Chapter 1

The man stretched his massive wings toward the sun, letting the sun display his beautiful purple-black wings in all their glory. The leather-like appendages emerged from the top of back and broadened into their 10 foot span. While the tops of his wings were purple-black, the undersides were as dark as an abyss. As the sun illuminated his wings, many nearby females looked at him in interest.

Like many current day animals, the males of their species were more vibrantly colored than their female counterparts. Before they were blessed by the Goddess, their kind was once the beasts known as dragons. As scaled beasts, they would spend days, maybe even weeks or longer trying to get their chosen female to notice and select them as a mate. Males would display their vibrantly colored bodies and wings and bellow to get a female to take interest. The males would come in an assortment of colors like reds, yellows, oranges, blues and greens while the female's bodies were generally dark brown, green, grey and even white.

At one time dragons were almost exterminated but the Goddess Etro had taken pity on their fierce and beautiful ancestors and tried to help them. With the last of her power she turned them into a creature that had once ruled the world with its ingenuity but had eventually been destroyed by a rival God. The dragons were turned into a bipedal creature with a vast capability for intelligence with only their wings as a reminder of their heritage. The Cie'th were all that remained of the creatures called 'humans' after Lindzei had come to wreak havoc on those guided by Etro.

Dragons were not social by nature but during breeding season, which happened every 10 years, the female dragons would converge into a large group. It was instinct that allowed the dragons to know when to come to the breeding grounds at the right time. The females would be led by a single leader while the males would stalk around the fringes of the group trying to attract a mate. The female leader would have to fight for her position among her gender and was the fiercest among them. Instead of displays, the males would have to chase down the female and the one who captured her would become her mate. When she felt ready the female would sit alone in the center of the mating grounds and allow the males to draw near. Once those that were interested in taking her as her mate had arrived, she would roar out her challenge and take to the air with the males in pursuit.

After being made into this new species, their people no longer took mates this way. It was considered animistic though some men still partook in this sort of marriage. But it was exceedingly rare. Their retained wings were still used to impress potential love interests however, as beautifully colored wings were considered more attractive than dull ones for both genders.

Caius was hoping to impress a very special woman. A powerful warrior, she had been given her powers at a young age to help protect their lands. They were always under attack by monsters and the Dragon Goddess, Etro had made Claire Farron her Knight.

There was only one Knight of Etro at a time. When she passed, another would be appointed by the Dragon Goddess herself. The warriors would be imbued with otherworldly strength and magic, including the ability to summon armor and mechanical beasts from the Otherworld. The armor they could summon varied with the person and would instantly cover their body and was always in colors that matched their wings. The current warrior's armor was black and silver with golden bird design. There was even a sash of feathers which matched her ivory and gold wings. He had seen her fight many times, usually summoning a mechanical beast called Odin to help her in battle.

Caius himself could also summon the beast as he was the Knight of Chaos. He had been given his power trying to save the Seeress of Etro during the same attack that had killed the former Knight of Etro and Lightning's parents. While Lightning protected the northern side of their territory, Caius protected the southern. Unlike Lightning, his armor was purple black like his wings. He could also summon it at a whim and his chosen summon was a dragon called Bahamut.

Caius believed he was capable enough of being her equal. He had fallen in love with the woman and he planned on making her his. However, he doubted that the Warrior of Etro even knew he was interested in her. She tended to scare most males away with her cold attitude and sometimes violent refusals.

In most of their encounters, Caius would always attempt to rile her up. His attempts always succeeded and he liked the fire and passion he could see in her eyes. She was magnificent in her anger. The woman had a soft side that she would hide away but he had seen glimpses of it at times. Mostly it was when she spent time with her sister and some of the younger children of her city.

He could also sense loneliness from her. She had been chosen young after the former Knight was killed trying to protect the city from rampaging Cie'th. Since then Lightning would take care of her sister while trying to protect so many others.

Caius had his own cities to protect so they did not meet often, maybe once or twice a month. When they did meet, Lighting would act cold and try to be rid of his presence as soon as possible. He, on the other hand, would try to prolong their meetings as long as he could.

"Looks like the girls are quite interested in you, you dog! So which one are you gonna choose?" Came the voice of Snow from behind him. Caius replied smugly.

"None of them. There's only one woman I want and she is not here at the moment."

"Well who is it? You haven't told me who caught your eye yet" He paused a moment. "It's not Serah is it?!"

"Of course not! She's in love with you and she's not my type."

"Whew! That's a relief. So who is your type then? Her sister? I'd love to see how that would go!" He burst out laughing at that. "Sis is kinda scary would kill anyone who tries to court her!"

