Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ FFXI: Chronicles of Pandemonium ❯ Neena and Eurik ( Chapter 1 )

FFXI: Chronicles of Pandemonium

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Chronicle 1

Neena and Eurik

Disclaimer: I do not make any claims to Final Fantasy XI. It is property of SquareEnix. Some of the characters used are based off characters created by my friends and myself while playing the game online.

Have you ever looked into the starry sky one night and ever pondered your existence? Get lost in the wonderful mystery that we call life. Why have we been put here? What are we to do? Some want answers... others rather leave it a mystery, but in the end, don't we all have a goal? That one thing that you really want out of life; that something that you constantly feel compelled to do. Even when you don't have a clue what it is, you still feel like you're being pulled into something that feels right to you. How often do we achieve the satisfaction of completing one of these many difficult goals that the stars have laid before us? Perhaps... too few...

A dry breeze blew across the rocky terrain of Gustaburg. A lone *Mithra gazed over the area briefly, scanning the rock outcropping carefully. In the distance she managed to spot a small party of Quadav's making camp behind several large boulders near the road in attempts to hide for easy ambush for those carelessly wandering by. The cat-girl known only as Neena, made a mischievous grin as she brushed aside some of her strawberry-blonde hair that had been blown into her face.

"Here we are... surely there must be a young warrior among that group... " she thought to herself as she examined the small camp for her target.

The small group of beastmen continued to set up their camp site, oblivious to the Mithra examining them from a distance. The party consisted of three Quadavs, a reptilian race of beastmen that roamed the area around the city of Bostok. The large creatures usually stood about seven feet tall and had rough, leathery skin, often a dull brown. All Quadav's wore a huge back plate made of dark steel ore that served as body armor and donned a helmet that was usually studded with a gem to show off that particular Quadav's job within their ranks.

Neena watched carefully as they unpacked various necessities to start the camp as they made idle chit chat with one another, more than likely about the positioning of their post and the job they were sent to complete. The Mithran girl caught notice of a lavender jewel in the helmet of one of the Quadavs indicating that it was an Amethyst class Quadav, a white mage amongst their ranks and easily the weakest link in their party. She made a mental note of the find as she continued on to the next Quadav. The beat-up old staff and shining brownish-orange jewel embedded in its helmet made it clear that it was an Amber class Quadav or otherwise known as a black mage. Neena furrowed her brow a bit when she caught notice of the lack of a jewel in the helmet of the final Quadav. It wielded a simple bronze sword with the item that she seeked, a shell shield, clutched in its left hand.

She quickly moved to a spot with a better a view and fewer rocks blocking her path. Once the girl was satisfied with her position among a few rocks looking down on the Quadav's camp, she grabbed her bow and pulled an arrow from the bundle she had packed away in her pack and set her sights on an Amethyst Quadav in the party that she had judged to probably be the weakest. After a few moments of concentration and careful aim she let the arrow fly from the bow.

The Quadav's brief respite was quickly ruined in an instant as Neena's arrow flew through the air and landed its mark deep in the throat of the Amethyst Quadav. The unsuspecting victim reached for its neck in shock before collapsing to it's knees and falling completely on its face, unable to let out a death cry. The remaining two Quadavs turned their attention to their fallen comrade the quickly dispersed from the in search of their attacker.

The Mithran thief watched the panicking duo below from her perch above, carefully watching the Amber Quadav in particular. When the two had strayed far enough from each other, she withdrew another arrow from her pack. After slipping the arrow onto the bow string she moved down from her perch a little to ensure that her shot wouldn't fall short of her target. Neena pulled back the arrow and started taking her aim to the back of the Amber Quadav. "Who's the prey now?" she muttered under her breath as she sent the missile sailing toward her target.

The Amber Quadav turned around only to see Neena crouched amongst several before her arrow found its mark in its chest. The young sword-wielding Quadav merely watched as his buddy collapsed in a heap. He stopped and scanned the rocks that his now fallen friend had been facing and caught sight of Neena sneaking away amongst the rocky boulders resting on the terrain above.

The cat-girl's eyes widened when she heard the young warrior Quadav below let out an angry war cry. She whirled around to see the furious beastman lumbering its way up the hill toward her, hatred burning its eyes. Letting out a startled yelp, Neena quickly raced up the hill to some flatter ground that she could keep her balance on. Upon reaching the top she quickly scrambled around on her hands and knees before completely standing a safe distance away from the edge to regain her composure.

