The Path to Sin (Ikken Isshu + Griselda Banks)

[Ikken Isshu]

Aer was staring out at sea when Eddora made her blithe remark, and he didn't realize how far they had already come. Her words, though, had the unpleasant effect of sending his stomach up into his throat.

"Eddora!" he exclaimed, fumbling the little toad statuette out of his pocket. "The boy - Jalisat!" He stared down at the stone toad, grimacing at the little wound that hadn't yet been healed.

Calaman frowned. "You mentioned that before. He's injured, isn't he? Why don't we ask Lady Venez to heal him?"

Aer shook his head. "Look how far out to sea we are. Eddora, can we bring him back? Surely there's time."

Calaman paled at the mention of spending extra time, but said nothing. It was Eddora's decision to make.

 

[Griselda Banks]

(( stare I thought you were going to continue with the dramatic posts about Oebr and Luseik.))

"Jalisat?" The name sounded familiar.... "Oh, that kid in the forest!" She looked at the island receding into the distance, thought for a minute, then called to Rogan, "Hey! Do you think you could turn us around?"

Rogan looked puzzled for a moment, then said, "Right away, ma'am!" and scurried off.

"We'll just do it really fast," Ed said with a frown. "The last thing we need is a kid tagging along."

Venez passed her hand wearily through her hair and said, "Give him here." She took the little toad statue in her hands, eyeing it critically. "Okay, give me some room." She set the statue on the rocking deck of the ship and placed both hands on it. Closing her eyes, her face drew on a look of deep concentration; sweat beaded her forehead as her hands began to glow white. Ed remembered that she had had to take Ether, and wondered if she was going to pass out like Aer had in the cloister of Besaid.

Venez began to tremble, but the white glow did not falter. Slowly, the tiny figure of the toad grew larger and became a boy with a slowly-healing leg. Finally the glow faded away, and Venez slumped back against the side of the boat, panting from the effort. But Jalisat's leg, though covered in blood, was healed.

Ed looked up to see how close they were to the island, but just then Rogan called out, "It's no use, Milady! The wind's too strong; I can't get back to the island!" As if to punctuate his words, the wind buffeted them even further away from Kilika.

"What?" Ed stood up in horror, but then the boat bobbed and she lost her footing, falling back onto her coil of rope.

"We'll make good time to Luca!" Rogan continued. "We ought to take advantage of this wind while we can."

"But what about the kid?!"

Rogan shrugged. "We can probably find a passage back to Kilika for him somewhere."

Ed groaned and dropped her head in her hands.  

[Ikken Isshu]

(( xp All right, all right. I'm trying to decide whether Calaman should fail his test, which I'm assuming will be the next one. I'm tempted to have him fail it, but they have mostly been emotional tests thus far, and succumbing to emotion would be kind of out of character for him. Not to mention, three in a row would be an awful lot of failures for our party. ><))

Jalisat was pale-faced and wide-eyed, but perhaps not surprisingly, uninjured. He blinked and stared around at the boat.

"What happened? Where are we? Where are Marceil and Mulogo?" He sat up and stared around, then focused on Aer. "You told him to... What happened?"

Aer drew back, surprised. "Er... Mulogo did as I told him... And then I kind of... forgot to take you to a healer. Until now, that is. This White Mage healed you. Her name is Venez."

Jalisat stood up and stared out at the sea. He pointed to the receding bump on the horizon. "Is that... Kilika?"

"Glad to see he knows how to show gratitude," Calaman muttered, his eyes going to Venez, who Jalisat hadn't even acknowledged.

~

Oebr emerged from the Cloister with one hand over his eyes, so he didn't notice the summoner at the foot of the steps within the temple until Luseik Kusefora cleared his throat.

"Summoner Oebr," Luseik said with cold civility. "May I ask what, exactly, you were doing?"

Oebr lowered his hand and resisted the urge to growl. Instead he smiled his oily smile and bowed deeply, managing to work something of a prayer gesture into the motion.

"Why, continuing my pilgrimage, of course," he said.

"During an attack by Sin? The village was devastated, Summoner. Even with only a single Aeon, you would have been an invaluable asset in the defense effort."

"And now I have two," Oebr said flatly.

"At the expense of how many lives?" Luseik countered. "I don't mean to imply that you've destroyed Kilika by your actions. But how many people could you have saved with Valefor? How many people might not be dead right now if you had gone to help instead of using the opportunity to enter the Cloister?"

Oebr narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth, but Yachesa stepped forward on his right.

"It is not a Summoner's place to question another Summoner," Yachesa said dangerously. "Maybe I am stepping above my station to say as much, but the fact remains that one Summoner is above another's reproach."

