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moogle_workshop2011-08-11 10:46 pm
glacialphoenix) wrote in moogle_workshop2011-08-11 10:46 pm
fic!
Class: Black Mage
Title: Redemption
Summary: AU; Kain's side of this fic. Cecil never became a paladin; Kain finds his own redemption.
Characters/Pairings: Cecil/Rosa, Kain/Rosa, I suppose maaaaybe Cecil/Kain/Rosa?
Word count: 762, of which 300 are in 3 drabbles.
Rating/warnings: AU count? Otherwise, probably PG.
Author's Note: ...this was supposed to be a full-length response to one of the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
airship_lounge Creative Writing prompts. It took way longer to write than expected; Kain is one stubborn dragoon.
i.
Once, there were two knights: one sworn to the wind, the other to shadow.
She chose the other.
It is of these choices that stories are made.
ii.
They spar frequently: dragoon and dark knight, locked in graceful combat.
Sometimes – just sometimes – by chance – he slips, and injures his friend.
It’s practice, Cecil says. Accidents happen.
He tells himself that, afterwards.
iii.
There are whispers that say: the King of Baron is not what he was.
Cecil carries out his duties with increasing reluctance; Kain with the stoicism of a man determined to keep his honour. Rosa, concerned white mage, flits between them, asking questions they refuse to answer.
iv.
The summon tears the earth asunder; he is knocked unconscious.
When he wakes, he is back in Baron, carried there by search parties; there is no news of Cecil and of the green-haired girl who survived the conflagration.
When he recovers, he insists on going to search for them.
The king is not pleased.
v.
He catches up to them eventually: the search is tiring, but Kain is persistent; he finds them in Mysidia, about to leave for Mount Ordeals.
vi.
He should feel sorry for the paladin who never found his way to grace.
vii.
“What can you do about not being good enough?”
Kain looks at Rosa, curled fast asleep against Cecil, and makes no reply.
viii.
Cecil leaves for home, Rosa by his side; the dark sheen of his armour seems to consume the sunlight.
Kain watches them leave before he turns to make the lonely trek up Mount Ordeals.
ix.
Here, on the mountain, there is nothing but stone and the sound of the wind.
Kain climbs, nearly slips and falls a few times (and how appropriate that would be, he thinks, to join his friend in falling), but he makes it to the summit.
He pauses to catch his breath, and listens; he hears only silence.
x.
He sleeps on the summit, that night, and dreams: Rosa by his side, Cecil -
No!
He wakes angry at himself: even in his sleep, he betrays his friends.
xi.
The Mysidians do not have an answer: the mountain has not accepted him, but it has not refused him, either. They have heard of no such thing.
They debate, then, long and fierce; Kain can hear some of the more vehemently-expressed opinions.
“He’s from Baron.”
“He is not responsible for the events that transpired.”
“But he is a friend of the one who is.”
Kain would like to defend Cecil - loyal, honourable, too damn generous Cecil; Cecil who wanted far too badly to make things right - but he keeps quiet, because he does not know what to say.
xii.
They send him on to Toroia in the end. The journey is long, but he likes the solitude: road and wind and sky, and no surge of jealousy.
xiii.
He has not been at Toroia very long when Cecil and Rosa find him. This does not surprise him; it is, after all, Cecil and Rosa, and he has never been able to hide from them, not since they were children playing hide-and-seek.
Cecil is tired and wan; Rosa not much better.
“Come home, Kain,” Cecil says. “Please.”
He agrees.
xiv.
He wonders how he could have missed it before: little notes of wrongness; all the things he should have noticed but did not. Cecil and Rosa’s faces are anxious and puzzled; they both turn towards him and wait expectantly.
Cecil, he thinks, was always the oblivious one.
But he has come home; he has already slipped back into the practised patterns of old: spear, sword and holy fire.
Everything is simple, after that; they tear Cagnazzo from the throne of Baron, and look at one another, wondering at their blindness.
Things are not right, not yet, but they will be.
xv.
The look of contentment on Cecil’s face is one he has not seen since his friend took up the dark sword. Kain feels a rush of relief at this: he was worried, always worried, even as he was jealous, but he has always found concern difficult to express.
So he only says, “I will have to leave again, soon.”
“I know,” Cecil says, and the smile on his face is warm and genuine. “Rosa and I will be ready by tomorrow morning.”
Kain is not surprised by this: Cecil and Rosa have always been able to read his unspoken requests.
xvi.
He has found peace, as Cecil has found contentment.
Kain wonders, briefly, if Mount Ordeals would respond differently, now --
No, he thinks. They no longer need it to.
Title: Redemption
Summary: AU; Kain's side of this fic. Cecil never became a paladin; Kain finds his own redemption.
Characters/Pairings: Cecil/Rosa, Kain/Rosa, I suppose maaaaybe Cecil/Kain/Rosa?
Word count: 762, of which 300 are in 3 drabbles.
Rating/warnings: AU count? Otherwise, probably PG.
Author's Note: ...this was supposed to be a full-length response to one of the
airship_lounge Creative Writing prompts. It took way longer to write than expected; Kain is one stubborn dragoon. i.
Once, there were two knights: one sworn to the wind, the other to shadow.
She chose the other.
It is of these choices that stories are made.
ii.
They spar frequently: dragoon and dark knight, locked in graceful combat.
Sometimes – just sometimes – by chance – he slips, and injures his friend.
It’s practice, Cecil says. Accidents happen.
