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Just because Lani didn’t have a tragic backstory to her name didn’t mean she wasn’t liable to make one up now and again. She thought of her past as multiple-choice, altering the details as necessary to suit her needs. It certainly made things more interesting — especially when the actual backstory wasn’t really worth telling. No sob story here, no abusive parents or street urchin existence for Lani. Her parents owned a bakery in Dali. She had two sisters. It was all so perfectly, irritatingly normal. Which was, of course, enough to have Lani leaving the minute she was able to. She made no excuses — she just left.
Treno was her destination purely because it was the first place she could get to with her limited funds. She arrived in the city with fifty gil to her name; a bored, mouthy teenager who thought she knew much more than was actually the case. There was also the slight, none too subtle longing to be something more than a small town girl. That particular longing had led to her hatred of normality, and it continued to nag at Lani as she made her way throughout the city.
Eventually, that longing led to a series of jobs — each seemed to lack the excitement Lani had moved to Treno specifically to find. If her life’s sum ambition was to be a waitress, bartender, or innkeeper, she’d have been better off staying in Dali. This continuing boredom ensured that each of her jobs remained well and truly temporary. Not that Lani particularly minded that fact. She’d just weave a new backstory into her multiple-choice past and find something else. It had always worked that way for her, and she was disinclined to see it failing on her now.
Another “temporary” job as a barmaid was what led Lani toward bounty hunting. It was a typical night at the bar, which meant that people were already mostly drunk and the tips were decent. Lani was bored out of her mind and already wondering what to do next.
“Did ya get the bastard?” One particularly burly man was talking so loudly that Lani could hear him halfway across the dingy bar. She figured he had to have had drunk the better part of his weight in ale already. Given his tremendous girth, this amount would be nothing short of impressive.
“Tch, of course,” replied the burly man’s companion. He was a scrawny little Burmecian, who looked strangely out of place in the rundown bar. “Easiest money I ever made.”
Easy money was like music to Lani’s ears. As she picked up empties from a nearby table, she listened in on the two men’s conversation. It wasn’t eavesdropping if they were talking so loudly the whole bar could hear them, she figured.
“Got another one lined up already, if you’re interested.” The Burmecian pointed toward a slip of paper he held in his hand. “It starts at 5000 gil. Could get up to a lot more than that, easy.”
Lani didn’t need to hear the rest of the conversation. All she knew was that bounty hunting seemed perfect. Catch wanted criminals, earn money. It had the potential for plenty of excitement and the potential to become very wealthy — the two things in the world that mattered most to her. To be rich without being bored.
If bounty hunter was going to be a viable career path for her, Lani immediately decided that was going to have to invest in a weapon. Hunting bounties was bound to bring her the excitement she craved, but a weapon made you a hell of a lot better at it. Being better at it meant you got more bounties, which you got more money. Money was always the bottom line. She was damn sure she was going to be the best bounty hunter who ever hunted.
Lani took the tips from her last night with her previous “temporary” job and headed straight over towards the weapons shop after her last shift at the bar. Whenever she’d passed by the shop previously, there had always been a woman behind the counter. Today, however, there was an older man there. He barely acknowledged her presence as she entered.
“I want that one.” Lani immediately zeroed in on the gigantic axe affixed to the wall behind the counter.
“Are you sure, girlie?” asked the man behind the counter skeptically. “A tiny little thing like you would be better off with a bow. Or perhaps daggers, if you’re really serious about using a blade.”
“I want the axe.” Lani scowled at the older man and pointed toward the weapon. She’d originally been drawn to the axe because it was the biggest weapon in the shop. That was the extent of her reasoning — it was the biggest, therefore it had to be the best. Now, though, that the man had told her the axe was too big for a delicate little lady like her — that only added to the appeal.
“A girl like you probably can’t even lift that axe.”
Lani leaned against the counter, poised to leap over it and snatch that axe herself, should it be necessary. She had to have it. “So what, you’ll give me the axe if I can lift it? Or are you just that fond of pissing off potential customers?”
“Where else ya gonna go?” He raised an eyebrow at her. “It’s not like they’re a whole lot of other places to buy weapons, girlie.”
“I’ll frigging go to Lindblum if it means they’ll sell me a damn axe.” Lani turned on her heel and prepared to head for the nearest airship.
“You’re really serious, aren’t you?” With a sigh, the man took the axe down from behind the counter and presented it to her. “All right, but don’t say I didn’t warn you, girlie.”
“The name’s Lani, not girlie,” She hefted the axe over her shoulder with relative ease; years of working in her parents’ shop had given her some strength. “You’d better remember that.”
“If you think you’re so good,” he said, “I’ll give you that axe if you can beat the monster under this floor here.”
“Game on.” Lani flexed the axe in her hands experimentally. It felt right — like this weapon belonged in her hands. “I can take whatever you throw at me.”
“If you say so, girli– oh, whatever.” The man pulled the lever, sending Lani plunging down toward the pit below. The monster underneath was a Griffin, who growled at her as she found her footing.
