The Path to Sin (Ikken Isshu + Griselda Banks)

[Griselda Banks]

At Calaman's cry, Eddora jerked awake. She was on her feet before she had even realized her eyes were open. With a swift glance, she took in the situation - a large fiend swiping at Calaman, four more scrambling over the sides of the boat. It was hard to make out any definite features in the darkness, but Ed could plainly make out sharp talons or claws shining in the moonlight.

"Get out of the fighting!" Ed called to Venez as she aimed a powerful kick at the nearest fiend. The white mage scurried over to press her back against the wall of the cabin, keeping her hands ready to cast a spell if necessary.

Ed whirled around and kicked another fiend trying to come around behind her, then danced back a few feet to give herself some room. If only I had Ixion already, she thought briefly before throwing her arms up at the moon and calling Valefor with her mind.

With a shriek that echoed out over the waves, Valefor swooped down out of the moonlight, snatching up a fiend that had begun advancing towards Ed's entranced form. The great bird aeon soared high up into the sky, still holding the fiend in her talons, and then dropped it from several hundred feet. It fell, squealing, to crash down upon the waves with a huge splash.  

[Ikken Isshu]

((Nevermind my PM. I think I was thinking of another RP. A couple of other RPs, actually. I just... forgot. sweatdrop Feel free to poke me if I ever lapse out of posting. I've done it in many roleplays.

That said, I think it's time for something to happen that seriously deviates from FFX. Mwa ha ha ha. No worries about the accuracy of history, as long as this particular situation is solved by the end of the roleplay. razz ))

Calaman rolled under another vicious attack from one of the fiends, and almost lost his balance when Aer came out of the darkness directly in front of him, a dagger glinting in his hand, to swipe at the selfsame monster. The mage's slow attack was easily dodged, but Calaman took advantage of the distraction to put his sword into the amphibious beast up to the hilt. It shrieked and took one last slash at him, blocked with one wrist, and then dissipated into shimmering pyreflies. Calaman wasted no time; as soon as the body was incorporeal enough to release his sword, he whirled to behead a second fiend, which followed the first into oblivion.

Aer was summoning up some spell, if the dim glow between his gesturing hands was any indication, but Calaman had no time to coordinate an attack with the mage; another fiend had already taken the place of the fallen two. Calaman rapidly scanned the ship; were there only five? He counted two on the ship, and he saw no sign of Valefor, so the aeon must have carried one of the five off. But if there were more...

An alien sound whisked past Calaman's head, and he half-raised his sword to counter it before he realized it was an attack from Aer - the wind-blade he'd suggested back in the Cloister. It scored the chest of the fiend in front of Calaman, eliciting a furious howl, and Calaman lunged in the wake of the attack to impale it as he had done the first.

It looked none too pleased by its defeat, and Calaman noticed its claws coming in for an underhand lunge an instant too late; he felt them depressing the flesh of his belly an instant before the skin broke. A faint stinging began precisely where the monster had wounded him, but nothing more. He felt a warm wetness sliding out and over his belly, down his front. The fiend was already dissipating. He started to look for the remaining fiend; doubtless Eddora had already dispatched it by now, but it was important to be certain. He heard Aer shouting, but the mage's voice was muffled. Calaman took a step forward and faltered; then there was a curious feeling of something falling away from him, as if his belt had broken, or perhaps a piece of armor. He looked down.

Glimmering blackly in the darkness, something hung from his midriff. He started to squint, but then his mouth opened slightly. The world seemed to slow, then, and it darkened even as Aer came around in front of him, eyes as wide as saucers and flesh white enough to appear luminescent in the darkness. The mage was shouting something, but Calaman didn't hear a word.

Until someone behind him whispered, "You do have a penchant for this sort of thing, don't you?"

He turned his head, but the slowness of the world seemed to affect him too, and he turned with agonizing slowness. Aer's arms started to come up.

Before Calaman had even made a quarter-turn, the voice continued, "Such a reckless child. But with a teacher like yours, I can't say I'm surprised. I knew old Althemen, you know, before he was 'old'. I wonder if he taught you as well as he taught me? Of course, the world is a better teacher than any mortal man. You have time yet to learn. Well, you will, if you don't get yourself killed first."

Calaman drew breath to speak. He had barely begun to make the effort when the voice once again continued: "Consider this a gift from an interested party, neither ally nor enemy... at present."

Calaman's entire body went frigid, and he stopped moving. The entire world stopped moving. He was immersed in a dim blue light that shimmered and fluctuated like a shell of water, and the faint pain in his midriff vanished as if it had been pulled straight out of him. The glow vanished, and he found himself staring at Aer, who looked ready to faint. His front was still warm and wet, but the stinging was gone, and when he looked down, the glistening thing, whatever nameless part of him it may have been, was gone.

