Final Fantasy XII

Summary

Vaan's first hunt brings more than he bargained for.

The gates to the city groaned as they closed behind him, and Vaan stepped out into the Estersand, excitement coursing in his blood.

A hunt mark! Now, this was work. Much better than running errands for Migelo. And Vaan was certain he could do this job. After all, didn’t he have plenty of practice killing rats in the sewers? Yes, Vaan was no stranger to killing beasts, and this mark wasn’t even a proper beast, but a tomato.

This was going to be a piece of cake.

He found his mark some distance into the desert. It danced around on a cliff edge, oblivious to his approach. Vaan pulled out his daggers and crept as silently as the sand allowed, closer, ever closer…

…but the Rogue Tomato sensed him and turned. Vaan cursed; he’d have no choice but to have a battle with it rather than a quick, easy kill. He darted forward, daggers glimmering in the midday sun, and chanced to land a cut, but the Tomato retaliated with a cut of its own. They continued on, each landing more small cuts but doing no real damage. But the number of scratches must’ve made it mad, because it suddenly reared back and roared fire at him. Vaan dodged this easily, but it had been a trick; the Tomato suddenly turned and jumped off the cliff.

“Get back here!” Vaan yelled, and jumped off after it, as the cliff wasn’t all that high. Yet his landing was not as graceful as the Tomato’s own. Vaan stumbled, taking a few steps before pitching forward and landing hard on the ground, face first.

The Tomato darted in and pressed its lips to Vaan’s forehead in what was unmistakably a kiss, then scampered away.

Vaan sat up slowly. “What… what just happened?” he said. He was glad Penelo hadn’t been here to see this, for he’d never live it down. He stood up, wincing with slight aches from his fall, and resigned himself to Round Two versus the Rogue Tomato.

Notes

Written for the Final Fantasy Kiss Battle 2021 (https://seventhe.dreamwidth.org/437147.html) on a prompt by sarasa_cat: Vaan & Rogue Tomato, first time hunts never go as planned.