Dun dada dun! It's here! I am now officially . . . better than I was. I
still have a slight cough etc, but I always end up with one all through
winter. It'll disappear just in time for Hayfever season. I swear, I've
never been fully well a day in my life! Well, that's enough ranting from
me, but thanks to everyone who wished for my good health!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------
LINDBLUM
The woman at the counter frowned as Zidane walked in.
"Unless, you're going to buy something you little thief, I advise you leave" she warned.
Zidane laughed. "Aw come on Sally, don't you like me anymore?" he asked good-naturedly, walking up to the counter.
"Every time you come in here, something 'mysteriously' disappears" she explained. "Now are you going or buying?"
Zidane frowned. "I don't have to take this. Fine, I'll go." With that, the boy strode out, seemingly annoyed.
"Good riddance" Sally muttered, and stared down at the counter. Her eyes widened, and she looked around frantically. But it was no use. The Phoenix Down that had been on the counter was gone.
"ZIDANE!" she shrieked.
* * *
Zidane laughed as he heard Sally's voice. "Some people never learn" he said, pocketing his prize.
After selling the Phoenix Down at the Item Shop, he walked around Alexandria. The place was a ghost town. No plays, no events, no new girls.
He sighed, and looked up at Alexandria Castle. It had been a year since he first came here, and was now roughly seven years old, not knowing his birthday. But his first night was still the most memorable. The night he'd crept into the castle . . .
The tailed thief scowled, and kicked at a rock. Princess Garnet didn't even remember the night. Nothing had come back to her, and she was learning from scratch. But Steiner and the Knights of Pluto did. They'd spent most of the year trying to catch him for 'kidnapping' the princess. He wasn't too worried, he could lose those bumbling idiots in his sleep, but it did get annoying after a while. Speaking of which . . .
Zidane stared at the ramp that led to Alexandria Castle. There was a young woman walking to the castle. One of her eyes was covered by a strange eye patch, and she carried a sword.
"She was chasing me that night too" he said to himself, and a plan came to him. Quickly, he darted after the woman. If Garnet didn't remember him, then he'd go and remind her himself!
* * *
The boy spotted the boat, and noticed there was nowhere to hide on it. As it slowly began to row away, he quietly slunk into the water, and grabbed the edge.
"I hope they don't have crocodiles in this moat" he whispered under his breath. He didn't want them to realise they had a stowaway.
* * *
The ride was short, but still too long in Zidane's opinion. When the two occupants left, he crawled to the edge, and listened in.
"How is Princess Garnet? I haven't heard since I left."
"She is doing well with her studies Captain. She is busy with Dr. Tot at the moment, in the library. But we will be leaving soon."
The voices faded into the distance, but Zidane picked up enough to know his next destination.
"Library huh? Well, how hard can it be to find that?"
Slinking with incredible agility, he tiptoed past the fountain, and into the castle.
* * *
Zidane held back a curse as yet another pair of guards past him. There was apparently much more security within than outside. He barely wondered why.
When the coast was clear, he darted into the middle of the hall. Picking quickly, he ran into the right hand room.
* * *
"Well, this looks like a library, but I don't see Garnet" the boy moaned, looking round the room. All there was was a few old men and . . .
"YOU!" Steiner shouted. "Knights of Pluto!"
Zidane did a one eighty and bolted, the armoured man straight behind him. As he ran into the hall, he banged into a Knight of Pluto.
"Got him sir!" he shouted.
"No you don't!" Zidane shouted, then bit the mans arm.
"OOWWW!!!"
The Knight of Pluto let him go, and Zidane ran straight into the left room, Steiner, and several Knights of Pluto that had appeared from nowhere hot on his heels.
* * *
Garnet sighed as she turned another page in her book. All of this was so boring. What she wouldn't give to have something different happen every now an . . .
"Look out!" a voice shouted.
Garnet looked up as a boy landed on her book, and skidded off the edge of the table. It was followed by a loud thud, and a young boy stood up, shaking his head as if to clear it.
"Note to self" he said. "Never do that again." It was then he caught sight of Princess Garnet.
"All right!" he said. "That was easy."
Garnet could only stare at the boy. He didn't look familiar.
Just then, the two heard the Knights of Pluto crash into the room, and nearing them.
Zidane dived under the table. "Don't tell!" he hissed.
"Uh, okay" she agreed, as Steiner finally came into view.
"Princess. Did a young rogue go by here?" he asked. Garnet nodded, and pointed to the far end of the library.
As the Knights crashed through the library, another face came down the stairs.
"Garnet, the airship is leaving for Treno in a few minutes. I advise you get to dock."