"Calaman," Aer breathed, "what the hell was that?"

Calaman opened his mouth, but couldn't answer. "Something healed me," he murmured. "A... one of the fiends?"

Aer shook his head. "They're all dead. I thought... you nearly were as well."

"Something..." Calaman mumbled. Then he shook his head in a slow mirror of Aer's gesture. "I don't know. It... spoke... But it didn't tell me anything of consequence." Not directly, at least. But... A past student of Althemen's? What student of that old soldier would have that kind of magical power? Althemen taught swordsmen, not wizards, not mages. And what else could...? He shook his head and patted his stomach, ignoring the sticky blood that came away on his hand. "I'm fine now, anyway. And the fiends are gone?"

"I ran to Eddora, but she didn't need my help. A few more showed up after the first five, but Jalisat came flying like a bat out of hell and killed one for himself. Just between you and me, it almost took him overboard with it, but I pushed him back with wind. I'm letting him believe it was all on him, though."

Calaman shook his head, amused but unable to laugh. "How chivalric. I need to talk to Eddora. Aer..." He indicated his stomach again. He wanted to find a secluded spot and examine the wound - or lack thereof - but that could come later. For now, it was enough that he wasn't dragging his internal organs around. "Aer, don't mention that to Eddora. I'd like to keep it to myself until I understand what happened."

"She may understand it better than you," Aer pointed out. "She's a magic-user too. And Venez, the healer. Couldn't she help?"

"I don't need help," Calaman countered mildly, "and for reasons of my own, I think this is best kept to myself." Whatever - whoever? - it had been, the person had seemed to know him... even if only through Althemen. Who, though? Who could have done that? And where, Calaman realized, could they have done it from? Could it have been Venez, speaking magically inside his mind? But the voice had seemed masculine.

...Could Rogan be a magic-user? It was far-fetched to say the least, but who else could it be? Unless either Aer or Eddora were hiding something from him, but that seemed even more unlikely. No, it had to be someone else, not on the boat. Calaman didn't know how they had spoken to him over the distance, but unless Rogan was a master of disguise, there was no other possibility.

He shook his head again, marveling at the fact that unlike his previous injuries, he felt no aftereffects of healing from this one. In fact, he felt positively battle-ready. He scanned the deck and strode in Eddora's direction. Nearby, Jalisat was leaning over the edge as he'd done earlier. This time, though, he appeared to be diligently looking for fiends. Calaman elected not to warn him against falling overboard. Aer seemed to have that covered.

"My Lady," he said as he drew close. "Are you all right? And the healer, Venez, and the Captain? The fiends are gone, but - "

"Not quite," something whispered, and the sky was briefly illuminated by a brilliant flash of lightning that seemed to streak out of the ocean mere feet from the ship. The deafening crash was accompanied, Calaman thought, by a multitude of submerged shrieks that seemed to reverberate through the hull of the ship. The acrid scent of burnt air wafted over the ship. "Now they're gone. For the time being. Another small gift. Please, continue."

Calaman was silent. Jalisat had fallen back in surprise and now sat on the deck, staring mutely up at the guardrail; Aer had both hands raised as if in a fighting stance, but had no idea where to look and kept turning. Calaman drew a breath.

"Is someone there?" he called.

Aer furrowed his brow at Calaman. "Bunch of bloody fiends are there," he said. "Damned magic-using fiends, too. Be ready."

Calaman furrowed his brow right back at the mage. "Didn't you hear the..." Something clicked in his mind, and he sighed. He changed what he had been about to say. "Didn't you hear the lightning bolt? Water elemental fiends don't often use lightning magic, Aer. That would be suicidal. Whatever fluke that lightning was, I imagine it just saved our hides."

He carefully avoided addressing the fact that the sky was clear enough to make out the brilliant band of stars across the firmament.

As the ship crept on through the night, all but unharmed - except for a nasty spill of blood where Calaman had almost met his end - an unseen watcher observed its silent passage.

I wonder if that is what I was like at that age. Master Althemen has done a good job of teaching the boy to observe his duty, that is certain, but it is as if the boy has a death wish, the way he keeps throwing himself in harm's way.... Ah, well, I suppose that is all a part of his duty. His summoner's life before his own, and all that. How interesting, though. His mistake with that special technique before seems to have truly altered him... I may be able to really change things if I can learn the truth about his condition. There will be time, though. There are many Cloisters yet, many opportunities for me to exert my influence. For now, though... I must rest. Rest, and think on what shall come next.

