This is a 1x1 based on ffxiii. We will start at the beqininq of our story which is were the civilians are boardinq the train to be purqed.

 

"Alriqht, keep movinq!" The soldier yelled out to the line. Airra stood there hooded and keepinq quiet. She kept her winqs tucked into her cloak and qot to the soldier. They inspected her then motioned her onto the train. Airra boarded and sat in a chair. ("Gettinq purqed wasnt the plan! Uqh! How could i mees up!") She thouqht as she clenched her fists.

"Guardians." Airra said under her breath. She sighed and layed her head on the table.

'i have a feeling, Raines knew about me and Sarmens crystal and while he looked at my wings, he saw the crystal. Maybe he doesnt want whats going to happen to happen. I have to talk to him.' Airra thought as she stood up.

"Hey, i have to go somewhere, ill be back in a sec." Airra said as she walked out.

She walked in the hallway, and saw Raines exit his room. He grinned and invited her in, she nodded and stepped inside the room with Raines.

"So what is it you need?" He asked with a big grin on his face.

Sarmen watched Airra get up and go. He didn't know her that well yet, but he figured she was about to do something...unwise. Sarmen took special note of the page numbers from the book. He'd study them later. He reached out and put a hand on the book.

"Here, I'll just read it myself." he said. "Thanks for your help."

Vanille smiled and handed the book to Sarmen.

"No problem." she said. "Happy to help."

She gave Sarmen a worried look. Had she caught the same vibe off Airra as he had? He gave her a silent nod. He took the book and left the room. Best find where Airra went.

"You know why im here, Raines. Now tell me." Airra said not one bit hesitating. Raines sighed and chuckled.

"First off, the first day i met you and saw those wings of yours. I knew you were an Eidolon from the beginning. But you didnt seem to know. And when fang found the stitches behind your wings, i knew i find something myself, when i opened you up more, i found nothing of that i was looking for. It dissapointed me. And after seeing you and Sarmens crystals, i knew for sure the legends where correct. I couldnt let the legend go on, so i put you to sleep, hoping the medicine would never wear off. But seeing you i see the nurse gave it to you." Raines said as s he sighed. Airra narrowed her eyes.

"Tell me the legend will you?" Airra said as Raines closed his eyes and scoffed.

"Of course. The legend on Eidolons, as you have heard, eidolons are creatures that weild to a person with the correct powers, they also come in a time of need in battle. But your kind of eidolon is the kind that takes human form and is bound is bound to the crystals weilder in your case, that is Sarmen. You are a creature, eidolons are dangerous. And that means you." Raines said with a grin.

Sarmen heard voices coming from Raines's room. One sounded like Airra's. Sarmen grimaced. He feared that was what she was doing. He wanted to get her out of there, but that would solve nothing. Airra had to get answers. Sarmen set up near the door, out of sight, if needed.

"Your stupid." Airra said as she narrowed her eyes. Raines laughed.

"Oh am i?" He said as he grabbed Airra by the throat and slammed her against the wall.

"Your nothing but talk Eidolon! I heard they were strog, i mus have been wrong." Raines said as Airra winced. Airra pulled her knife out of her pocket and placed it on his neck.

"Dont make me. You deserve this after everything youve done. Now i know why you put me on that drug, cause your a coward! You were scared of what me and Sarmen would become because your a coward!" Airra maged to say almost choking on her words. Raines smiled.

"Your right." He said as she slammed airras head on the wall, picked her up and placed her on the bed. He opened the door and exited out and headed to the infirmary to get the nurse.

Sarmen let Raines pass. He didn't hear the words said, but he heard the tone. He had to get Airra out. He dashed into Raines's room. He quickly checked Airra. She seemed to have no serious injury. He would have checked for a concussion, but he was in a hurry. He scooped her up and carried her out of the room.

He needed to get off the ship. He wasn't sure what Raines was doing. He didn't want to believe it was anything bad, but he couldn't take that chance. Not with Airra's life. He thought of and rejected the idea of getting help from the other l'Cie. They had their own problems to deal with. Besides, better to have possible allies on board the ship for now.

Sarmen put Airra down a moment in the hall and put on his helmet.

