moogle_workshop | A Change of Pace (Fanfiction)

Title: A Change of Pace
Username:

naliarenegade
Class: Black Mage
Word Count: 589
Fandom: FFXIII
Characters: Fang, Vanille, Sahz
Rating: G... maybe PG
Summary: Fang and Vanille are caught by the military and Vanille starts to question their Focus.
Warning: Hints at Violence? Honestly, I don't know.
Note: I wanted to explore Fang and Vanille's pre-game adventure and this is the result. I also wanted to explore what Vanille was saying to Hope in Chapter 11. Also, the reason for why Vanille chickened out was either unclear or lame, so I wanted to make it stronger. I may make this part of a longer fic later.

A Change of Pace

“Fang! Fang, wake up!” Vanille shook Fang's limp form, looking behind her shoulder for any signs of the guards waking up from their spelled slumber.

“Vanille?” Fang struggle to sit up, rubbing her head. She hissed when her hand glanced over the large bump on her head. “Bastards...” Fang's head snapped up suddenly and her hands went to checking Vanille over. “Are you all right, pretty girl?”

Vanille giggled and hugged Fang tight, “I'm fine. Hehe, those soldiers were no match for me. I'm here to save you.”

“But you- you were caught? I told you to run.” Fang shook her, “Why didn't you run Vanille?”

“I did,” Vanille looked down, ashamed of her actions. Then steeling herself she looked up defiantly at Fang. “But I came back and gave myself up. I figured I would have a lot easier time getting you out if I played the part of scared, weak little girl. And it worked. I saved you for a change.”

“Did they hurt you?”

“No.”

“Vanille don't lie-

“Then don't ask such silly questions. Of course they hurt me, but I knew they would. We're in the middle of a war and as much as I want to just crawl under a bed and hide, I couldn't let them take you away from me. They were planning on executing you.” She was quiet for a moment, tears welling up in her eyes. “They already killed everyone else. Probably a good thing, they wouldn't have made it... weren't strong enough to kill this wretched moon.” Vanille stood, pulling Fang to her feet. “Let's go. It looks like not everyone is so bad. One of the guards gave me his key, said he couldn't stand the thought of them killing me, no matter what my Focus was.”

“That's lucky. Suspicious too.” Fang stretched and hummed, calling her spear to her. It punched through the wall of the storage closet next to her cell. “Alright, that must have caused some sort of ruckus. Let's go.”

“Alright.” Vanille pulled her staff out and dashed out into the hall. She looked down at the handsome black soldier who had given her the chance at freedom. She bent down and touched his face gently, “Thank you. I don't think they'll know you helped me. You can get back to your family, to your sister and your wife. Thank you... Sazh. What a curious name... I hope to see you again. Maybe in another lifetime.”

“Vanille! Let's go!” Fang called from down the hall.

“Coming!” Vanille hollered back. She looked back down at the soldier, something stirring in her heart that felt strangely like regret and guilt. She couldn't start getting weak now. But this man... he had saved her, even knowing her Focus. No one in Oerba would have done the same. Any Cacoonian who ended up in Oerba would have been killed, without a second thought, because of this war. No matter how young. But this man...

“Vanille!” Fang called sharply.

Vanille jumped up, startled out of her thoughts. “Alright!” She dashed down the hall. No time to be thinking about this. These Cacoonians deserved to die. She just had to remember the faces of her family, of her people, that these monsters murdered brutally. She could do that... right?

She glanced over her shoulder at the knocked out form of the man. Tears welled up in her eyes. If they fulfilled their focus then this man and his family would die. Could she live with that blood on her hands?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Hi! Sorry to trouble you, but you've left out the word count for the fic, which is necessary for the mods to calculate how many points the fic gets. There's a posting format here, if you need it!

Oh yes, Thank you!

You're welcome! :)

Criticism much appreciated! I'm still iffy on any fanworks I make, so anything that could make me a better writer would be awesome.

Oh, I really liked this! ♥ I think you captured Vanille's emotions very well...and the addition of Sazh was a really neat touch. XD

Thank you! I figured I would plant the image in Vanille's mind of everyone because she always seemed a little too familiar with everyone. As I saw it, the only person she was really shocked to meet is Chocobo.

24 Points to Team Black Mage!

~I really liked this fic. I liked how you wrote the dynamic between Fang and Vanille. Vanille's inner thoughts and emotions were well-written throughout the entire piece, and it was interesting to see the connection between herself and Sazh from this "other lifetime" ago considering how their relationship and interactions are later on. Very neat read! :D

Thank you for your input.

I have always liked the idea of reincarnation and that the heroes of the FF realms live and meet in many different lives.

Ooh interesting fic idea! I love how you wrote Fang and Vanille's dialogue -- the exchange where Fang asks "Did they hurt you?" is perfect because of the way you nailed both Fang's protectiveness and Vanille's tendency to lie to make people not worry and such. Great job! :)

Thank you. Fang and Vanille's dialogue was my favorite part in writing this fic. It's what started it actually. Everything else just sorta filled in around it.

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

A Change of Pace (Fanfiction)

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