((Ee hee. And as I wrote that, I even came up with a decent explanation for the mysterious watcher's ability to do the things he does. I liked writing that post. biggrin ))

 

[Griselda Banks]

((Oh, cool! This is just what the rp needed at this point, I think. A new mystery to liven things up a bit. Um...just to clarify, the unseen watcher isn't Rogan, is it? 'Cause I have something pretty sweet planned for him, if I do say so myself.))

Eddora came out of her summoning trance once she had seen through Valefor's eyes that the coast was clear. Shaking her head to get rid of the lingering disorientation, she turned to look around at her guardians. It was hard to tell in the darkness, but they all looked unharmed, though Venez's eyes were round and she looked shaken. Aer and Calaman stood at the other end of the deck, conversing quietly.

Ed closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to release the adrenaline pounding through her veins. The fiends had come so quickly, and then they had been killed so fast. Too much happening all at once, and in the dead of night to boot. Ed opened her eyes again and saw Calaman making his way to her.

"Yes, I'm fine," she said impatiently in reply to his anxious inquiries, but then a blast of lightning cut her off. Ed jumped in spite of herself, the adrenaline surging through her again. Nothing moved on the quiet sea, and slowly her pounding heart slowed again. She slowly realized she had grabbed Calaman's shoulder in her alarm, and released it as she muttered, "Either this is the oddest dream I've ever had, or something very strange is going on. And somehow, I doubt we're going to get an explanation for all of this."

Just then, Rogan poked his head around the corner of the cabin. "Did I miss something?" he asked with a yawn.

Eddora whirled on him. "Where were you?" she demanded. "We could have used your help in this battle, you know! Or were you just bragging when you said you could throw knives?"

"I was asleep!"

"With all the noise we've been making?"

Rogan spread his arms wide in supplication. "I'm a heavy sleeper!"

Ed snorted and turned her back on him. "Yeah right."  

[Ikken Isshu]

((I don't have time to post IC at the moment, but just to let you know: No, it isn't Rogan. Though that did cross my mind briefly while I was planning it out. I... can't seem to remember his name for the nonce, but I had it written down somewhere. His name isn't particularly important, so I'll look it up and tell you next time I post. Who he is, precisely, though, is a spoiler, so it'll have to wait. razz

Also, I noticed an odd typo in my previous post (Aer you all right?) and I fixed it, in case you noticed it. Anyway, I'll edit this post to IC tomorrow, so check back. biggrin

EDIT: Okay, so 'tomorrow' didn't work. My friend suddenly decided she wanted to go to the zoo... But it was fun. Anyway... I forgot to look up the dude's name, but I'll get it... eventually. ninja ))

Calaman remained uncharacteristically silent and thoughtful through all of this, while Aer opened his mouth several times, intending to help Eddora in telling off the Captain, but found himself unable to get a word in between Ed's berating. He eventually settled for silently scowling at Rogan.

Calaman, on the other hand, once he had assured himself that everyone was safe, found his way to the prow and sat against the railing, staring out ahead.

Something in him - training, perhaps - kept urging him to be wary, to keep his eyes open for more fiends. But something else - he had no idea what - told him that the unseen voice was somebody very powerful, and that that somebody had already ensured that no more fiends would trouble the ship. Why?

And there was an ambiguous feeling from the thought that whoever it was had been a student of Althemen. Ambiguous, because on hand Calaman felt closer to the strange entity, whoever it was... But on the other hand, he felt vaguely disturbed that such a powerful figure could have such a connection to him without his knowledge. It was almost like waking up in the morning and finding out that your home had been broken into, but with no idea as to what - if anything - had been stolen. He opened his mouth, and, half-expecting a response, murmured, "Who are you?" But the only response he received was the murmuring of the ocean against the hull of the ship.

~

"What I'd like is just to get off this ship and back onto land," Aer muttered, for whoever was near enough to hear. Jalisat had curled up on the deck, unwilling to go below deck but unable to remain awake. "I'm not the type to get seasick, but my eyes have been opened to the vulnerability of this thing. Firmly on land, that's my spot, preferably indoors, so that I can have a solid wall at my back instead of a sneaking fiend." He sat up, staring to the starboard side of the ship. "Finally. I can't bloody sleep, but at least now I'll have an excuse not to."

The sun rose with tantalizing slowness, and only when the sea was fully illuminated did Aer visibly relax. He knew fiends could swim underwater, but at least he could now be certain that there weren't any above the water.

((That's my relative stalling-post. razz ))

 

[Ikken Isshu]

((I probably should've just made a new post instead of editing, to bump it up... Anyway, just to make sure you see this, bump.))

 

[Griselda Banks]

((That's okay. I wasn't able to get on till now anyway.))