The Quadav soon followed in reaching top of the hill where he found Neena waiting for him. The beastman glared at her hatefully for a brief moment before charging at her and swinging his sword in a frenzied rage at the cat-girl. Neena merely moved from side to side, avoiding the hate induced swings with little difficultly. The Quadav stopped briefly after realizing that his strikes were not making their mark. His arms shook with rage and with a strong heave he raised the sword above his head and swung down upon his opponent in attempts to cleave her in two.

The Mithran girl raised her hand and caught the blade, the lightly armored brass gloves protecting her hand from being cut. She balled up her free hand and slammed it as hard as she could into the gut of the Quadav. The beastman released his sword and stumbled back a few steps, it's breath completely knocked out of its body from the forceful blow. Neena examined the dull bronze sword before tossing it aside and advancing toward her enemy. The Quadav quickly jumped to it's feet and dashed at the cat-girl. He pulled his head back and gave her a full force head-butt.

Dirt and dust flew up into the air as Neena tumbled across the hard terrain and coming to rest on her face. She raised a hand to her forehead to find blood flowing from a wound inflicted by the creature's helmet when it made that sneak attack. After watching her for a few moments, enjoying her pain the Quadav reached down and grabbed the girl's head, before he had known it, Neena had gotten back to her feet slammed her fist into his chin instantly releasing his grip on her. She followed up the attack with another hard hook to the face then polished off the attack by taking a few steps back and completing a somersault kick. The Quadav now having been overwhelmed by the sudden assault fell backwards in defeat.

"JERK!! YOU'RE NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN FEIGN DEFEAT!!" she screamed as gave an enraged stomp on the Quadav's throat to ensure it's death. Neena reached her hand up again to feel at the wound, wincing slightly as she did "Ouch... I hope this doesn't scar... Oh!" She glanced around the fallen Quadav and spotted the much needed Shell Shield that he carried. A strong tug pulled the shield from the bodies' iron death grip. "Pfft... all this for a lousy shield..." Neena scoffed as she eyed the item. "Oh well... I guess I could understand why Orin wants it."

While she packed up her stuff and started her trip back to *Bostok, the girl reflected back on Orin's request for her to bring him back a Shell Shield. The poor man was just a merchant traveling between Bostok and Selbina to trade goods, when a group of Quadav's attacked his caravan. All of his business partners and goods that were on the trip were destroyed. A scout happened to pass by and found him still alive amongst the wreckage of the caravan. By coincidence the leader of the group carried a shell shield and while he knew that many Quadavs were generally equipped with them, bringing one back was a good enough token of his revenge.

Before she was aware of it, Neena had reached the gates of Bostok. The market area of the city bustled with busy people as usual. Many sat in the square trying to sell their goods right in front of the auction house which was often populated by many adventurers who dared to wander *Vana'diel. The market's square looked down upon the Bostok's well-known Goldsmith's guild where Neena would occasionally go to make some jewelry to sell when freelance jobs weren't available.

A sudden tap on her shoulder snapped her right out of her dream world and she let out a startled cry. Turning about face she saw Eurik, one of her closest *Hume friends since she had wandered into Bostok months ago. He was a freelance adventurer similar to her, but he liked to do a whole lot of different things and thus decided to be a Red Mage. Occasionally, Neena would show him some of the Mithran martial arts she knew, but Eurik always seemed more comfortable using a sword. His presence had never failed to cheer her up when she felt bad. Because of this, she was often found in his company.

The man raised his hand and tapped his forehead as he asked "What happened here?"

Neena rolled her eyes up as if to try and look at her forehead and laughed foolishly "Oh that! Ah... Quadav head-butt me." Her eyes turned into dizzy swirls as she stumbled about "And it hurts..."

Eurik placed his forefingers over the wound and proceeded to heal it as he said "If you're dizzy then how in the world did you manage to make it all the way back here?"

The cat-girl rubbed her forehead after the healing was completed and shrugged lightly "Uh... I dunno, guess my mind was on other things. Ah... You know... mind over... matter..." she shifted her eyes away for a moment.

The red mage eyed her reaction briefly and laughed out loud causing her to look up at him in confusion. "Huh? What's so funny?"

Eurik covered his mouth as he tried to suppress his chuckles "What could you possibly be thinking of in the middle of a dry, rocky wasteland to make you ignore an open head wound. Wasn't anything about me, was it?"

Neena blushed and blinked in confusion "W-w-what?! Why would I think such a thing?!"