Luseik raised an eyebrow. Oebr, slightly flustered, waved his guardian back. "Yachesa, that isn't necessary," he said in a low voice.

"Your guardian speaks the truth," Luseik said, "but so do I. You know the responsibilities of a Summoner, Oebr."

"As do you," Oebr sneered. "What were you doing when Sin attacked? You didn't even emerge from the Cloister for at least ten minutes afterward."

"I was deep in the Trial," Luseik said harshly. "To attempt to leave the Cloister at such a stage would have meant death for me and my guardians."

"Hah!" Oebr snorted derisively. "Vague and meaningless words. 'Deep in the Trial'? What kind of Trial did you undergo in the Cloister, Luseik Kusefora?"

Satiyen Ronso stepped forward abruptly and hefted his glaive with a threatening gesture. Luseik immediately placed a restraining hand on the Ronso's shoulder, but that didn't silence Satiyen:

"That is none of your concern, Summoner."

Oebr and his guardians stared down Luseik and his, until finally, Satiyen stepped back and Luseik turned his back on Oebr.

"I won't bother you anymore on the subject of duty," Luseik said morosely, "but I will respectfully suggest that you pay more attention to yours in the future." With those words, he started for the exit; his guardians followed him. Oebr started to open his mouth, but thought better of it. He had no reason to want the last word with that petty fool.

"Yachesa," he said, "I don't know what the test was... and I won't ask. But however you failed, it changes nothing. You remain my guardian, along with your brother."

Yachesa didn't react visibly, though Oebr imagined she looked a little heartened by the reassurance. "Thank you, my Lord."

Nodding, Oebr started down the steps to follow Luseik out to the open air. As soon as he could summon Valefor, he intended to be off this godforsaken island and on to the next Cloister.

~

((Perhaps more on this soon, perhaps I'll wait till the next Cloister. ninja ))

 

[Griselda Banks]

((True, that might be a little strange if they all failed their tests, yet still came out on top xp And I don't know Cal as well as you do, obviously, but I'll agree that he seems to be the sort of person who wouldn't fall as easily for the Fayth's tricks. Lol, Calaman is better than his elders.))

"You forgot?" Eddora ran both hands through her hair. "Remind me why I asked you to be my guardian...."

Venez, whose face was pale and sweaty, lay down where she was and closed her eyes, falling into a deep sleep.

Rogan strode over to them. "Now might be a bad time-"

"It is," Ed snapped.

"-but I have a suggestion. Do we really need to go over to Luca? Wouldn't it be more direct, more convenient, to just go straight to Djose? There's no temple in Luca, you know. It's just tradition to go that way."

Ed squinted up at him. "What's in it for you to change the route?"

Rogan grinned cockily down at her. "Why, getting to know your Ladyship better, of course."  

[Ikken Isshu]

Aer immediately stiffened, but Calaman pulled him back by one arm. It was almost possible to see the leash yanking Aer back.

"I don't know what you're so touchy about," Calaman said sharply, "but it's going to cause problems sooner or later. Get over it, all right?"

"If that puffed-up fisherman makes one more move in her direction," Aer growled murderously, but didn't finish the thought.

Jalisat, staring back wistfully at Kilika, seemed oblivious to all conversation until he inexplicably jumped up, ran precariously to the prow of the boat, and leaned out so far over the edge that Aer forgot about his love interest and shouted, "Get back, you little idiot!"

Jalisat, of course, ignored him completely. "Come on!" he yelled out over the ocean. "Can't this boat go any faster? I finally have a chance to go on a real adventure and I'm stuck in this slow-moving bucket!"

Calaman surprised the boy by thumping him lightly on the back of the head, which knocked him off-balance and caused him to tumble forward. Before he could go over the edge, though, Calaman caught one of his arms and yanked him back, setting him a little roughly on both feet.

"You know that little thump on the back of your head was about the same thing you'd feel if a bird shat shat on you, right? And you almost let it knock you out of the boat. What if we hit a swell? You'd have been out in the water before anyone could do a thing."

Jalisat looked sulky, but Aer snorted. "As if you know the first thing about boats," he jibed. "But on that, at least, he's right, kid. Don't go inviting trouble if you can help it." That said, he went right back to glaring daggers at the boatman.

Calaman rolled his eyes and turned back to Jalisat. "We'll find a way to get you back to Kilika. All right? There must be a commercial ship or something that will take you home."

"I don't want to go home," Jalisat replied. "Look at me. Do I look like someone who wants to stay home all my life?"

"You're a child," Calaman said in response. "You haven't lived long enough to know what 'all your life' is."

"And you have?" Jalisat shot back, a little heatedly. "You're not much older than me, but you're chasing a summoner all over Spira. I have as much right as you to decide what I want to do with my life."

