger. Serah’s keen eyes studied the surroundings for every detail, whilst they circled the town looking for the most appropriate area to set up camp.

Listening to Faris’s every word, Serah’s blue eyes scoped the area occupied around the mountains.
“Definitely, we need all the cover we can get from all this!” Serah cried, as she took a deep breath listening to the screams of the innocent in the distance.
“We definitely need an area with a clean supply of water, to keep everyone clean and hydrated” she said sternly with a hint of authority, whilst giving Faris a convincing smile.

The rays of sun beamed down on the pair, which had a clear juxtaposition with the screeching sounds of terror, which haunted Serah. Her watering eyes glanced over to Faris’s strong stature; then turned away closing her eyes from the disaster.

An area with water… Faris thought this over. They were in a valley surrounded by mountains. It seemed like a rich environment but still… Clean, fresh water was a tall order in these circumstances. But Serah was the medic and Faris had to pay deference to the pink haired girl’s expertise.

“Alright,” she called back, “Clean water, we’ll see what we can do!”

They were slowly starting to reach the northern edge of the town and the sun was finally high enough in the sky to illuminate the whole horrible scene. Faris glanced behind her to check how Serah was doing and saw that the medic seemed to be averting her gaze.

“Serah,” she kept her voice sympathetic, knowing how hard this must seem as a first mission to her companion, “there’s no time to be sad. We have to focus on our job so we can help these people.”

The chocobos kept galloping forward, and Faris grit her teeth in impatience. They needed to find a good space quickly, there wasn’t time for all this running around. She slowed her chocobo down and looked around.

Directing her voice at Serah while continuing to scan the area, she said, “What do you say we branch out a little further? Let’s try a little more to the west.”

Faris turned her chocobo in said direction and pushed it forward at a trot. This area didn’t seem particularly hectic. The screaming was starting to get a little more distant. Just as she was thinking it was time for them to turn back, she caught a glimpse of blue up ahead.

“Water…” She turned to Serah and grinned, “We found water! Alright,” she looked around again and finally turned to Serah fully, “I think this is the best space we’ll find. What do ye say?”

(Source: faristaejin)

bartztaejin:

While working Bartz listened to her complaints about her families pompous behaviour. He smirked but decided to leave further discussion on that for another day. It just wouldn’t be right to talk back to a lady now, would it?

Finally, once she had told him her name as well - Faris, quite a cute name if it seemed a bit boy-ish - Bartz felt somewhat relieved. He’d wondered if he should have recalled her name from their common trip long ago but she didn’t make any remarks about that. ‘I guess she’d be hard pressed to recall the names of all the passengers she and her crew ever had on board.’

He couldn’t contain a giggle at her further remark. “Ah, of course we would not want to upset m’lady’s stomach, especially when lunch is due soon. In return for the invitation I’m more than willing to forgive your Highness’ distinct lack of courtesy.” He grinned at her and stuck his tongue out teasingly, then turned around and started walking towards the stable doors.

When his new (or actually old) acquaintance commented on her own lack of cooking skills he turned to face her again and realized she seemed quite a bit less composed than before. Did his comment get to her like that? Or was she just so insecure about her kitchen skills? He decided to try to cheer her up. “Though, if I may be so bold, when you’re flustered” - Well, I think you are flustered right now - “you are in a certain way even more charming than your usual composed self.”

Returning to her question he replied “About the cooking, don’t worry. I’m like a lobo, I’ll eat anything as long it doesn’t taste of garbage. Okay, I like my meat cooked, usually, opposed to most lobos I’ve encountered. And I’m trying to stay away from chocobo… for certain reasons.” His mind raced for a moment back to a girl who once tried to serve him chocobo eggs and he had gone rather pale then. It had kind of ruined the day.

“But I’m sure you’re more sensible than trying to serve me that.” He laughed. “But if push comes to shove, I credit myself to be not too bad a cook myself. If you live of the land regularly you either eat poorly or you learn some decent skills to make the food edible so I guess I…” He stopped mid-sentence and came to the conclusion his father didn’t always share his taste in cooking. He started to scratch his chin and tried to remember what food he and his dad could agree on was good enough to eat. And failed. “Well… I guess I’m good enough to make something… Only if you need my help, of course. Otherwise I’m perfectly willing to enjoy your hospitality.”

(Source: faristaejin)

yeultaejin:

Yeul’s calm green eyes rested on Faris, and she nodded, her expression remaining exactly the same as before. As if, why yes, she had indeed been waiting to meet one such as her this entire time. Whether or not that was true could be disputed, but the fact that there was little that could cause a shift in this petite girl’s countenance was hardly up for debate.

