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::mumbles something about pirates::
Sometimes my muses can be real little bratlings. Take Faris, for example. I listened to the FFV soundtrack while I was walking the dog with dad, and that night - at 1:30 AM, mind you, I was trying to sleep - she jumped on me and made me write this. I've toyed with the idea maybe once before.
Apparently she swashbuckled Setzer into submission and then sat on his head while giving me the bunny, given what an active and demanding muse Setzer can be. That or he's off getting drunk with Edgar, in which case I need to start working on dragging him back.
So anyway, here's Faris's bunny. It's set at the very beginning of the third world - there may, of course, be spoilers.
A Farewell To The Throne Of Tycoon
"Lenna, I'm sorry. I just can't do this."
A few flyaway strands of violet framed the woman's tanned face. It was a face that was used to scowling and raucous laughter, but wore its current look of apology rather well.
The younger woman, pale and exquisite with short pink hair, tilted her head and frowned.
"What? The banquet? I'll inform the chancellor you're not up to it, then--"
"Not just the banquet. All of this. The castle. The throne. Sarisa, for gods' sakes." 'Sarisa' shook her head, indicating the fine yellow dress she was wearing. "I can't breathe in this shit, Lenna."
Lenna looked mildly affronted by her sister's language, but shrugged it off - it wasn't as though she hadn't heard Faris say that and worse before. Once a sailor, always a sailor, she supposed...
"You don't want to be a princess?" Lenna sat down at the small table in her room, motioning for Faris to do the same. With some awkward and distasteful arrangement of her skirt, the pirate complied. "Is that what you pulled me aside to tell me?"
She could almost still hear the murmuring of the court, wondering why the long-lost elder princess had so suddenly risen to her feet and all but dragged her sister out of the throne room.
"Yeah." Faris looked Lenna in the eye. "I mean... it's wonderful to know my real name, and that I've had a home here all along... it's just amazing to meet you again and be here, and know what I was supposed to be. I'll... I'll miss Father... but I have the name he gave me. Believe me when I say that name and you are always going to be my greatest treasures."
"But...?" Lenna tilted her head just slightly, her lips stretching in the tiniest smile of encouragement. Faris closed her eyes.
"But... I can't do this. Being born a princess isn't the same as being a princess!"
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean - look. I had no idea I was a princess. I had no idea I had anywhere else to be but with the pirates. All I had was that pendant, but I couldn't for the life of me remember what the hell it meant. As far as I knew, all my life, I was a pirate."
"And now you're having to adjust to an entirely different way of life." Lenna nodded. "I think I understand. But, Faris... you can't give up on it already! You're the long-lost Sarisa Tycoon. Just having you here will do wonders!"
"I'm not Sarisa." Faris stood up, shaking her head. "I'm Faris Scherwiz, dammit. Father gave me that name when I was a baby, but I've been Faris all my life."
"Regardless of your name, however--"
"No - please, Lenna, don't pull this on me now. No. I can't stand this - the frills, the froofy dresses, the formality, the practically being worshipped around every corner - I want the wind in my hair and the sea in front of me, Lenna. I feel trapped. And what's more, I'm the eldest, right? That means I'm first in line to be queen, and I have no idea how the fuck to rule a kingdom!"
"You led a ship, before." Lenna smiled, in a misguided effort to placate her sister. "I'd say you have a natural tendency towards leadership."
"But a ship's worlds different from a kingdom, Lenna." Faris slammed her hand on the table. Well-toned muscles were starting to strain against the delicate fabric of her sleeves. "On a ship, you know everyone. Everyone has a task and you have to make sure they do it. You're in everyone's face all day, every day, and you know everyone's skills and quirks and secrets. If people fight, you put 'em apart. If they break the rules, you either punish 'em or kick 'em off the crew. But ruling a kingdom takes politics and pretty little words and diplomacy. If kingdoms fight, you can't put 'em on opposite ends of the world until they simmer down. And you can't kick a bad leader off the planet. I know pirates, Lenna. I don't know kingdoms."
Lenna stood; a study in regal elegance. "You could learn," she said softly. "What you're saying is that you don't want to."
Faris opened her mouth, then sighed. "Yes. I'm saying that. I don't want to be a princess. I want to be a pirate."
"You're completely sure?"