Eddora wasn't able to get much more sleep that night. She knew they had a big day ahead of them - Luca was a busy place, after all, and they had to get through the mob to Mi'ihen Highroad while there was still light. Maybe if they hurried they wouldn't get caught on the Highroad at nightfall. That could be very dangerous, with all the fiends that were attracted to such a busy thoroughfare.

All the same, sleep evaded her - as it seemed to evade everyone but Rogan, who lounged in the stern with his legs crossed and his hands clasped behind his head, snoring loudly as if to prove his statement that he was a heavy sleeper. Ed cast him a few disgusted glances throughout the night. At least their journey was almost over and they would be rid of him soon.

Rogan was awake by first light, one moment snoring like a saw magnified four times, the next on his feet and stepping briskly around his vessel, tightening ropes and checking their position by the fading stars overhead. He cheerfully passed around a breakfast of crackers and cheese that tasted slightly moldy, seemingly oblivious to how grumpy everyone was.

After the meal, Ed relaxed against the side of the boat. They would be able to see any more approaching fiends now, and soon they would be disembarking. The sun was warm, the salty breeze cool, and soon she found herself drifting off into a light stupor somewhere between sleep and wakefulness. Suddenly she blinked and straightened, squinting up at the sun high overhead. She hesitated, trying to put her finger on what was bothering her.

"Rogan..." she said slowly, turning to look at the man now standing with one foot on the bowsprit, looking out to sea. "Shouldn't we be in Luca by now?"

Rogan turned around and winked at her with a slow, crafty smile. "Ah, but we're not going to Luca."

((Sorry; couldn't resist stopping it there.))  

[Ikken Isshu]

((You crafty vixen. >< Now I'm unsure of what to do, darn it. razz Ah well, short post anyway.))

Aer sat up, having the good fortune to be the only guardian near enough to hear that admission. Of course, he jumped to the first conclusion that occurred to him, which was that Rogan was a slimy, two-faced, backstabbing (and, of course, skirt-chasing) rat.

"What?" he growled, pushing his cloak aside to free his hands for any spells he might need to cast.

Calaman was still absorbed in wondering about the mysterious helper from the previous evening, and was at the stern, staring down at the turbulent water behind the ship. Jalisat, unusually enough, was asleep below deck.  

[Griselda Banks]

(( twisted I know. Aren't I horrible? Okay, here's what the rest of my post would have entailed, had I not stopped it there.))

"What?!" Eddora said in a considerably louder voice, springing to her feet. "You said you'd take us to Luca in return for protecting your ship! For your information, we did just that while you were getting your beauty sl-"

"You should probably sit down, M'lady," Rogan said in an unconcerned voice, leaning against the side of the boat and crossing his arms comfortably.

"I'll decide for myself when to-" Suddenly the boat bucked under her feet and she fell back smartly onto her perch on the coil of rope.

Rogan easily kept his footing, almost looking as though his feet were glued to the deck, and he continued to smirk at her. "You may not remember this, Lady Eddora, but I mentioned our little detour before. Why not cut straight across to Djose? It'd save you all a bunch of time."

Ed narrowed her eyes and said through her teeth, "I never agreed to that."

Rogan's smile widened. "But you never said no, right? It's too late to turn back now; we're already past Luca, and the wind's in our favor. We'll get to Djose in no time flat."

Ed's hands slowly curled into fists. "Why are you doing this? Why are you so stubborn about us getting to Djose?"

She half expected him to wink at her and say To get to know Your Ladyship all the better! Instead, his smirk smoothed out and he tilted his head back to look up at the sky. "I have my own reasons," he said softly.  

[Ikken Isshu]

((Still difficult to come up with something to do... Which means I have to do something elsewhere! 8D ))

Aer exhaled sharply in disgust, turning away and gripping the railing. After a few seconds had passed, he stepped forward to stand at Eddora's shoulder.

"Do these reasons of yours supersede the pilgrimage?" he demanded. "Do they supersede the Calm? The protection of every man, woman and child in Spira? If these reasons are more important than defeating Sin, then I would very much like to hear them, Captain!"

~

The first official ferry that had made the crossing from Luca to Kilika after the attack, when it had arrived in Kilika, had been full to the brim of rescue workers and supplies. The return trip, though, was full of refugees... and a few notable summoners.

Luseik Kusefora's party disembarked from the ferry and looked about themselves once on the dock.

"So many people," Keskes murmured, at the same moment that Satiyen grumbled, "Too many people."