"You'll see soon enough." Caius smirked at the blonde man.

"For the last time, no!" Lightning sighed in frustration at her younger sister. "You are too young. Why did you choose Snow of all people? Why not Noel? At least I like him." They had been fighting for hours. Both sisters were sitting at their kitchen table, the remains of the meal Serah cooked before them.

Serah was trying to convince Lightning that she was ready to marry Snow but Lightning kept rejecting it. Serah knew that she was wearing her down though. She just needed to keep trying.

"Sis, you would reject Noel as well if I tried to marry him. I know you. Plus, he's younger than me and in love with Yeul. We have always been just friends." Serah looked into her sister's eyes. "Lightning, I won't do this without your blessing. I really need you to give it to me." She let her eyes water to up the stakes.

"Serah, this is a big decision. Are you sure want to take such a step so early in life. You're only 19." Lightning growled.

"I know! But I really do love him and I know we will be happy together. Please..." She begged, using her puppy dog eyes.

"... I'll think about it." With that Serah jumped up and dashed towards her sister to give her the biggest hug she could. She began to squeal with excitement.

"Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

"I didn't say yes!"

"You never say no after you say 'you'll think about it.'" She let go and began to excitedly run up the stairs of their home. Snow would be so happy when she told him the news.

Sazh had just dropped his son off at school that morning when he saw a peculiar sight in front of his weapons shop. He wondered why Lightning Farron was waiting for him. As he approached, the woman looked to be deep in thought. She spoke before he had a chance to ask what the matter was.

"Sazh, do you think I should let Serah marry Snow?" He was quite shocked to be asked such a question by the cold warrior. They had met when they had traveled together to find his son. Dajh had been kidnapped by one of the smarter Cie'th which tried to lure the Knight of Etro and Sazh into a trap. They had prevailed in the end and the man had ended up working with her on a couple other missions. Sazh didn't think he had had such an impact on the warrior that she would come to him for such a personal question. He knew both Snow and Serah for years but didn't meet Lightning until she helped him save his son.

"You're asking me? Well, kid I'm flattered. If you really want my opinion then I'll be happy to give it."

"I do. I don't really know what to do at the moment."

"Well, I think you should let Serah do whatever she knows will make her happy. Even if it doesn't pan out the way you wanted at least you tried and would never look back thinking 'what if'. I do think Snow will keep her happy though." He watched the young warrior's forehead crinkle in thought. After a moment she met his gaze.

"Thank you Sazh."

As the Knight of Etro was heading back to her home, she had the unfortunate luck to encounter the most aggravating male on the planet. There he was, clad in his brilliant purple and black armor, most likely here just to annoy her. She was not in the mood to deal with him right now.

"What do you want Caius?" She barked out, hoping her aggressiveness would make him leave.

"What makes you think I need anything from you?" He grinned from where he was leaning against her tree.

"You're here in front of my house. On my property. If you don't need anything then get off and get out of my sight."

"Hostile as always, I see. I just wanted to talk about the Cie'th and their activities. I just want to know if there has been any changes in the rates or places of attacks. Have you noticed anything that we should maybe worry about?"

Lightning calmed down a little. As their respective territories' guardians they needed to exchange information once in awhile.

"There has been a decrease in the amount of attacks from the Ci'eth these last few months. It must be because we slew their leaders the month prior. I don't think we will have to worry much for the next few years. It seems like they are trying to regrow their lost numbers due to the civil war that followed."

"Civil war? How would you know that?"

"I sometimes sneak into their territory. it's risky business but it's needed. I can handle it." She stated.

Caius was shocked that she would head into enemy territory so haphazardly. Anger began to form.

"And what if you couldn't? What if it was too much and then there would be no one to help you. Are you looking to die!?" Caius almost yelled at her.

The woman's eyes widened at his response. It was extremely rare to make Caius angry during their conversations. Why did he look so angry now? It's not like he cared for her.

"I told you. I. Can. Handle. It." The Knight of Etro stepped forward until she was close to him. Who was he to say such things to her?

After a moment Caius stepped back and checked his anger.

"Thank you for the information. It has been the same for me as well." He coolly explained. He turned and walked away from the surprised woman. When did he ever leave their encounters first?

"I will see you at the ritual grounds next month then, Lightning." He said, already having been told by Snow, who had been told by Serah, that Lightning had said yes to their marriage. Caius left before the Knight of Etro could say a word.

This was another old and somewhat embarrassing fic I was working on. It was more than half finished so I think I'll just post it and try to finish it. Its been years since I last worked on it so I'm not sure if everything is going to make sense, especially when I try to continue it.