"Yes. I don't want to have to deal with politics and pretending to be nice to other kingdoms so they won't come attack this one. I like honesty. Rough and blunt. Nothing to hide."
At that pronouncement, Lenna glanced upward at her sister, and her mouth twisted up on one side in just the slightest beginnings of a smirk. Faris crossed her arms and looked away.
"Except that. But that's only for other pirates - my crew knows."
"Mmm." Lenna closed her eyes. "So you want to abandon the safe and comfortable life as a princess in favor of a rough and dangerous life as a pirate?"
"No, Lenna. I want to go fly kites on the Hiryuu tower. What have I been talking about all this time?"
"Your sarcasm is not necessary, sister." Lenna smiled and shook her head. "I hardly know what I'll tell the chancellor."
Faris was silent for the three seconds it took for her brain to process what Lenna had just said. "I don't care. Tell him I had a heart attack. Tell him I was kidnapped. Tell him I fell out the window and turned into a chocobo, I don't care."
Lenna laughed and turned to face her sister fully. "I don't think I'll need to be quite so dramatic. I think... maybe the honest truth will suffice. Rough and blunt, with nothing to hide."
A smile was slowly stretching over Faris's face.
"Do you need any help getting that dress off?" Lenna asked, smiling.
Faris grinned widely and shook her head. She yanked the ribbon out of her hair.
-
The yellow dress was folded nicely on the chair. Faris, clad now in her loose pirate's clothes, adjusted her broad green mantle and opened the window.
"Are you going to go directly back?"
Faris stared out the window, mentally charting out the safest escape route. "Well... first I think I'll hunt down Butz and Kururu. We iced Exdeath, I know, but it'd be nice to have a look around, see how everything's doing, make sure he didn't screw anything up too badly. And maybe I'll roam with them for a while. But once I'm sure everything's okay, I'm going back to the pirates." She laced her fingers together and stretched, cracking her knuckles.
"You'll send word, of course?"
Faris put one foot on the windowsill and heaved herself up, leaning on the frame. She smiled at Lenna. "Well, yeah. Of course. I'm not gonna just forget my little sister."
Lenna smiled back, brightly. Faris grinned to herself to see her sister coming out of the stiff 'princess mode' and relaxing into the sweet girl they'd been traveling with. "Will you... bring me anything?"
Faris laughed. "Gold, jewels, the bounty of ancient kings - whatever you want, sister."
"Well, if you find any books..."
"Books?" Faris blinked in surprise. "Well... I don't see why not. Is that it?"
"I suppose." Lenna turned away from the window, clasping her hands behind her back. Then, she half turned and smiled girlishly over her shoulder. "And... if you find any rare maps..."
Faris smiled. "What would you want with a map?"
"I wouldn't... but it would make such a fine scandal, wouldn't it... if the infamous pirate Faris Scherwiz came and kidnapped poor Princess Lenna, and took her to faraway lands?"
Faris stared at Lenna's brilliant and completely earnest smile in disbelief, before answering with a smile of her own, shifting her position in the window to stand with feet wide apart, one arm on the windowframe and one on her hip. "And the finest kidnapping in the history of Tycoon, it'll be," she said. "No captive will ever sail the seas more safely than with Captain Scherwiz."
"The captive will be looking forward to it." Lenna laughed. "Farewell, then... Captain Faris Scherwiz."
Faris lifted her hand to her forehead in a pirate's salute, and her throat was only a little tight on her answering, "And farewell to you, Princess Lenna Tycoon."
Her long violet hair flared as she jumped out the window.
Lenna hurried to the window to watch the pirate's careful progress to the ground, and kept watching as the blur of purple and green and blue finally disappeared into the forest.
"And goodbye," she said softly, "sister."
Notes on my usage of names:
I refuse to acknowledge the Anthology version. I'm going off the pirated ROM. "Salsa"? Please. And I like the name Lenna a lot better than Reina; it's truer to the actual pronounciation of the name. "Reina" looks like it should be pronounced as "rain-ah", when the name is quite clearly just supposed to be "le-na", or "re-na". No, really. The katakana don't lie.
And... I'm just not starting on that dialect, okay?
I'm using neither "Cara" (pirated rom; inaccurate but cute name) or "Krile" (Anthology, slightly more accurate but more awkward), and going with a straight romanization of Kururu's Japanese name, because I'm convinced there's no right way to write it in English.