I'm an orphan, Calaman thought scathingly. My only family was a sword and the teachings of Yevon. I didn't have anywhere else to go. You could have a future outside of battle, if you would just... He sighed.

"Do as you please," he said, waving dismissively as he sat down on to the port side of the boat. "If the Lady says you can stay, you can stay, but otherwise, we have no responsibility for what you do or where you go."

 

[Ikken Isshu]

((Bump. I'm currently debating a lot of different possibilities for the upcoming tests. I haven't showed any of Luseik's/Keskes'/Satiyen's tests yet, so I'm thinking I better do one of those. Hmm. confused ))

 

[Griselda Banks]

((Blech. Sorry for the long delay. And sorry for the whinging post in the Hearrtes rp; now I feel really stupid and afraid to go back sweatdrop

You don't have to do the tests for Luseik's band if you don't want to.))

Eddora opened her mouth to reply to Rogan, but then became distracted by Jalisat and Calaman. As soon as her guardians had finished with him, she gave Jalisat a stern look of her own. "Look, boy. I don't want you tagging along, and that's final. As soon as we can, we're putting you on a ship straight back to Kilika. You're not ready for the world, and I don't have the patience or the desire to make you so." Her eyes narrowed even further. "And don't question whether my guardians are worthy of their duty. That's for me to decide, okay?" She huffed a sigh. Would no leg of their journey be normal?

As soon as Jalisat had asked whether the boat could go any faster, Rogan had scurried about, pulling this rope and tying that one and, when he thought no one was watching, muttering under his breath. Ed thought they might be moving somewhat faster, but it was hard to tell as all landmarks faded away and they were surrounded by open sea. "This is as fast as she gets, kid," Rogan said with a grin, adjusting their direction slightly.  

[Ikken Isshu]

((I don't think anyone's holding it against you, though I did make a post in response that you may want to take a look at. Most of it was kind of blunt, but the last paragraph is good for laughs. It makes me chuckle looking back on it, but I'd still be willing to put it into action if you like. razz ))

Jalisat continued to lean out of the boat despite Calaman's cautions, and didn't seem the least bit fazed by Eddora's stern comment that she didn't need another underage guardian. He stared down at the water.

"It looks like the water's going forward faster than we are," he complained, and Calaman let out an audible groan.

"I don't see why you're in a hurry to go anywhere," Aer said, rolling his eyes. "The faster this boat gets to Luca, the faster you're getting on another one back to Kilika."

"We'll see," Jalisat said, unperturbed. Calaman's eyes narrowed at that remark, but he didn't say respond. Instead he stood and, stepping precariously on the little boat, made his way toward Eddora.

Aer, without realizing it, was keeping one eye on Jalisat, who was focused on everything but the boat and its inhabitants; and the boatman himself was paying more attention to the boat than anything else. So Calaman felt only a small twinge of impropriety when he addressed Eddora as, "Ed. How are you feeling? That was quite the trial back there."

He could be referring to the actual Trial, or to Sin, but the way he said it, it seemed he was simply referring to everything that had happened on Kilika.

 

[Griselda Banks]

((Oh. Was I not supposed to take that last part seriously? -_- I can never tell with you, Ikken.))

Eddora shook her head hopelessly as Jalisat continued to lean out of the boat, then turned her attention to Calaman instead. She thought back over all that had happened - the reports of Sin, the Trial and the battle with Ifrit, Sin's appearance, the battle, Rogan offering this boat so conveniently it was almost unnatural.... Had they arrived on Kilika only this morning? It felt as though it had been a week, at least.

Ed placed a hand over her stomach, where the plank had pierced not too long ago, and grimaced inwardly as she remembered the pain. Then she glanced down and realized that the lower half of her shirt was stiff with dried blood. She really must look a sight, after all they had been through today.

"Well, Cal," she sighed, "I think I'm fine, but that's more than I can say for this shirt. I really must have lost a lot of blood." She glanced over at Venez, who lay with an arm over her eyes, drooling slightly as she slept. For a moment, Ed felt cold as she realized just how close she had come to dying. I have to be more careful from now on, she thought. "Hey, Aer!" she said, more to keep her mind from such depressing thoughts than anything else. "Do you think you could wash this or something? I can't go into Djose Temple looking like an Unsent!"  

[Ikken Isshu]

((Pointless short post is pointless and short. confused I was too lazy to do anything productive here.

Anyway, I started writing that proposition as a bit of a humorous experiment, but by the time I finished it, it really was pretty plausible, so I don't see why we couldn't put it into action. When I get around to it, I'll do the initial parts of it, and we can put off Gavin's involvement in it until you're ready. For now, I'm already focusing on a million different things, so I'm not complaining if you're not ready. ><))

Aer glanced up and started to brighten, but then his face fell. "I... My water magic is..."