“I am Paddra Nsu-Yeul. I work as a Medic.”

Carefully, she put the flower crown away, tucking it safely into the pouch that lay folded in the pelts that hung at her back. Her treasure now restored, she seemed much less distressed. Her expression was clear, as usual, even of the sadness that had shown itself during the crisis earlier.

At Faris’s remark on her safety, Yeul’s eyes moved away from the Commando to slowly take in the woods around them, other birds joining the one she had been following in a chorus that chimed along with the leaves rustling in the gentle breeze. The lake glistened, the water lapping at the edges of the land enclosing it.

“It’s all right,” Yeul confirmed softly, a tenderness softening her features.

She had neither Caius nor Noel with her here. But she had made a vow to herself to offer what little assistance she could. Her visions as a seeress had been foggy and inconclusive as of late. Before, her utility had been her glances at the future. Now that they were becoming increasingly unreliable, she wanted to offer herself in other ways. She would fight, as well. To protect those she cared about.

While Faris had little doubt in the girl’s ability to work as a medic, she had to admit the idea of Yeul being sent into combat was a troubling notion. Even if her duties didn’t place her in the direct line of combat, she was still liable to be in danger at intervals.

She was a really quiet one and Faris wondered if this was normal for the soldiers in Taejin’s Army. The commando was still new after all and had met very few other soldiers.

Turning her head to take in their surrounds and brushing purple bangs out of her eyes, she asked, “What were ye doing out here anyway? Just enjoying the scenery?”

It was a nice spot to get some peace of mind. The thought occurred to Faris that Yeul might want privacy. She looked at the blue haired girl’s expression. It didn’t scream for a desire to be alone… But then again it didn’t tell her much of anything one way or another. Good face for poker this little girl has.

Struggling to find a way to discern what Yeul wanted, Faris finally asked, “Is there anything I can help ye with?”

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bartztaejin:

Bartz was actually quite surprised by her reaction. He had antitcipated some laughter, and possibly some flushing. But then he had expected her to banter and tell him to stop it because this was what she was running away from.

Getting invited to dinner while definitely not unwanted was a surprise though. His eyes widened for a moment while he wondered whether it was just a jest or a sincere invitation. Anyway, he decided to play along. If he had mistaken her intentions she could always tell him.

“If that’s what m’lady asks for I am of course in no position to deny her request,” he replied with another amateurish bow and a smirk on his face. “Though, I first need to finish my lowly peasant work but it will only take a moment, if you’ll excuse me.”

He hurriedly cleaned up the tools he had used, prepared Boko’s food and petted the bird goodbye all the while feeling a strange nervousness creeping inside him without being entirely sure where it stemmed from. It definitely wasn’t about feeling uncomfortable around her or women in general, far from it actually. But he felt uneasy nonetheless. Possibly it was merely the idea of him still being little more than a recruit and her being his superior at least to some degree. That was probably it. And then he realized it…

When he was finished he turned back to her with a smile “You know, I just now realized it… My dad might not have spent much time teaching me about living with other people but he taught me you shouldn’t go home with strangers.” He cleaned his right hand by rubbing it at his shirt and was about to extend it when he reconsidered. ‘Maybe I should stay in character.’ He did another bow this time a bit more elegantly with one hand behind his back and the other on his chest. “Bartz Klauser, at your service, my lady.”

She folded her arms, and shot him a more imperious look while smirking, “Ay, and ye better get to that. Important folks like me aren’t accustomed to waiting.”

Faris wrinkled her nose a bit, “That’s the kind of stuff they’d say back home. Couldn’t stand it, all that pomp.”

The former pirate kicked up some of the stray hays lying around on the stable floor, watching him work and take care of the birds. They seemed to really like him. He must spend a lot of time down here. It made sense, he and his own chocobo seemed quite close.

She blinked at his next words, go home with a stranger…? And then he bowed and introduced himself and that’s when she felt like a royal idiot because of course they hadn’t actually introduced themselves.

“Faris Scherwiz,” she replied trying and failing in her attempt to not flush again, “I’d curtsy but I don’t know if my stomach could handle another.”

Her face heated up and she looked to the side, a little embarrassed by all this play acting. Bartz had brought out some fairly unusual behavior in her and the fact that she was inviting him over for lunch was even stranger.

“Er, well,” she coughed and tried to regain some of her bravado, “We should get going. You have any preferences for food? I’m not much of a cook.”

(Source: faristaejin)