And I'm using Butz because.... well, because it's closer to how his name is spelled/spoken in Japanese. "Bartz" sounds less inappropriate, but that 'r' sound has no business being there.
Apparently she swashbuckled Setzer into submission and then sat on his head while giving me the bunny, given what an active and demanding muse Setzer can be. That or he's off getting drunk with Edgar, in which case I need to start working on dragging him back.
So anyway, here's Faris's bunny. It's set at the very beginning of the third world - there may, of course, be spoilers.
A Farewell To The Throne Of Tycoon
"Lenna, I'm sorry. I just can't do this."
A few flyaway strands of violet framed the woman's tanned face. It was a face that was used to scowling and raucous laughter, but wore its current look of apology rather well.
The younger woman, pale and exquisite with short pink hair, tilted her head and frowned.
"What? The banquet? I'll inform the chancellor you're not up to it, then--"
"Not just the banquet. All of this. The castle. The throne. Sarisa, for gods' sakes." 'Sarisa' shook her head, indicating the fine yellow dress she was wearing. "I can't breathe in this shit, Lenna."
Lenna looked mildly affronted by her sister's language, but shrugged it off - it wasn't as though she hadn't heard Faris say that and worse before. Once a sailor, always a sailor, she supposed...
"You don't want to be a princess?" Lenna sat down at the small table in her room, motioning for Faris to do the same. With some awkward and distasteful arrangement of her skirt, the pirate complied. "Is that what you pulled me aside to tell me?"
She could almost still hear the murmuring of the court, wondering why the long-lost elder princess had so suddenly risen to her feet and all but dragged her sister out of the throne room.
"Yeah." Faris looked Lenna in the eye. "I mean... it's wonderful to know my real name, and that I've had a home here all along... it's just amazing to meet you again and be here, and know what I was supposed to be. I'll... I'll miss Father... but I have the name he gave me. Believe me when I say that name and you are always going to be my greatest treasures."
"But...?" Lenna tilted her head just slightly, her lips stretching in the tiniest smile of encouragement. Faris closed her eyes.
"But... I can't do this. Being born a princess isn't the same as being a princess!"
"What do you mean by that?"
"I mean - look. I had no idea I was a princess. I had no idea I had anywhere else to be but with the pirates. All I had was that pendant, but I couldn't for the life of me remember what the hell it meant. As far as I knew, all my life, I was a pirate."
"And now you're having to adjust to an entirely different way of life." Lenna nodded. "I think I understand. But, Faris... you can't give up on it already! You're the long-lost Sarisa Tycoon. Just having you here will do wonders!"
"I'm not Sarisa." Faris stood up, shaking her head. "I'm Faris Scherwiz, dammit. Father gave me that name when I was a baby, but I've been Faris all my life."
"Regardless of your name, however--"
"No - please, Lenna, don't pull this on me now. No. I can't stand this - the frills, the froofy dresses, the formality, the practically being worshipped around every corner - I want the wind in my hair and the sea in front of me, Lenna. I feel trapped. And what's more, I'm the eldest, right? That means I'm first in line to be queen, and I have no idea how the fuck to rule a kingdom!"
"You led a ship, before." Lenna smiled, in a misguided effort to placate her sister. "I'd say you have a natural tendency towards leadership."
"But a ship's worlds different from a kingdom, Lenna." Faris slammed her hand on the table. Well-toned muscles were starting to strain against the delicate fabric of her sleeves. "On a ship, you know everyone. Everyone has a task and you have to make sure they do it. You're in everyone's face all day, every day, and you know everyone's skills and quirks and secrets. If people fight, you put 'em apart. If they break the rules, you either punish 'em or kick 'em off the crew. But ruling a kingdom takes politics and pretty little words and diplomacy. If kingdoms fight, you can't put 'em on opposite ends of the world until they simmer down. And you can't kick a bad leader off the planet. I know pirates, Lenna. I don't know kingdoms."
Lenna stood; a study in regal elegance. "You could learn," she said softly. "What you're saying is that you don't want to."
Faris opened her mouth, then sighed. "Yes. I'm saying that. I don't want to be a princess. I want to be a pirate."
"You're completely sure?"
"Yes. I don't want to have to deal with politics and pretending to be nice to other kingdoms so they won't come attack this one. I like honesty. Rough and blunt. Nothing to hide."