He ruffled around the strawberry blond hair of the girl playfully "Ah... I'm just kidding silly. Have I ever told you how soft and lovely your hair is?"

She stared at him blankly for a moment, her face still bright red from his comments and teasing. She waved a hand at him trying to shake off the odd feelings she had "Ahh! Knock it off!!" the cat-girl looked back at him with a little grin "I got the shell shield Orin wanted." Eurik nodded lightly "That's good, well go turn it in to him and collect your reward. Maybe I'll treat you to a meal for a job well done." Neena gazed at him for a moment before happily answering "All right!" He gave her a thumbs up before turning around to leave "All right, I'll meet you here later, ok? Go and finish off your job." He gave her a wave of goodbye and went on his way.

Neena clapped her hands on her face as she thought of a dinner with Eurik "Kyaa... wonder where we're going..." she blinked and shook away any stray thoughts from her mind "I've got to get this shield to Orin!" She quickly moved down to the lower level of the market where the Goldsmith's guild stood. Much like the upper market area, the lower level was also busy and crowded. Several bridges crossed over water ways that kept the city from running dry.

She found her client standing near the water ways as he usually did. Quietly she approached him and stood next to him "You like standing over here, don't you?" Orin merely shrugged "Nothing better to do... not until I'm healed. Did you find one of their shields?" Neena presented the prized item to him "I doubt that the Quadav's I killed to obtain this shield were the ones that attacked your caravan, but if any old shell shield is what you want then here it is." The man examined the item and nodded to Neena appreciatively "Thank you, once I am healed I will become an adventurer. I will destroy all Quadavs I come across. You have deserved this reward." He handed her a small satchel containing 300 *gil.

The Mithran girl took the satchel, but remained where she stood. After noticing that she was still beside him Orin asked irritably "What? What is it?" Neena shook her head a bit "B-but why do you want to try and kill off all the Quadav?"

"Isn't that obvious girl? They are scum! How would you like it if some of your best friends were attacked and killed right before your own eyes?! Wouldn't you want to destroy them after they destroyed your life by damaging and stealing thousands upon thousands of gil worth in wares? My business is sure to crumble right before me!!"

Neena spread her arms as she tried pleading to him "But that makes no sense! You can't kill all Quadav! There's just too many of them! It's suicide! You could start rebuilding your business off the gil you gave me instead of paying me for that stupid shield! Would this be what your business partners want?"

The man swung a hand at her causing her to quickly jump away as started yelling at her "SHUT UP!! I don't need some dumb ass, peace loving Windurstian girl telling me what to do!! I'll show you that I can destroy the Quadav!! Now get outta my sight!! I have no more use for you!!"

Neena quietly backed away from Orin and returned to the upper market area and waited for Eurik to return. She stared at the small sack of coins she had received sadly. She turned her head when the young red mage had placed a hand on her shoulder "I assume that is your reward? What's wrong, shouldn't you be glad?" The Mithran girl shook her head "No... all that idiot can think about is revenge... The shell shield wasn't enough to satiate his hatred of the Quadav. He wants to become an adventurer and destroy the Quadav. He's going to end up throwing his life away."

Eurik furrowed his brow "Tch... fool..." he grabbed the girl and took her into and embrace "Neena, don't worry about him. If he wants to waste his life thinking he's going to eliminate the Quadav then he's too damned narrow minded to worry about. You're not going to be able to help everyone... Besides... I'd much rather see him hurt than you..."

End Chronicle 1

Footnotes

Words with stars by them can be found here. These are words that I didn't explain in the story so they'll be found here for those who are not familiar with Final Fantasy XI.

Vana'diel- The name of the entire world which this story takes place. It is home to five different races and has everything from tropical beaches to heavy jungles.

Mithra- A predominantly female race of cat-like humanoids. Their most distinguishable features are large pointy ears and slender tails. Most Mithra hail from the city of Windurst.

Bostok- A young city that is built on the mountains around Gustaburg. Due to the adaptable Humes and strong Galka that live there Bostok has grown rapidly due to it's mining and technology.

Hume- The racial name give to Humans in the world of Vana'diel. While found all over the world they usually hail from Bostok.

Gil- The currency used through out Vana'diel

Notes from author: I thank those who read this as well as my brother and b/f for their help and getting this to look decent. I also think my buddies on FFXI for thinking this is a good idea. Hope you enjoyed reading so please R&R ^^;.

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