Calaman immediately picked up on the problem. "Come on, Aer. Whatever that orb was, you needed it to do things like what you did during the pirate attack. You shouldn't need it for a simple Water spell to help you wash a garment."

Jalisat chose that moment to interject. "Since when do you need magic to wash clothes?"

Both Calaman and Aer blinked; the paradigms of their argument had just been severely shifted. Aer scowled. "Of course I can wash it," he said. Calaman glanced back to Ed, and stifled and laugh that might have earned him the animosity of both Ed and Aer.

 

[Griselda Banks]

((Yeah...I should be ready in a couple of weeks or so.))

Ed raised her eyebrows loftily. "The reason I asked you, Aer, was because I figured you'd be able to do it easier with magic. If you can't summon up enough water to wash a simple garment, I'll wash it myself." She scowled right back at Aer.

((Shorter post is shorter and even more pointless! xp ))  

[Griselda Banks]

((Bump to get it on the front page again.))  

[Ikken Isshu]

((I don't think either of us has any idea what to do next. confused Time skip?))

 

[Griselda Banks]

((Hmm. Maybe so. Hey, whaddya say to another sea battle? This time with fiends. I'm thinking probably not Sin, because this is a mighty small ship for Sin to go after (hey, Ed's not that important, right? xp ). But just a random battle type of thing?

Hope you don't mind me using Aer a bit in this post. It sped things up a bit.))

After much discussion back and forth, Eddora finally managed to persuade Aer to wash the blood out of her shirt. Since she had no other clothes, Rogan had offered the use of his tiny little cabin for some privacy. As Ed stepped into the cramped little space, she thought she heard Aer muttering something about 'convenient peepholes', so she wrapped herself up in a spare tarp just in case.

The rest of the day passed mostly without incident, though everyone was rather short of temper after the stress of the day. Venez woke up an hour or two after Ed emerged from the cabin wearing her clean shirt. As Ed sat next to her, twiddling her thumbs boredly, she slowly became aware that Venez was looking closely at her face, as if searching for something.

"What?" Ed demanded sharply.

"You said your name was Eddora...right?"

"Yes."

"Eddora Khaul?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Oh! N-Nothing...." Venez blushed and hastily looked away, looking a little flustered.

Ed quirked an eyebrow at her, but she said no more. Yet Eddora couldn't quite shake the feeling that Venez was trying to sum up the courage to say something to her.

Apparently Venez was too timid for that, because she said nothing more for the rest of the day. Eddora fell asleep on the deck, watching Rogan standing by the prow and looking out to sea.  

[Ikken Isshu]

((Works for me. I thought it was pretty amusing. razz And oooooh, I just had a delightful idea for Luseik's party, so I'm scratching some of the plan I did have for them, 'cause this one's better. mad D))

As the waning crescent of the moon rose to cast its pitiful light over the water, Calaman narrowed his eyes and leaned out over the water, certain that he'd seen something looming out of the darkness on the horizon. An island? Their destination, perhaps? No, it wasn't soon enough for that.

He wasn't particularly tired. Earlier, he'd managed to browbeat Aer into taking a watch and allowing Calaman to sleep some of the afternoon away, so that the young swordsman could remain awake through the night. Aer had grumbled about it being unnecessary, but hadn't put up much of a fight. Now Calaman remained awake when, to the best of his knowledge, the rest of the ship was asleep.

He was trying to keep his mind on his self-appointed task of watching for fiends and pirates, but the rhythmic motion of the ship, coupled with the eerie lighting of the crescent moon, was leading his thoughts in other directions. He was beginning to get frustrated with his tendency to brood in moments of relative inactivity. Surely his old master would have scolded him for such inattention to his duty. After all, fiends didn't care if you were thinking about battle or your own petty problems; they'd kill you just the same. And he couldn't afford to be worrying about Sin when there was a very real possibility that he might have to fight the infernal beast.

He straightened and peered out across the water. Something was definitely out there, and it was coming closer. But it was moving too quickly to be stationary; the boat wasn't moving that fast.

A pair of gleaming yellow eyes became visible out in the darkness, and before long, there were no less than five pairs approaching the boat.

"Aer!" Calaman shouted, rushing over to wake the mage. "Lady Eddora! Wake up! Fiends!" Out of the darkness, he heard a high-pitched shriek, and ducked and rolled just in time to see a pair of gleaming talons rake through the air where he'd been standing. He drew his sword and planted his feet on the deck, afraid but determined to fight off the fiends.