At that pronouncement, Lenna glanced upward at her sister, and her mouth twisted up on one side in just the slightest beginnings of a smirk. Faris crossed her arms and looked away.
"Except that. But that's only for other pirates - my crew knows."
"Mmm." Lenna closed her eyes. "So you want to abandon the safe and comfortable life as a princess in favor of a rough and dangerous life as a pirate?"
"No, Lenna. I want to go fly kites on the Hiryuu tower. What have I been talking about all this time?"
"Your sarcasm is not necessary, sister." Lenna smiled and shook her head. "I hardly know what I'll tell the chancellor."
Faris was silent for the three seconds it took for her brain to process what Lenna had just said. "I don't care. Tell him I had a heart attack. Tell him I was kidnapped. Tell him I fell out the window and turned into a chocobo, I don't care."
Lenna laughed and turned to face her sister fully. "I don't think I'll need to be quite so dramatic. I think... maybe the honest truth will suffice. Rough and blunt, with nothing to hide."
A smile was slowly stretching over Faris's face.
"Do you need any help getting that dress off?" Lenna asked, smiling.
Faris grinned widely and shook her head. She yanked the ribbon out of her hair.
-
The yellow dress was folded nicely on the chair. Faris, clad now in her loose pirate's clothes, adjusted her broad green mantle and opened the window.
"Are you going to go directly back?"
Faris stared out the window, mentally charting out the safest escape route. "Well... first I think I'll hunt down Butz and Kururu. We iced Exdeath, I know, but it'd be nice to have a look around, see how everything's doing, make sure he didn't screw anything up too badly. And maybe I'll roam with them for a while. But once I'm sure everything's okay, I'm going back to the pirates." She laced her fingers together and stretched, cracking her knuckles.
"You'll send word, of course?"
Faris put one foot on the windowsill and heaved herself up, leaning on the frame. She smiled at Lenna. "Well, yeah. Of course. I'm not gonna just forget my little sister."
Lenna smiled back, brightly. Faris grinned to herself to see her sister coming out of the stiff 'princess mode' and relaxing into the sweet girl they'd been traveling with. "Will you... bring me anything?"
Faris laughed. "Gold, jewels, the bounty of ancient kings - whatever you want, sister."
"Well, if you find any books..."
"Books?" Faris blinked in surprise. "Well... I don't see why not. Is that it?"
"I suppose." Lenna turned away from the window, clasping her hands behind her back. Then, she half turned and smiled girlishly over her shoulder. "And... if you find any rare maps..."
Faris smiled. "What would you want with a map?"
"I wouldn't... but it would make such a fine scandal, wouldn't it... if the infamous pirate Faris Scherwiz came and kidnapped poor Princess Lenna, and took her to faraway lands?"
Faris stared at Lenna's brilliant and completely earnest smile in disbelief, before answering with a smile of her own, shifting her position in the window to stand with feet wide apart, one arm on the windowframe and one on her hip. "And the finest kidnapping in the history of Tycoon, it'll be," she said. "No captive will ever sail the seas more safely than with Captain Scherwiz."
"The captive will be looking forward to it." Lenna laughed. "Farewell, then... Captain Faris Scherwiz."
Faris lifted her hand to her forehead in a pirate's salute, and her throat was only a little tight on her answering, "And farewell to you, Princess Lenna Tycoon."
Her long violet hair flared as she jumped out the window.
Lenna hurried to the window to watch the pirate's careful progress to the ground, and kept watching as the blur of purple and green and blue finally disappeared into the forest.
"And goodbye," she said softly, "sister."
Notes on my usage of names:
I refuse to acknowledge the Anthology version. I'm going off the pirated ROM. "Salsa"? Please. And I like the name Lenna a lot better than Reina; it's truer to the actual pronounciation of the name. "Reina" looks like it should be pronounced as "rain-ah", when the name is quite clearly just supposed to be "le-na", or "re-na". No, really. The katakana don't lie.
And... I'm just not starting on that dialect, okay?
I'm using neither "Cara" (pirated rom; inaccurate but cute name) or "Krile" (Anthology, slightly more accurate but more awkward), and going with a straight romanization of Kururu's Japanese name, because I'm convinced there's no right way to write it in English.
And I'm using Butz because.... well, because it's closer to how his name is spelled/spoken in Japanese. "Bartz" sounds less inappropriate, but that 'r' sound has no business being there.