“Easy peasy,” she whispered to herself. “I’ve fought worse stuff than this.” It didn’t matter that she’d never even taken her first bounty hunt yet. To Lani’s mind, that Griffin was merely a slight irritant standing between her and the glory her future career path was going to bring to her.
She probably shouldn’t have been surprised when her idle thoughts came back to bite her in the ass later. The Griffin charged, heading toward Lani with reckless abandon. She held the axe tightly within her fists, preparing to strike out at the monster.
It bit her shoulder, but she didn’t care. Lani systematically slashed away at the Griffin, refusing to budge as it poked and bit at her. A few battle wounds would be a small price to pay for her axe. This would be her moment – she was Lani, and people were going to remember her name.
She came to on the floor of the weapons shop, with a massive head wound and the axe still gripped tightly between her fingers. “What happened?” she asked.
"The Griffin tried to take a piece out of you," said the man gruffly.
“Yeah, but did I get it?” Lani tried to sit up, but the room kept spinning. With obvious reluctance, she remained lying on the cool stone floor of the shop.
“Yes.” The man shook his head and rolled his eyes at her. “I'll be damned, but you managed to take it out.”
"I told you I could do it." Lani, even while lying prone on the floor, managed to smirk up at the shop owner. "I'm gonna be the best damn bounty hunter you ever saw. Nobody's gonna forget about me."
"You're not gonna be the best at anything if you keep getting yourself knocked out." Still, the shopkeeper handed Lani the axe. "You earned this. Don't go getting yourself killed during your first hunt."
"High praise if there ever was any, coming from a fleabag like you." Although it was a struggle for her to move, she managed to mask most of the pain. She leaned against the handle of her newly-acquired axe for support as she pulled herself to her feet. "No concussions here today."
"At least not yet." The shopkeeper waved his hand at her in a dismissive gesture. "The day is still young, and you're still an idiot."
"I've managed to upgrade myself to idiot from girlie?" Lani raised an eyebrow. "You're still a sexist ass."
"I've seen many naïve new hunters come and go. The lucky ones go away of their own accord." But he shrugged and reached into his pocket for a card. "Still, if you're serious about this, and it seems that you are — go see Amarant. He always seems to know about rumors and potential jobs.”
Lani glanced over at the shopkeeper. "Don't tell me, you're helping me now?"
He flicked the card at Lani and then busied himself behind the counter. When it was clear to Lani that she wasn't going to get anything else out of him, she turned to leave. Although the axe was absurdly heavy, she strapped it to her back with relative ease. Whoever this Amarant was, he was going to get her a job, whether he liked it or not.
Usually, with enough persuasion — and now, with a little help from her shiny new axe — she'd managed to get things to go her way. But she'd been at it for over an hour, and Amarant looked no more ready to budge. In fact, he actively seemed to be ignoring her. She wasn't used to that — and was frankly, quite shocked that anyone would dare to ignore her.
"The weapons shop owner told me where to find you," said Lani. "He said you're the go-to guy for info about the hunts, Red." Sure, his name might be Amarant, but until he acknowledged her presence, he was Red to Lani. "I beat the Griffin under the shop by myself. I think that means I'm more than qualified!"
Amarant continued to ignore her, instead focusing on the large tankard of ale in front of him. He sipped it casually, looking oddly calm in the middle of the already-chaotic bar. When his tankard was empty, he waved it in front of Lani.
"You want me to get you more ale." Lani snorted at him. "You ignore me all evening, even though I'm supposed to talk to you about work, and then you want me to get you more ale. You can take that tankard and shove it--" she was cut off when Amarant grabbed her hand as she reached out to knock the tankard to the ground.
"I work alone."
Lani bristled. "I didn't say I wanted to work with you, you dumbass! I just said I wanted a job. I swear, you're such an ignorant buffoon."
"And you're too damn loud."
Lani glared at him. "That's enough." She stormed out of that particular bar in a haze of particularly righteous fury. She was too loud? He worked alone? What in seven blazes was that supposed to mean? She was just following a lead for a frigging job. She was still skulking around furiously when she was stopped.
"What do you want?" Lani scowled at the person who had interrupted her rage.
"You're a bounty hunter, correct?" The man was strangely calm, and he didn't seem deterred in the slightest by the death glare Lani was sending his way.
"Yeah." Lani dropped her scowl and glanced up at him. "Name's Lani. What can I do for you?"
"I have a job for you," he said slowly. "I'm afraid a ...former employee of mine has run away with some of my valuables. Can you catch him for me? And my possessions?"
"Of course." Lani smirked and reached for her axe. "That'll be my pleasure."
Later, after her first job, she would realize that money wasn’t actually all that easy, but by that point, she was past caring. The thrill of the chase was what mattered to her — it was the excitement she’d so craved. After her first job, she returned with a black eye, two gashes above her brow, and the fugitive. Lani was officially hooked. The reward was handsome enough, but by that point, it wasn't the gold that mattered to Lani anymore. People were going to know her. She would not be forgotten. She would be Lani, and she would be remembered.