"Okay Dr. Tot" Garnet replied, and walked up to her teacher. When they left the room, Zidane crawled from his hiding place.
"Well that was completely screwed up" he muttered, and whirled round when he heard a familiar clanking. Steiner was coming back.
Hastily making a decision, Zidane bolted up the stairs. With all the Knights behind him, there seemed to be little security. Everyone was probably guarding the Princess now.
That wasn't the case though, as he caught site of Garnet walking away, with only that weird man.
"They said they were going on an airship. Guess I'll hitch a ride!" Zidane decided, and darted after the two, hoping that Steiner wouldn't follow.
Meanwhile . . .
"You destroyed half our library," shouted one of the Librarians."
"You were far too loud!" shrieked another.
"I am terribly sorry, but I must go! The pri . . ."
"You're not going anywhere till you clean up" the first librarian shouted. "With Queen Brahne leaving, Zorn and Thorn are in charge, and they'll take our side since they can't stand you!"
Muttering under his breath, Steiner started picking up the books.
On the airship . . .
"I can't believe I actually got on so easily!" sighed Zidane, as he stretched out in the storage area. "The grubs good too."
After sneaking on board in a crate, Zidane had crept out, and eaten his fill of several delicacies the airship was carrying. Yawning, he closed his eyes to sleep off the meal.
* * *
Zidane woke up abruptly as someone grabbed him.
"Hey you little stowaway!" the woman in armour shouted. "What do you think you're doing?"
Not getting time to answer, the Alexandrian soldier grabbed the back of the boy's jacket, and carried him to Captain Beatrix's room.
* * *
There was a knock at Beatrix's door, followed by the word, "Captain."
"Enter" Beatrix replied.
One of her soldiers walked in, carrying a young boy.
"I found a stowaway on my rounds" she said. "What should we do with him?"
Beatrix stood up and looked at Zidane. He did what he did best, making his face look as innocent as possible, with just a hint of puppy dog eyes.
Apparently, it worked. "Where are we at the moment?" Beatrix asked.
"Just over Qu's Marsh" the soldier answered.
Beatrix sighed. "Tell the pilot to fly as low as possible, and throw him out one of the docking ramps. If we're over Qu's Marsh, he shouldn't get hurt when he lands at such a low height."
"Throw me OUT!" shrieked Zidane as the soldier took him out. "Hey wait a . . ."
* * *
Zidane continued to fight the soldier. Finally, she snapped.
"I don't like it any more than you do. I have a brother about your age," she shouted. "Believe it or not, this is probably the most humane punishment. If I had gone to Queen Brahne, it would be over the sea, as high as we could go!"
As the ramp opened, the soldier caught a glimpse of the Marsh through the fog. It wasn't even 10 metres below.
"Good luck kid!" she shouted, and let go.
* * *
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" ~thump~
Zidane jumped out of the mud, scaring frogs in every direction.
"Alexandrian girls are nuts!" he shouted. "I aint going back there anytime soon! Man, and I left almost everything at home too."
He was right too. All he had was his clothes, his cloak, his dagger, and whatever was in his pockets. He could probably swipe a bag, but he was too mad even to care. He was muddy, he'd been humiliated, and to top it all off, his last meal was wearing off."
He walked out of the Marsh, fortunately not running into any white blobs like last time, and stormed away, not even caring about the direction.
He tried to wipe off the mud, but as it started raining, he gave up, and let the stuff drip off him. When he felt relatively clean, he put his cloak back on.
He walked for a small while, realising that without his map, he had no idea where he was. If he kept in this direction, there was no telling where he'd end up.
But luck was on his side as a gateway loomed in front of him. A sign beside it said 'Dragons Gate' Lindblum.
"Lindblum? All right!" Zidane exclaimed. "Talk about luck!"
He started running towards the cliff. "Lindblum, Pops, and everyone else, here I come!"
THE END
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
If this is the first fic of mine you've ever read, yes this is the end of The Beginning (^_^ Sorry, that just sounds so weird!). Zidane's story continues in The Torment of Tantalus, still my favourite out of my FF9 fictions. I'm neutral to this ending, not sure if I like it or not. I'm not a Beatrix fan, so sorry if she seemed a little mean throwing Zidane out, but I was completely out of ideas!
The next story up will be a prequel to the game (when is it not?), and should be up soon!
Thanks to everyone who reviewed!
Lord Cirenmas
Ravyn Crescent
Kingpin
Daze Riot
Gold Mage
Aquarius Mistress
Zidane is thy God
Kia
Ihire
Mikoto
Bluehoshi
FF9 Zidane
infernobree
Helen Star
Eika
Holly Short
Von
Zero-tribal-004
Magic Girl2
Kaya
Miaka Ishida
Insomniac
And all the anonymous reviewers! (Sorry if I missed you out!)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------
LINDBLUM
The woman at the counter frowned as Zidane walked in.