"Only one thing for it." he told himself, grimly.

He picked up Airra again and ran full speed for the ship exit.

Airra winced in pain as she felt the gush of air flowing. She opened her eyes slightly and saw Sarmen, she was surprised, but couldnt say a word.

'Wasnt i just with Raines? Why is Sarmen carrying me.' Airra thought in her head as she felt a little light headed and everything go a blur.

'I wonder. is sarmen helping Raines?'

Sarmen speed through possible escape routes in his mind. He and Airra needed to get someplace that they could plan and recuperate. He grimaced when he realized that he also had to factor in someplace they could figure out more about their focus and keep from Raines for the time being.

Sarmen glanced down to check on Airra to see her eyes were open.

"No time to explain just yet." he said as he ran along the ramp to the outside world. "What ever happened between you and Raines will have to wait too."

He gave her a smile though she couldn't see it and he didn't feel it.

"Looks like we are on our own again."

Airra could hear Sarmen but felt weak to answer.

"Eidolons. You and me Sarmen, we are the future. The Guardians" Airra said as her breath shook.

'The future of the world, we can help all L'cie, it is our job, as Guardians to protect eachothers and our fellow L'cie. But L'cie who stray, are not worthy of the Guardian.'

Sarmen looked down at Airra. He wanted to ask her what she meant, but he felt he need a little more distance for safety. He set his eye ahead and pushed himself a little harder. Sarmen knew the area pretty well and picked a little hiding spot that should keep him and Airra out of the sight for a bit. Hopefully long enough for Airra did get on her feet.

He set her down, propping her back against a boulder. He knelt down beside her.

"Okay, first, what hurts?" he asked.

Airra sighed and reached for the back of her head, she pulled her hand back and revealed some blood.

"And my stomach, he like stuvk me with something, i guess the knife i had in my pocket." Airra said as she saw her beautiful white wings stained with the blood from her head. She sighed and her wings slowly started to wrap themselves around her.

Sarmen took off his helmet and went to work on Airra. He started by checking the back of Airra's head, trying to clean it out. When he felt he got most of it out, he checked Airra's stomach wound. She had a stab wound, but it was clean and only only the size of the blade. No ripping around. Sarmen reached for a med pack on his belt, then stopped. He was a l'Cie. He could use magic. He took in a deep breath and concentrated on his hands. A greenish gold glow enveloped his hands.

"Heal." he said, placing one hand on each wound.

Sarmen felt magic flow through him, sealing and fixing Airra's wounds.

Airra felt magic surge through her body.

"Thanks Sarmen." Her voice more eased this time. She took a deep breath and sighed. She sat up and fluttered her wings, cleaning the dirt and other things off.

"Did Vanille tell you anything today? What did you learn? And did Raines hurt you?" Airra had to ask, she was pretty pissed at Raines for what he had done, it wasnt the first time after all. But of course it wouldnt be the last.

Sarmen sat down and closed his eyes. That healing took a bit out of him. He felt sure it would get easier as time went on, but for now, it was still a drain.

"I didn't learn anything knew after you left the library." he said. "I figured you were...going to force the issue with Raines. I thought it would be best to be in a position to help if things went wrong."

He opened his eyes.

"Which they did."

He was silent for a few moments. He then cleared his throat and looked at Airra.

"I do have the book that Vanille was reading from, though. It didn't sound like she knew more that what was in there, so I think we got as much intell on the Guardians that were are going to get for now."

He took out the book and handed it to Airra. He hesitated for a moment, then spoke.

"When I was carrying you, you said that we were the future. What did you mean?"

Airra sighed and sat up.

"The future of Eidolons. A new generation. You and me, thats what we are. I know that for a fact." Airra said as she winced but didnt know what was hurting. She held her head in her heads and sighed.

"All of it was rushing to my head. Like im regaining the memroies or something. it hurts actually." Airra said as her voice was muffled by her hands. Her head was aching but all she did was hold it.

"Are we close to the ship? i have a bad feeling."

Sarmen was considering what Airra had said when she asked about the ship. He put his mind back on the here and now.

"We are pretty close to the ship." he confirmed. "If you are ready, we can try to put some distance between us and it before Raines gets too organized."