Luseik just smiled quietly to himself and looked ahead as he walked. When they reached the city proper, they were almost immediately stopped by a diseased woman bearing a basket with a few gil in it, rattling the change at them. Luseik stared down at the woman's disease-scarred face as if he had never seen a beggar before. Satiyen had just begun to step forward, hefting his spear warningly, when Luseik reached into his coin purse and matched the contents of the basket from his own coffers. Satiyen raised one dark eyebrow, but Luseik just smiled at the woman.

"For your children," he said softly. Keskes blinked. He saw no children with the woman. She stared up at Luseik, but slowly nodded and scurried off into the press of people.

They continued wordlessly, both of the guardians wondering at the mood of their summoner. When they finally emerged onto the Mi'ihen Highroad, Luseik stopped outside the city gates, threw his head back, and inhaled deeply.

"We're closer," he sighed. "Do you think we'll be the first?"

"We're ahead of the game for the moment," Keskes said with a small shrug. "But it's too soon to tell."

"True, it is early... But wouldn't it be ironic if we made it?"

Satiyen raised an eyebrow. "I'm not certain that 'ironic' is the right word, Luseik. But I see what you mean, of course. You... aren't having second thoughts about the pilgrimage, are you?"

Luseik laughed quietly. "I'm sorry. My lunatic ramblings have gotten you down, haven't they? No, I'm not having second thoughts. Well, I'm wasting our time. Shall we go?"

~

Within Luca, a small crowd was beginning to gather around a hunchbacked man in the center of the city.

"Repent!" he was shrieking at the top of his dilapidated lungs. "Repent and make peace with Yevon, for the end is near! There shall be no more Calms, no more safety, no more prosperity! Sin will devour all, and this world will be no more! Only in the next life shall you know solace! Repent of your sins against the Alpha and the Omega and only then shall you be saved from Sin!"

Of course the end is near, something far, far away whispered, with only the swirling and ambient lights of its surroundings to hear it. The end is always near. The slightest misstep on the part of the most insignificant player can bring the whole story to ruin... But here we are, acting out another story regardless. A mammoth head, vaguely human but disfigured and twisted by strange magics, bowed down and rested its chin upon its vast and muscular chest. Somehow... Somewhere... the chain has a weakness, the blackened lips whispered. If the chain can be broken, I will break it. And if I fail... If I fail, then yes, old man, you are right. The world truly is doomed. That is why I cannot fail.

A forceful pulse went through the surroundings, stirring the ambient lights in the air, and, as it had done many times in the past few months, the mammoth figure slumped lifelessly. It would wake eventually, but until it did, it had work to do elsewhere.  

[Griselda Banks]

(( eek Why do I get the feeling that this isn't going to a be a normal pilgrimage by any means? xd That was an awesomely ominous post, by the way.))

Rogan let his eyes rest on Aer for several moments, lips twitching as if trying to suppress a smile. When he spoke, there was something...something in his voice, in his eyes, that made Eddora look closer.

"You have no cause for worry, boy. Sin is my enemy. Always has been. When Sin's around, no joy can be found in the rolling waves. No freedom. I would never do anything that would hinder the progress of one who is determined to give the people of Spira that joy, that freedom, if only for a short time. Do my reasons 'supersede the pilgrimage'? Quite the contrary." Rogan gave a smile that somehow only made him look very sad.

And then Ed realized what was different about him. As soon as he had begun to speak, Rogan looked very old even though his outward appearance never changed.  

[Ikken Isshu]

((I've decided for several reasons that I'm going to scrap the name I had written down for the Witness (which seems to have cropped up as his title, even though that wasn't my intention), whatever it may have been, and instead I'm calling him Pheos. I may tell you why... later. smile Gawd, I want to post with him so bad, but I don't want to overkill his role. xd ))

"Well," Aer began without thinking, then trailed off. He scowled. "I doubt that," he muttered, but he'd lost his fire. Grumbling to himself, he moved back to the railing of the ship. "I suppose going to Djose directly would save time," he groused under his breath, but didn't press the issue.

At the other end of the ship, Calaman's head suddenly came up and he frowned at the surrounding waters. To the west, far distant and barely visible unless he squinted, land was passing them by. Far too much land for them to be south of Luca.

"Um," he said, turning his head to shout back at Eddora and the Captain. "Is there supposed to be a large land mass to our west?"

Aer rolled his eyes. "We're not going to Luca. The Captain's decided we ought to go straight to Djose."

Calaman raised an eyebrow. That didn't sound like the original plan. But then, Aer hadn't added anything along the lines of, 'and he's very shortly going to regret it,' so Calaman could only assume that Eddora had approved the decision. More or less.

 

[Griselda Banks]

((Pheos, huh? Okay.))

Rogan chuckled at Aer as the latter moved over to the railing. "Well, Eddora? What do you say to all this?"