"Unless, you're going to buy something you little thief, I advise you leave" she warned.
Zidane laughed. "Aw come on Sally, don't you like me anymore?" he asked good-naturedly, walking up to the counter.
"Every time you come in here, something 'mysteriously' disappears" she explained. "Now are you going or buying?"
Zidane frowned. "I don't have to take this. Fine, I'll go." With that, the boy strode out, seemingly annoyed.
"Good riddance" Sally muttered, and stared down at the counter. Her eyes widened, and she looked around frantically. But it was no use. The Phoenix Down that had been on the counter was gone.
"ZIDANE!" she shrieked.
* * *
Zidane laughed as he heard Sally's voice. "Some people never learn" he said, pocketing his prize.
After selling the Phoenix Down at the Item Shop, he walked around Alexandria. The place was a ghost town. No plays, no events, no new girls.
He sighed, and looked up at Alexandria Castle. It had been a year since he first came here, and was now roughly seven years old, not knowing his birthday. But his first night was still the most memorable. The night he'd crept into the castle . . .
The tailed thief scowled, and kicked at a rock. Princess Garnet didn't even remember the night. Nothing had come back to her, and she was learning from scratch. But Steiner and the Knights of Pluto did. They'd spent most of the year trying to catch him for 'kidnapping' the princess. He wasn't too worried, he could lose those bumbling idiots in his sleep, but it did get annoying after a while. Speaking of which . . .
Zidane stared at the ramp that led to Alexandria Castle. There was a young woman walking to the castle. One of her eyes was covered by a strange eye patch, and she carried a sword.
"She was chasing me that night too" he said to himself, and a plan came to him. Quickly, he darted after the woman. If Garnet didn't remember him, then he'd go and remind her himself!
* * *
The boy spotted the boat, and noticed there was nowhere to hide on it. As it slowly began to row away, he quietly slunk into the water, and grabbed the edge.
"I hope they don't have crocodiles in this moat" he whispered under his breath. He didn't want them to realise they had a stowaway.
* * *
The ride was short, but still too long in Zidane's opinion. When the two occupants left, he crawled to the edge, and listened in.
"How is Princess Garnet? I haven't heard since I left."
"She is doing well with her studies Captain. She is busy with Dr. Tot at the moment, in the library. But we will be leaving soon."
The voices faded into the distance, but Zidane picked up enough to know his next destination.
"Library huh? Well, how hard can it be to find that?"
Slinking with incredible agility, he tiptoed past the fountain, and into the castle.
* * *
Zidane held back a curse as yet another pair of guards past him. There was apparently much more security within than outside. He barely wondered why.
When the coast was clear, he darted into the middle of the hall. Picking quickly, he ran into the right hand room.
* * *
"Well, this looks like a library, but I don't see Garnet" the boy moaned, looking round the room. All there was was a few old men and . . .
"YOU!" Steiner shouted. "Knights of Pluto!"
Zidane did a one eighty and bolted, the armoured man straight behind him. As he ran into the hall, he banged into a Knight of Pluto.
"Got him sir!" he shouted.
"No you don't!" Zidane shouted, then bit the mans arm.
"OOWWW!!!"
The Knight of Pluto let him go, and Zidane ran straight into the left room, Steiner, and several Knights of Pluto that had appeared from nowhere hot on his heels.
* * *
Garnet sighed as she turned another page in her book. All of this was so boring. What she wouldn't give to have something different happen every now an . . .
"Look out!" a voice shouted.
Garnet looked up as a boy landed on her book, and skidded off the edge of the table. It was followed by a loud thud, and a young boy stood up, shaking his head as if to clear it.
"Note to self" he said. "Never do that again." It was then he caught sight of Princess Garnet.
"All right!" he said. "That was easy."
Garnet could only stare at the boy. He didn't look familiar.
Just then, the two heard the Knights of Pluto crash into the room, and nearing them.
Zidane dived under the table. "Don't tell!" he hissed.
"Uh, okay" she agreed, as Steiner finally came into view.
"Princess. Did a young rogue go by here?" he asked. Garnet nodded, and pointed to the far end of the library.
As the Knights crashed through the library, another face came down the stairs.
"Garnet, the airship is leaving for Treno in a few minutes. I advise you get to dock."
"Okay Dr. Tot" Garnet replied, and walked up to her teacher. When they left the room, Zidane crawled from his hiding place.
