All Final Fantasy™ concepts and/or terms belong to SquareEnix™

Two figures cling desperately to the half broken mast of their tiny ship, its only sail a tattered mess that flaps in time with the raging winds that buffet them, both praying silently to the angry black sky even as the tiny vessel is swallowed by waves. In a desperate attempt at survival the larger figure abandons their hold on the mast and lunges for the rudder, hoping futilely to steerthem closer towards safety.

“Who writes this stuff?” The young woman tossed the offending book out her open window and watched merrily as it sailed towards the ground far below. “Much better.”

Hearing a noise above her, she turned to look and was surprised to see a flock of white doves fly past her window and towards the large theater ship that was just now arriving in the kingdom.

“Oh no! They’ve already arrived! I’ve have to get dressed, and quickly!” Rushing madly about the room gathering her outfit, only tripping slightly in her haste, she quickly makes her way towards the changing room.

A knock on the door causes a loud crash and a few unique swear words to emanate from the bathroom. “W- ow -who is it?”

“Princess? Are you alright in there Princess Trista?” A female guard has stuck her head into the room in order to investigate the strange noises.

“Y-grr-yes Beatrix, I am fine! I shall be out momentarily!” Trista can be seen hobbling back and forth in the small changing area while wrestling with her rather large white dress.

Looking dubiously towards her future queen, Beatrix merely let out a quiet sigh and a prayer for strength and patience as she backed slowly from the room. “I shall tell your mother that you will be along shortly then.” “Thank uh-you Beatrix, for-ow your...”

“There is no need for thanks, I shall see you at the ceremony.” Interrupting her princess, Beatrix decided that it might be a good idea to warn the rest of the castle to beware freight trains disguised as their future ruler.

After several more minutes of loud and rather odd noises associated with trying to dress yourself in something larger than you are, Trista finally emerged from the bathroom. The dress was finally on and it seemed still in one piece, its white elegance giving her a sort of ethereal quality and accentuating her natural beauty. Her long black hair was left loose to frame her face and back in soft waves, while drawing attention towards her wine red eyes that seemed to shine with a strange power.

Hopping excitedly as she contemplated the show to come, Trista made her way towards the balcony where she was to meet her mother and celebrate the coming event with all in the kingdom.
“This is going to be the best birthday ever!”

A large theater ship marked as the “Baecol Rose” flies serenely through the skies as it travels towards its next performance in the kingdom of Baonuc.
The ship was home to a traveling group of performers and thieves known as the Draev. They had been hired to perform one of the most famous plays of their time, Lord Avon’s “I Want to be your Canary” for the princesses seventeenth birthday, and also to steal the kingdoms most valuable treasure.

Inside, a young girl dressed in the common garb of a thief makes her way into a nearby meeting room. Upon entering she notices that it is pitch black and quickly lights a match for some light. Noticing a candle on a table in the center of the room she walks over and lights it, illuminating much of the room.

“Who’s there?” A voice called from the other room.

“It’s me, Sareaph!” The girl called back, her eyes filled with mirth.

A loud clattering could be heard as several people tried to run out of the small side room at once. Getting caught in the door they were a mass of flailing limbs and curses. Finally the three managed to free themselves only to trip and land in a heap at the feet of a laughing Sareaph.

“You guys crack me up, you know that?” Bending down gently she offers her comrades a hand up and gives them a playful smirk as she gloats.

“Ha. Ha. A real laugh riot.” A red headed ruffian says as he levers himself off the floor. Once they are all standing Sareaph snaps off the signature salute of the Draev.

“You know man, you sure are late!” The same red-haired thief says while leaning casually against the table.

“Sorry. So, where’s the boss?”

“He ain’t here yet.” This time it is a different thief who speaks, his nose far too large for his face.

It was then that the door at the top of a set of stairs opened to emit a fearsome man wearing a dragon’s mask and wielding a mighty sword. Jumping down from the steps he lands heavily with a roar and attacks the group.

All four have drawn their weapons and prepare to battle the fiend that has attacked them. “You know, the boss could really use a better disguise for these drills he insists we go through.” The fourth of the thieves exclaimed as they dodged the ‘monsters’ varied attacks while aiming at its head for a defeat.

After several minutes of this lethal dance Sareaph finally threw the winning blow, splitting the mask in two and leaving the man beneath with quite a bit of a headache. “Ugghaa. Oh, my head! Go easy you guys!”

With a collective sigh of relief they sag from mild fatigue and recover their breath. Giving a big laugh their boss walks over and, patting Sareaph on the head, motions them towards the meeting room. “Hey, fools! You’re looking a lot better.”

