#Aim the heart! Archeress | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

maggiewritesthings-blog · 7 years

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Blooming: 5

Fandom: Final Fantasy 4 Genre: Character Study, ongoing Warnings: N/A Characters: Rosa Farrell, Cecil Harvey, Cid Pollendino, Kain Highwind

“Mama, I’m going to the range!” Rosa called as she took her training bow in hand. She had been taking lessons for five years-- her bow strength had gone up to a forty pound draw! At her young age, that was surely enough to get her into the military program. Cecil and Kain had both already started their squireships with the Red Wings and Dragoons respectively, and Rosa was ready for her own.

Joanna frowned as her daughter scampered out the door. “Be careful, and be home for dinner, please.”

“Yes, Mama,” Rosa called, closing the door behind her. She wore a fitted tunic that hugged her arms and chest, but hung low down her legs. She had convinced her mother to let her wear boy’s britches to the archery range, and kept her hair from her face with pins and a headband. When it got longer, she could pull it back.

Baron Town was active this afternoon, with market goers moving to and fro in the large squares. Rosa walked between them with a bright smile. Her steps bounced, almost as if she were skipping, as she headed up the steps towards the castle.

“Good luck, lassie!” Cid’s voice boomed as she crossed into the military grounds. Rosa looked up and saw the engineer looming over a parapet above. He held a device in his hand which measured wind speed-- no doubt preparing for a new test flight of his latest airship prototype.

She waved up at him, “Thanks, Cid!”

Around the corner and under an arch, the range stood. Young applicants were in the aisles, taking their aim and trying their best to impress the Baron Archers Unit. Each captain in the unit was there, looking over the potential troops. Rosa had arrived early for the second group. The first gathering of applicants hadn’t finished yet, but she stood dutifully with her bow in hand and quiver over her back, ready.

“...You’re Sir Christopher’s daughter, aren’t you?” one of the captains asked her. She stood outside the range boundary, right beside the fence that separated a dangerous firing zone from the rest of the military yard.

Looking up, Rosa nodded and dipped into a quick curtsy of respect. “Yes sir, I am. Rosa Farrell, I’m here to apply for squireship.”

The man frowned, but said nothing, walking away from her and turning his head back towards the first group of young archers. Rosa’s hands gripped the bow even tighter, her leather gauntlets rubbing against her palms. Her heart was beating wildly and she took a long, deep breath to calm herself.

You can do this, Rosa! They’ll be mad not to take you. Just don’t choke, and you’ll never miss, she told herself. In almost every lesson she’d had recently, she had hit the target every time, even the moving ones! The only thing that could stop her now was her own anxiety.

She had to wait half an hour before she could take her stance, but she had the first pick of firing aisles. Rosa knew that the second left from the middle was the best. The bullseye was stretched particularly tight, giving a satisfying thunk whenever an arrow hit it. The planks of the fence markings were especially straight. It was the perfect place to fire from today.

She didn’t notice the way the captains exchanged looks as she stretched her arms with the other hopeful recruits.

“I’m sorry... I know your father would have approved, but we cannot spare noble young women like yourself to monsters,” one of the captains had said.

Another added, “Your skills are admirable, have you considered going to the white mages? Your mother had been one, and that is much safer work for a Lady like yourself, Miss Farrell.”

In the end, she was not granted a squireship. Rosa wondered if it was because she had missed. Her nerves got the better of her, and she had missed the first shot entirely, the second and third were off just slightly. But after she had calmed her breathing, she’d fired flawless shots! Was she really that bad? Or were they telling the truth, and didn’t want a girl of noble birth to spill blood on her hands?

Rosa hadn’t gone home, she felt too ashamed. She knew what her mother would say-- that women weren’t suited for fighting in the first place, and that she should instead take to far more domestic hobbies than firing arrows.

Instead, she dragged her feet across the various training yards, reaching a place where squires were practicing jumps and polishing armor while knights sparred with lances and spears. Her eyes had gone foggy when she arrived, and she looked up to see Kain in the small sand arena, fighting with another Dragoon. At 15 years old, Kain would be knighted soon, and start rising in the ranks. He didn’t notice her where she stood, watching with her bow clutched between her hands. His blonde hair was worn long like his father’s, pulled back and whipping back and forth as he lunged, parried, blocked. He leaped into the air, right over the wide sweep his opponent tried to land, and came back down with a hard strike of the training pole.

After fifteen minutes, she turned to leave, making her way to a different training ground. It was similar to the Dragoons, but here, the knights all seemed to stare right at her as she walked into their grounds. Black helmets and black armor created an ominous atmosphere, and despite not being able to see the faces behind each shadowed armor, Rosa knew they were looking at her.

She felt cold, and the sadness that was already held inside her by a thin dam of restraint was breaking. Tears welled in her green eyes, and she looked up from her feet, scanning the yard to find the one person here who wouldn’t have armor. Black Knights did not accept many into their ranks, and it was lucky that Cecil had been accepted at all. Still a squire for another two years, he did not have a helm of night to cover his beautiful eyes yet.

“Rosa?” he saw her the same moment she saw him, and rushed over to her, his training sword in hand. “What’s wrong? Did you get in?”

She shook her head, biting her bottom lip.

Cecil’s entire posture deflated like the sail of a ship in the doldrums. He dropped the short sword to the dusty ground and flung both his arms around her. Despite being surrounded by other Dark Knights, no one seemed to care the break in protocol. They watched, from a distance, but allowed the moment to take place.

Rosa buried her face into his shoulder, tears finally breaking free into an open weep. “I tried so hard, Cecil! I... I...”

“I know you did,” he muttered, one hand rubbing her back. He was so tall, so strong already. Rosa thought she had been strong too. “Rosa... I’m so sorry.”

“They want me to become a mage,” she blurted. “Everyone wants me to become a mage--”

Cecil didn’t say anything. The truth was, Rosa had an aptitude for both arrows and nursing. She was only thirteen and already reading high-level magic tomes and books on herb medicinals purely out of interest. Many said that she would make a good white mage, if she had some training behind her intelligence.

But Cecil also knew that her father had taught her to shoot a bow, and he had called her his little archeress.

“You’re going to be ok,” he murmured, letting her cry against him. “I promise, Rosa, you’re going to be ok.”

Her hands clung to his uniform tunic, feeling safe there.

#ff4 #final fantasy 4 #final fantasy iv #ffiv #rosa farrell #rosa joanna farrell #cecil harvey #ff #blooming #WOW I AM JUST #WRITING UP A STORM TODAY #:VVVV #and i have no apologies for writing about rosa the poor girl deserves a little attention

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