Ed scowled at him for a few moments, then grudgingly said, "All right. We're on our way to Djose anyway, so we might as well stop arguing and get there. But I might as well let you know, Rogan, that I don't trust you one bit, and if you try anything...." She cracked her knuckles meaningfully.

Rogan continued to smile benignly, as if to say Nothing you did could really hurt me. He moved away to adjust their position, and when he was out of hearing the smile slowly faded away. "Don't worry," he muttered as he worked. "I've grown used to being isolated." He blinked, and then his melancholy manner lifted and his mouth curled into a smile again.  

[Ikken Isshu]

((Ahaa! I'm almost finished (by almost, I mean within 50 pages) with God Emperor of Dune, Morningwood and Pink BOTH have new albums out, and Obama has officially been elected! (In retrospect, I probably should have made that blue rather than red, but, eh.)

Life is awesome. But damn it, they haven't finished counting the votes for all the Senate seats, and I want to know if Merkley beat out that sack of crap Gordon! When I stopped watching CNN last night, Merkley was ahead by several thousand votes... But now Gordon is ahead by about a thousand. crying Come on, Oregon! You got one Democrat into office, just get one more!

Sorry. *cough* I'm excited. Our new president will be both black and a Democrat. That's just unbelievably awesome.

Ah, that's right. I wanted to ask you if you remembered - how long does the Calm usually last, and how long does the time of the pilgrimages last? Or do they vary?

Aaaannnnd without further ado, here is yet another plot point I've been scheming up for months, and I finally get to hint at it. biggrin ))

"Amalio..." Calaman stopped on his way past the door to the tiny cabins below deck. That had been Jalisat's voice.

"Jalisat?" he said, pressing a hand to the door but not opening it. Hearing no response, he pulled the door open and tramped down into the darkness. He was beginning to see the wisdom of wearing an eye patch to reduce the effects of descending from the bright deck into the darkness below, but unfortunately, he hadn't procured one. If they didn't reach land by this evening, he fancied he would probably spend some of the night making one for himself.

'Cabins' was a generous term, though since there were two, the plural was technically required. The one on the right was, to the best of Calaman's knowledge, where Rogan slept. The other was, also to the best of Calaman's knowledge, open to anyone willing to stuff themselves into the tiny space. Jalisat didn't have to do much stuffing, of course, given his diminutive stature, but even Calaman, young as he was, had to curl up if he wanted to lie down in the cabin. Which he didn't. He'd take the open but cold air of the deck over the uncomfortable cage of the cabin any day.

"Jalisat?" he repeated, tapping the door on the left once with his knuckles.

"Amalio," Jalisat mumbled again. "Oh, no... No... What if I can't come back, Amalio?"

Calaman pulled the door open and stared down at the young fighter, lying spreadeagled on a pallet on the floor. Jalisat's face was contorted in something like pain, but when Calaman nudged him with a boot, the boy's features eased. A moment later, his eyes came open.

"Are you all right?" Calaman asked. Jalisat stared at him for a few moments, then scowled.

"I'm fine," he said, got up, and shouldered his way past Calaman and up onto the deck. In the doorway above, he turned and peered down at Calaman. "Do you think... We might pass through Guadosalam?"

Calaman scowled right back at the boy and climbed up after him. "We will almost definitely pass through Guadosalam, but you, Jalisat, will not. Not with us, at least."

Jalisat growled, but Calaman just nudged him out of the way and came back out onto the deck. He squinted against the light, wondering if sailors had a trick to deal with that as well, like the eye patch for the darkness.

"What's this talk of Guadosalam, anyway?" Calaman asked. "I thought you'd be in a hurry to see your friends again. To see them safe and unharmed. Isn't that important?"

"They're fine," Jalisat said with a sigh. "I'm the one who almost died."

"I wouldn't say you almost died," Calaman pointed out, "but whether or not you could have been crippled is beside the point. What's so important about Guadosalam?"

"I..." Jalisat trailed off, staring into the distance, "...don't know."

Calaman narrowed his eyes. "You want to go to Guadosalam to the exclusion of wishing your friends a farewell, and you don't even know why?"

Jalisat set his jaw. "I'll just follow you anyway," he said with the air of a decision. Calaman's mouth fell open.

"You'll do no such thing!" he snapped.

"What will you do about it?" Jalisat demanded.

"I could undo what Venez did for your leg," Calaman snapped, and restrained himself when Jalisat took a hasty step back. "Look. You can't follow us. The Lady is already carrying enough dead weight with that half-wit mage lapping at her heels."

"Dead weight?" Jalisat exclaimed. "I killed one of those fiends earlier!"