Shrugging slightly in annoyance, Sareaph follows the boss into the other room. Once inside they all settle down around a small round table that holds a model of the castle upon it.

“Alright! Let’s get this meeting started!” The boss says while sitting heavily in a chair and picking up a small doll at the same time. “Ok, here’s the plan!”

Gesturing towards the model he begins to outline his plan. “Draev, the infamous band of daring thieves (that’s us), is headin’ to the kingdom of Baonuc...” At this he lifts the doll up for all to see. “Our mission: to kidnap the heir to the royal throne, Princess Trista!”

At this point the one thief with a huge nose stands to speak. “I’ll take it from here, so listen up!” Lifting a model of their theater ship he begins. “Our ships about to dock at Baonuc... and when it does, we’re going to put on our costumes... and perform “I want to be your Canary,” the most popular play in the kingdom!”

Shifting his view he motions towards his comrade that wears a bandana. “Break a leg Marcus! ‘Cause you’re playing the lead!”

Marcus stands slowly and solemnly proclaims to “leave the acting” to him. “The real kidnappers’ll be Blank and Sareaph!”

The red-haired thief known as Blank stands up straight while holding out his hand. In it sits a disgusting little bug like creature that seems to make a weird squishing noise as it moves. “I’ll distract the audience from backstage with these little buggers.”

He shudders briefly before continuing. “I can’t stand oglops... but I’ll manage so don’t worry about me.” Turning slightly he motions towards the only female member of their group. “And that’ll be your cue Sareaph!”

“Okay! That’s when I kidnap Queen Brahne, right?” She asks with a hint of mischief in her voice.

The boss, not noticing her apparent ‘mistake’ quickly agrees and holds up one of the ugliest dolls ever seen. “You bet! You’re gonna kidnap that fat-ass, butt-ugly Queen Br-“ He pauses for a second with a slightly shocked look on his face. “What... what’m I sayin’?” he throws the ugly doll at the smirking Sareaph. “Cut that out!”

Getting serious she answers correctly. “That’s when I kidnap the princess right?”

Holding up the first doll, the boss whole-heartedly agrees. “You bet! You’re gonna kidnap the most babe-ilicious beauty in all of Baonuc, Princess Trista!”

Sareaph could only say one thing in response. “Sweet.”

Down in the kingdom streets proper, a young black mage stares up at the passing ship in awe. She seems to be fairly young, maybe 15 at the oldest, and wears a black dress made entirely of leather belts. Sighing in anticipation she heads off towards the town square, her ticket to tonight’s performance held firmly in her grasp. Lost in daydreams of fulfilling her journey she does not notice a large crack in the road, and inevitably manages to trip over it.

“Owie...” She mumbles lightly to her self as she watches her ticket float slowly to the ground before her nose.

A young boy from nearby had watched it all happen, and having always been told by his parents to be nice, he walks over to help the fallen mage up.

“Are you awright?”

“I’m fine kid, thanks any way.” She stands up and dusts herself off, making the many belt clasps jingle together merrily. Suddenly she stops and begins to look frantically around for something.

“Where is it?” She mumbles only half aware that the young boy was still standing there. Finally spotting her cherished ticket she dives for it, managing to knock the young boy right off his feet and coincidentally her ticket as well. “Got it!” She yells merrily as she stands and continues on her way through the town.

The young boy who had only been trying to be nice was now extremely confused, and hoped that somehow he could get off the roof with out breaking something in the process.

While running off, the young black mage barely noticed that a crowd of small children chasing a rat boy was gaining on her quickly. Nor did the young and unfortunate rat-boy notice her, and as most people can guess, they met each other in a tangle of limbs and curses.

“Oww...” They both slowly stand up, the rat boy looking around scared before spotting who he had run in to.

“Why you- get out of my way!” and with that he was gone, the crowd of children chasing after him merrily, and utterly confusing the poor young mage.

“That... was strange.”

Shrugging off the experience and hoping desperately that her innate klutziness would leave her alone for a while, she carefully proceeded onwards, hoping that nothing more than a fall or two would occur.

Up ahead the sound of a trumpet blowing caught her attention, it was followed by a booming voice. “Honorable nobles of Vuut... castle Baonuc is this way!”

The squat trumpeter bows lightly and heads off towards the towns center, a gaggle of prissy nobles following him. Sniffing slightly from dust and sheer boredom, she follows them at a steady pace until she has reached the information/ticket booth situated in the center of town.

Walking up to the booth she looks in the window, only to recoil in fright as the monstrous head of a lion stares down at her.

“Can I help you miss?”

Gulping slightly in fear she steps a bit closer and answers the question by showing her ticket.

