drabble continuation

More of this drabble. Cross-posted from my IJ.

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There were voices, fluttering like moths in the dark, and Ben held his breath and strained his ears to give names to the speakers, to decide how best to silence them. They quieted as they dispersed; stupid bastards couldn't find a mountain if they were standing on top of one. "The careless ease of fools shall destroy them," he recited through his smirk.

Another patrol might come around - provided not all of Big Jacob's gang were empty-headed asses - but they had a minute to breath. He crouched down and slid his hand under Dan's jacket, assessing the damage. There was a puddle next to the bumps of Dan's spine, and the rancher hissed and shrugged when Ben pressed his fingers against the wet cloth. "No good," he said, flattening his palm against the wound. "Bullet came out all right, but you're bleedin' like pig."

"No shit." Dan leaned against the side of the barn as he stood. It took him a second to steady himself, but when he spoke again, his voice was firm. "Gimme my gun. I'll be fine."

"No." Ben's hand went to the stolen revolver shoved under his belt. "The horses are tied to the post 'round the corner. Get 'em and head back; I'll take care of this. Meet you at the river when I'm done."

Auron/Rikku

Cross-posted from my IJ.

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o_chibi_chan finally finished "The Shape of His Heart," which is by far the greatest, funniest, epic-ist Final Fantasy X story out there. No, the greatest Final Fantasy story. No wait, screw that. GREATEST STORY OF ALL TIME.

I'm too fangirly right now to give it a proper review, but let me try to channel my flailing and squealing into some sort of coherent paragraph. Ahem.

OH MY GOD IT'S AWESOME.

Rikku is off-the-wall, but she's so wise and deep. Everything she says is spot-on perfect - all energy and moxie and brains - she's happy, really happy, even though she can see and understand and feel all the pain in Spira. And Auron - wow. Auron's transformation is so realistic, so smooth. There's nothing forced about his change. He plods toward it with typical Auron determination, and when he reaches it - Wow. Wow wow wow.

TSoHH was a huge influence on my writing, and it also indirectly introduced me to Final Fantasy VII. Through Gabi-hime (which is her pen name over at FF.net), I discovered Guardian1, who wrote "Tastes Like Green," my favorite Yuffie-centric story. I've based my interpretations of Rikku and Yuffie almost completely on these two authors.

Wow.

...Gonna go read the whole thing through again.