"I killed three." He said it with no trace of gloating, only a rock-hard insistence that Jalisat accept his own vulnerability. But at the thought of vulnerability, Calaman could feel the warm wet blood sliding down his front.

And a cold blue glow taking the pain away -

He shook his head. "The decision has already been made by powers beyond you," he said firmly. "The Lady doesn't want another guardian."

Jalisat looked like he might attack Calaman. The young warrior's muscles tightened in anticipation of having to subdue the boy, but he just turned and stomped to the railing, leaning out over the water.

His own juvenile form of defiance. I've told him already... Shaking his head, Calaman strode off to find Eddora. He noted as he passed Aer that the mage looked unusually thoughtful, leaning against the wall beside the door to the cabins. Calaman passed him by and inclined his head respectfully to Eddora as he stopped.

"La... Ed," he said, deciding to take the liberty she'd granted (demanded of?) him, "Jalisat may become a small problem once we reach land. He appears dead set on accompanying us as a guardian on the pilgrimage, or following us if he is refused the title of guardian. He mentioned Guadosalam... I'm not sure why the fixation, but without restraining him, it will be difficult to send him back to Kilika."  

[Griselda Banks]

((Lol. Happy, much? I'm not sure whether I'm happy Obama won or not. We're really just going to have to wait and see what he does in his position.

OH! I keep on meaning to tell you, but then I get distracted by what's going on in the rp! I read Dune Messiah not too long ago; it was pretty cool! Kind of sad how Paul died in the end, but it was a cleansing sort of tragedy. I'll get around to reading the next Dune book...sometime.... stare

They never actually say if the Calm always lasts the same amount of time, or whether it varies. I think we could do it either way. In the game, High Summoner Braska's Calm lasted ten years. According to my calculations of how long Yuna's pilgrimage lasted (and sticking in nights a few times when it seemed the day was lasting too long), it took about a month. Wait, let me say that better. The story of FFX took about a month, from the night when Tidus first comes to Spira, to the night when they defeat Sin and Yu Yevon. So the actual pilgrimage would have taken a bit less than that. Plus, Yuna's pilgrimage was somewhat different from the norm, and they had to take a few detours. In summary: I would guess a normal pilgrimage would take 2-3 weeks.))

Eddora looked up as Calaman approached from where he'd been speaking to the boy. Whatever his name was. She sighed, running a hand through her hair as Calaman spoke. "Great," she muttered. "Just what we need. Why can nothing be simple?" She made herself stop, reminding herself that the pilgrimage was a means of strengthening the summoner and guardians, so that they would be ready when the time came to defeat Sin. Ed frowned. "I don't need another guardian; I've already got three! Most summoners make do with one. And besides, I would never take a child as my guardian. He has no training; he's unable to take care of himself in battle. He'd just be a liability on the pilgrimage."

Looking at the boy leaning defiantly over the water, Ed sighed and massaged her temples. All this fuss and bother, coupled with her interrupted sleep, were combining into a pounding headache. "Maybe I can get Rogan to do something about it. Tie him up and throw him in the hold or something."  

[Ikken Isshu]

((I expect good things from Obama, but the real reason I'm so elated is the mere fact that the American people united enough to elevate a nonwhite man to that status. Whatever else, that is nothing short of amazing. Certainly a symbol of a deeper change in the American people. As to how he actually runs the country, you're right about that; he's going to be under incredibly close scrutiny for a while, probably for his entire term. I don't know what to expect, but I'm not particularly worried. I mean, Bush is gone. It can only get better from here. (And yes, I know - Famous last words. I'm making a point. razz )

Moving on.

Die? Paul? In Dune Messiah? *snort* Oh, sorry if I just deflated the ending of Dune Messiah for you. But now you HAVE to read Children of Dune. xd Bwa ha ha!

I'm just starting with Heretics of Dune. Frankly, God Emperor of Dune ended none too soon, because my head was getting way too full of the God Emperor's (who shall remain nameless) deific, ethical, epistemological and philosophical ramblings, most of which were nigh-incomprehensible without reading them at least twice over, and with absolute silence and concentration. It was like studying for a test. ><

Anyway, Heretics should at least be a break from that. God Emperor was by far the most long-winded Dune book so far. If you're going to read the Dune series that far, brace yourself for long-arse dissertations on obscure and abstract stuff.

And while I'm on the subject of Dune advice: Dune and Dune Messiah can both be read as if they were the last book (and first, in Dune's case), but that's not true of Children. Don't read Children unless you plan to keep going, because Children leads right into God Emperor.

Moving on again.