"Well that was completely screwed up" he muttered, and whirled round when he heard a familiar clanking. Steiner was coming back.
Hastily making a decision, Zidane bolted up the stairs. With all the Knights behind him, there seemed to be little security. Everyone was probably guarding the Princess now.
That wasn't the case though, as he caught site of Garnet walking away, with only that weird man.
"They said they were going on an airship. Guess I'll hitch a ride!" Zidane decided, and darted after the two, hoping that Steiner wouldn't follow.
Meanwhile . . .
"You destroyed half our library," shouted one of the Librarians."
"You were far too loud!" shrieked another.
"I am terribly sorry, but I must go! The pri . . ."
"You're not going anywhere till you clean up" the first librarian shouted. "With Queen Brahne leaving, Zorn and Thorn are in charge, and they'll take our side since they can't stand you!"
Muttering under his breath, Steiner started picking up the books.
On the airship . . .
"I can't believe I actually got on so easily!" sighed Zidane, as he stretched out in the storage area. "The grubs good too."
After sneaking on board in a crate, Zidane had crept out, and eaten his fill of several delicacies the airship was carrying. Yawning, he closed his eyes to sleep off the meal.
* * *
Zidane woke up abruptly as someone grabbed him.
"Hey you little stowaway!" the woman in armour shouted. "What do you think you're doing?"
Not getting time to answer, the Alexandrian soldier grabbed the back of the boy's jacket, and carried him to Captain Beatrix's room.
* * *
There was a knock at Beatrix's door, followed by the word, "Captain."
"Enter" Beatrix replied.
One of her soldiers walked in, carrying a young boy.
"I found a stowaway on my rounds" she said. "What should we do with him?"
Beatrix stood up and looked at Zidane. He did what he did best, making his face look as innocent as possible, with just a hint of puppy dog eyes.
Apparently, it worked. "Where are we at the moment?" Beatrix asked.
"Just over Qu's Marsh" the soldier answered.
Beatrix sighed. "Tell the pilot to fly as low as possible, and throw him out one of the docking ramps. If we're over Qu's Marsh, he shouldn't get hurt when he lands at such a low height."
"Throw me OUT!" shrieked Zidane as the soldier took him out. "Hey wait a . . ."
* * *
Zidane continued to fight the soldier. Finally, she snapped.
"I don't like it any more than you do. I have a brother about your age," she shouted. "Believe it or not, this is probably the most humane punishment. If I had gone to Queen Brahne, it would be over the sea, as high as we could go!"
As the ramp opened, the soldier caught a glimpse of the Marsh through the fog. It wasn't even 10 metres below.
"Good luck kid!" she shouted, and let go.
* * *
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" ~thump~
Zidane jumped out of the mud, scaring frogs in every direction.
"Alexandrian girls are nuts!" he shouted. "I aint going back there anytime soon! Man, and I left almost everything at home too."
He was right too. All he had was his clothes, his cloak, his dagger, and whatever was in his pockets. He could probably swipe a bag, but he was too mad even to care. He was muddy, he'd been humiliated, and to top it all off, his last meal was wearing off."
He walked out of the Marsh, fortunately not running into any white blobs like last time, and stormed away, not even caring about the direction.
He tried to wipe off the mud, but as it started raining, he gave up, and let the stuff drip off him. When he felt relatively clean, he put his cloak back on.
He walked for a small while, realising that without his map, he had no idea where he was. If he kept in this direction, there was no telling where he'd end up.
But luck was on his side as a gateway loomed in front of him. A sign beside it said 'Dragons Gate' Lindblum.
"Lindblum? All right!" Zidane exclaimed. "Talk about luck!"
He started running towards the cliff. "Lindblum, Pops, and everyone else, here I come!"
THE END
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
If this is the first fic of mine you've ever read, yes this is the end of The Beginning (^_^ Sorry, that just sounds so weird!). Zidane's story continues in The Torment of Tantalus, still my favourite out of my FF9 fictions. I'm neutral to this ending, not sure if I like it or not. I'm not a Beatrix fan, so sorry if she seemed a little mean throwing Zidane out, but I was completely out of ideas!
The next story up will be a prequel to the game (when is it not?), and should be up soon!
Thanks to everyone who reviewed!
Lord Cirenmas
Ravyn Crescent
Kingpin
Daze Riot
Gold Mage
Aquarius Mistress
Zidane is thy God
Kia
Ihire
Mikoto
Bluehoshi
FF9 Zidane
infernobree
Helen Star
Eika
Holly Short
Von
Zero-tribal-004
Magic Girl2
Kaya
Miaka Ishida
Insomniac
And all the anonymous reviewers! (Sorry if I missed you out!)