He tells himself that, afterwards.
iii.
There are whispers that say: the King of Baron is not what he was.
Cecil carries out his duties with increasing reluctance; Kain with the stoicism of a man determined to keep his honour. Rosa, concerned white mage, flits between them, asking questions they refuse to answer.
iv.
The summon tears the earth asunder; he is knocked unconscious.
When he wakes, he is back in Baron, carried there by search parties; there is no news of Cecil and of the green-haired girl who survived the conflagration.
When he recovers, he insists on going to search for them.
The king is not pleased.
v.
He catches up to them eventually: the search is tiring, but Kain is persistent; he finds them in Mysidia, about to leave for Mount Ordeals.
vi.
He should feel sorry for the paladin who never found his way to grace.
vii.
“What can you do about not being good enough?”
Kain looks at Rosa, curled fast asleep against Cecil, and makes no reply.
viii.
Cecil leaves for home, Rosa by his side; the dark sheen of his armour seems to consume the sunlight.
Kain watches them leave before he turns to make the lonely trek up Mount Ordeals.
ix.
Here, on the mountain, there is nothing but stone and the sound of the wind.
Kain climbs, nearly slips and falls a few times (and how appropriate that would be, he thinks, to join his friend in falling), but he makes it to the summit.
He pauses to catch his breath, and listens; he hears only silence.
x.
He sleeps on the summit, that night, and dreams: Rosa by his side, Cecil -
No!
He wakes angry at himself: even in his sleep, he betrays his friends.
xi.
The Mysidians do not have an answer: the mountain has not accepted him, but it has not refused him, either. They have heard of no such thing.
They debate, then, long and fierce; Kain can hear some of the more vehemently-expressed opinions.
“He’s from Baron.”
“He is not responsible for the events that transpired.”
“But he is a friend of the one who is.”
Kain would like to defend Cecil - loyal, honourable, too damn generous Cecil; Cecil who wanted far too badly to make things right - but he keeps quiet, because he does not know what to say.
xii.
They send him on to Toroia in the end. The journey is long, but he likes the solitude: road and wind and sky, and no surge of jealousy.
xiii.
He has not been at Toroia very long when Cecil and Rosa find him. This does not surprise him; it is, after all, Cecil and Rosa, and he has never been able to hide from them, not since they were children playing hide-and-seek.
Cecil is tired and wan; Rosa not much better.
“Come home, Kain,” Cecil says. “Please.”
He agrees.
xiv.
He wonders how he could have missed it before: little notes of wrongness; all the things he should have noticed but did not. Cecil and Rosa’s faces are anxious and puzzled; they both turn towards him and wait expectantly.
Cecil, he thinks, was always the oblivious one.
But he has come home; he has already slipped back into the practised patterns of old: spear, sword and holy fire.
Everything is simple, after that; they tear Cagnazzo from the throne of Baron, and look at one another, wondering at their blindness.
Things are not right, not yet, but they will be.
xv.
The look of contentment on Cecil’s face is one he has not seen since his friend took up the dark sword. Kain feels a rush of relief at this: he was worried, always worried, even as he was jealous, but he has always found concern difficult to express.
So he only says, “I will have to leave again, soon.”
“I know,” Cecil says, and the smile on his face is warm and genuine. “Rosa and I will be ready by tomorrow morning.”
Kain is not surprised by this: Cecil and Rosa have always been able to read his unspoken requests.
xvi.
He has found peace, as Cecil has found contentment.
Kain wonders, briefly, if Mount Ordeals would respond differently, now --
No, he thinks. They no longer need it to.
no subject
lj ate my comment argh!so what I wanted to say was awesome job! You captured Kain's character so well and I loved the way you formatted the story :-) I also loved your take on Cecil/Rosa/Kain. There's just so many things you can do with these three.no subject
It's okay, we all know how hungry Frank the Goat gets!I'm glad you liked! I was a bit nervous about this because, you know, AU fic, so I'm glad you think I did the characters justice.
And oh, the format. I prefer writing short little pieces, so I usually end up chaining them together this way. But if you think it works, hooray!
And it wasn't... originally... intentionally Cecil/Rosa/Kain. *facepalm* I swear. XD
no subject
no subject
I like the ending, actually. In some ways, it feels even more satisfactory than the actual game's, because it has that sense of "We don't need something else."
no subject
I think it's my headcanon, actually. I tend to conceive of Mount Ordeals as a place of absolution. It does test you; not everyone has the inclination to become a paladin - but it's also redeeming, and if you've already found a way of redeeming yourself, somehow, you don't need it. (Although I think, personally, if they went back now they would make Paladin and Holy Dragoon - but they won't, because there are other ways to be a good person.)
Also? I just really wanted Kain to freaking MOVE ON. XDDDD
no subject
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(Kain clearly insisted on dragging me up Mount Ordeals with him, heh.)
no subject
Like Ari, I love the ending-- I've always seen the whole "holy paladin/dragoon" bit as more symbolic than anything, and it's very interesting to see the "it isn't necessary" approach to it.
no subject
My intention when I first started writing this was to find Kain a means of redeeming himself without spending almost two decades guilting himself on Mount Ordeals, so I'm glad to see it worked out.
POINTS
I loved reading this story. Your portrayal of Kain, as many others have said, is amazing...and I loved reading the story from beginning to end. Your narrative style is nothing short of astounding to me, and I loved how the piece flowed so naturally to each different portion. :D
Re: POINTS