“What’s this?” The leonine man gets a bit huffed up and glares at the teenager in suspicion. “There’s something about this ticket... Why, it’s another fake! I’ve seen so many today.”

The young girl stares at the ticket master in silent horror, and slowly drops to her knees with a despaired wail of “No...”. Finding the sight slightly disturbing he quickly tries to get the girl to stand up and stop crying.

“Hey Now! Don’t cry, I know how you must feel. Here, I’ll give you these.” He said while handing her a small set of cards. “Do try to cheer up now, hmm?”

Perking up slightly at the thought of free stuff, she looks up and takes the offered cards gratefully. She notices that they are cards for the most popular game around, Triple Triad.

“You can talk to Alleyway George to learn more about cards. Good luck, lass!”

Slightly dejected and a bit insulted she walks away hoping to just take in some of the sights. Wandering around she visits several of the shops and admires the many flowers adorning the square. She even joined a group of younger girls playing jump rope and was invited to come play again some time after making 36 jumps in a row before tripping.
Having spent a good hour or so exploring the main part of town, she decides to head towards the docks. Heading through a nearby alley, she trips over a loose stone causing the nearby repairman to freak out and drop his work. He ran screaming in fear and left the poor girl totally confused as to why.

“That was odd...”

“Hey you!” The new voice startled her, causing her to jump several inches in the air and twirl to face her ‘attacker’.

“oh, it’s only you.” The same rat-boy from before stood there, ragged and torn after finally ridding himself of the mob.

“Yeh, me. You’re the one with the phony ticket aren’t ya? I saw the guy tell ya it was a fake before I had to run again.”

“So what if it is? And hey, can I ask you something? Why were you running?” She asked in a single breath going from indignant to curious in a split second.

“Um.. Yeh, anyways... I’ll let you see the show if you become my slave for today! Well, whaddya say?” The rat boy asked a smirk on his face.

“I say you’re bloody crazy, but I do want to see the show... can ya give me a minute to think about it?” The rat boy nods and starts to leave the alley.

“Oh yeh! Before I forget. The name’s Puck! I’ll wait for you at the church.” And with that he was gone.

“Well that was weird.”

She walks off towards the docks all the while thinking about his proposal. After about ten seconds she realizes that it would only be for today, and hey! Puck was hot! Who wouldn’t want to be his slave for a day? Running off towards the church she quickly spots Puck and runs right up to him.

“I’ll do it!”

“Huh?” Puck hadn’t seen her at first but the second he got a good look he realized what she was talking about. “Eh? Really? Awesome! Now for you’re first assignment! We gotta go get that ladder the sign maker left and bring it back here. You get to be the lookout, alright?”

“Sure! By the way, the name’s Vrainne. I’m a black mage.” She says before sauntering off back towards the alley, leaving Puck slightly confused and a bit scared. Mages were not something to take lightly.

“Well no turning back now.” He muttered to himself before running to catch up. Soon enough they reached the alley and grabbed the ladder after having scared off the sign maker once again.

“That was easy enough, now to get this thing up to the roofs.”

“The Where?” Vrainne nearly shouted as she over heard her friend’s comment.

“Ow... I said the roofs. If we wanna see the play we have to get onto the roof tops, and this will help us get there. Got it? Good, let’s go!” And with that he ran off towards the chapel and began to make his way up the ladder.

“H-hey! Wait for me!”

Everyone was in place, the play would be starting in a few minutes, and last she had heard the princess was on her way down the hall. Yes, this would be a fine celebration thought Beatrix. Just then the sound of a loud crash could be heard behind the doors to the balcony; the princess had arrived. And just in time too, the music had just started and now fireworks were lighting up the night sky.

Watching in merriment as her future queen took her seat next to her rather exited mother, she gazed out onto the stage just as the announcer came onto the stage.

Dressed like the king he’ll be playing, the leader of the Draev comes out onto the stage and bows low to his audience. “Ladies and gentlemen! Tonight’s performance is a story that takes place long, long ago. Our heroine, Princess Cornelia, is torn from her lover, Marcus. She attempts to flee the castle, only to be captured by her father King Leo. When our story begins, Marcus, having heard of this crosses swords with the King.”

Gesturing grandly he bows slightly towards the Queen’s seat and the rest of his audience. “And now, your royal majesty, Queen Brahne, your highness, Princess Trista...” here he raises his arms to encompass the entire audience.
“Noble ladies and lords, and our rooftop viewers, Draev proudly presents ‘I Want to be Your Canary!’”

The lights dim and the music plays loudly once more as the audience cheers grandly. Soon the audience would be properly entranced by the performance and then they could kidnap the Princess and get the hell out of here.

Here’s to a job well done.