Sarmen checked a time piece on his wrist.

"We can rest here for a little, if need be, but not too long."

Sarmen was dying to ask Airra more questions, but they didn't have time just right now. He'd have to wait to get some answers.

Airra stood up and dusted herself off.

"I'm good to go when you are." Airra said as she smiled. She closed her eyes and saw a vision she thought she would never see again. Her focus.

Airra and Sarmen were standing back to back weapons in hands, Sarmen yelled her name and Airra turned into some sort of metallic giant. They then fought together. But the last part was a blur to her.

She opened her eyes startled.

"So that really does mean me and Sarmen are the legendary 'Guardians' " Airra said out loud not even noticing. She stopped herself as soon as she realized it and gave Sarmen a smile.

Sarmen got up and listened hard. He couldn't detect any sounds of a search party.

"Alright." he said, turning back to Airra. "Let's move. If you can explain what you just said on the run, please do so. Other wise, we'll talk about it when we stop later on."

He put his helmet back on and flexed his muscles.

"Come on." he said then headed out of their hiding place, his mind running through possible destinations he and Airra could lay low in and figure out what to do.

Airra followed Sarmen out and occasionally looked back. They were quiet most of the way out, Airra looked back and noticed the crystal imprint glowed. She narrowed her eyes and looked at Sarmen who continued to walk.

"Sarmen, have you checked your imprint of the crystal lately?" Airra asked as she pulled her wings in to see closer.

"No, why?" Sarmen said as he halted and turned back to look at Airra.

Seeing her imprint glowing, he moved closer for a better look.

"Why am I not surprised?" He muttered.

He quickly stripped of the gauntlets of his armor and pulled up his sleeve, giving his crystal mark a look. He found it glowing. Not as bright as Airra's but it was glowing. He studied it a moment, making sure Airra got a chance to look at it. He then put his sleeve down again and put his gauntlet back on.

"Should have know." he said simply. "Like our l'Cie brands, these must advance towards an end. What that end is...I wish I knew."

Airra continued to walk, but paused as she thought.

'This must be something,' she thought, 'it has to do witj our crystals but Sarmen said something about and end. this is confusing. i wonder, i feel as if something will happen. Although, it may just be my nerves getting to me.'

Airra looked at Sarmen and smiled slightly.

"Lets get going." Airra said turning around.

Sarmen nodded.

"We should head for a town." he said. "There we can get info and supplies we'll need. Once there, we should be able to sit down and consider where we should head. Since we seem to be on our own, it's going to be harder to fully understand what we are doing."

He then took in a deep breath.

"At lest we have a better idea of our focus." he thought. "The next generation of Eidolons. Don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

Sarmen pulled up a map. The nearest town was within reach of Sarmen and Airra before the day was out.

"Let's head north east." he suggested. "We got a little bit of trudging to do, but it won't be too long."

Airra nodded and continued to walk.

So if by what Raines told me, our focus was something like his. Then he started saying something about his inescapable Focus, does that mean that's the deal with Sarmen and I? The thought rang in Airra's mind. She looked over at Sarmen and didn't say a word.

Was that really my focus I saw the other day with me and Sarmen? It couldn't have been, he had some sort of metallic knight with him. Or was that me? I wish I had answers! Airra thought as she continued to walk.

Sarmen continued walking in silence for a bit, both trying to figure out what being a Guardian meant and trying to put it out of his mind. He wasn't having much luck with either. He kept up with his mark, but stopped dead suddenly, moving his head around, as if trying to get a direction of a sound.

"Airborn units." He warned, the sound of engines growing. "I can't tell if it's the Calvary or PISCOM."

He quickly checked the area for hiding places. The best appeared to be a thick grove of trees.

"Come on." he told Airra, sprinting for the trees.

Airra noded and headed after him quickly. Once she was behind the trees and looked up and the air unit.

"As long as its not Raines i can handle this." Airra said as she watched the soldiers depart.

Damn i cant see anything, good vision would come in handy occasionaly. Airra thought as lowered her head.

"So are we just gonna hide here the whole time or what?" She looked over at Sarmen hoping he had a plan.