As to the length of time periods: Ah, but the time of pilgrimages might take longer, because of course, not every pilgrimage succeeds... Not that that's the most important part of what I wanted to know, though. All right, I'll go with the 10 years estimate for the Calm. Time to crunch some numbers. In the meantime...

I don't recall Calaman having a shortbow, but I don't really care. He has one now. razz And no, as aimless as this post seems, it's not. It is actually important... for later. xd ))

Calaman nodded and looked back to the boy, shaking his head slowly. Judging by Eddora's phasing, she would be the one talking to Rogan about the boy, so he supposed it wouldn't be his concern. Still, Aer's account of the evening's events hadn't left Calaman with much doubts about the boy's fighting ability. He had spirit; that much was obvious. But in a serious confrontation...

He strode over, took the boy's arm, and pulled him to the other end of the ship.

"Have you ever handled a bow?" he demanded. Jalisat blinked and stopped pulling away.

"What?"

"A bow. Archery. Yes? No?"

"No," Jalisat said suspiciously. Calaman nodded. "Right. I've got a shortbow here, so I'm going to teach you the basics. I'm not an excellent archer myself, but you can do more damage, and more reliably, with an arrow than with that sling of yours."

Jalisat's hand went reflexively and defensively to the sling hanging from his waistband. "I'm fine with a sling."

"You may be an expert with it," Calaman said firmly, "but no matter how good you are with it, a sling is just a tool for throwing rocks. Here." He took the bow off his back and removed a few strands of horsehair from a pouch for this purpose. He bent the bow, strung it, tested the resistance of the string, and handed the taut bow over to the boy, who handled it as if it were made of glass.

"You needn't be so cautious," Calaman said wryly, as he removed an arrow and held it up for inspection. "This is the dangerous piece. Now, hold the bow up as if you were going to use it. Nock this arrow to the string." He handed the arrow over and watched as Jalisat did as he was told. He'd been expecting to correct the boy's posture and bearing, but Jalisat was doing surprisingly well. In fact...

"You see that big dark knot in the wood over there?" Calaman said, pointing to the wall protruding from the deck. "I want you to try to aim for that. Now, the first thing you'll do is plant your feet. Make sure you're comfortable but also sturdy and balanced. Once you've got good footing you'll - " Twang.

Calaman scowled. "I didn't tell you to shoot yet."

"But I hit the knot."

Calaman frowned and peered over at the wall. The boy was right. Blinking in surprise, Calaman tramped over to the wall and stared at the arrow, which was lodged securely in the wood right in the center of the fist-sized knot.

"Well," he said, and couldn't think of anything to follow it. "Try it one more time." He wrenched the arrow out of the wood, inspected it briefly, and handed it back over. He stood behind Jalisat and watched as he once again landed the arrow squarely in the middle of the knot. When Calaman went to retrieve the arrow, he found himself further astonished - it had stuck itself exactly in the notch left by the first shot. Except for slightly deepening the mark, no further damage had been inflicted on the wall.

"I thought you said you had never handled a bow," he said to the knot.

"I haven't," Jalisat said from where he stood. "It's just easy, that's all."

Calaman strode back and took the bow. "It is not easy," he muttered. "It takes time and patience. I've been using a bow for at least three years and I can't even do what you just did." To demonstrate, he took almost a minute lining up the shot and then placed the arrow three inches above Jalisat's mark. It didn't help that the ship was moving. "You see?"

"You use your sword more, though," Jalisat pointed out. "I've been using my sling for a long time. Maybe it's because I usually use a ranged weapon, even though it's not a bow."

"But the mechanics are completely different," Calaman said. "So how...?"

"You might want to get your arrow," Jalisat said. "I don't think the Captain will appreciate us putting holes in his ship."

"I'll put more holes in his ship if he continues to anger Eddora," Calaman said a little sourly, but nodded and took the boy's advice. Once more he examined the arrow for damage which was nonexistent, replaced it in his small quiver, and proceeded to unstring the bow.

"I thought you were going to teach me how to use a bow," Jalisat said with a trace of laughter in his voice.

"It doesn't really seem necessary anymore," Calaman replied with bemused candor. "In fact, I may just let you carry the bow. Until we split up, that is," he added. "Then I'll need it back. But until then, you'll get more use out of it than I will. If we get attacked again, it'll be worth it." He twined up the hairs and stuffed them back into the pouch, which he handed over along with the bow. "Later, assuming you don't have a mysteriously thorough knowledge of that as well, I'll teach you how to string the bow and, if it comes to it, how to fletch an arrow. But for now, I'm going to go take a break." He started to suggest that Jalisat do the same, but remembered that he'd found the boy asleep. Instead, he just nodded wordlessly and headed to the stern. Staring back at the boat's wake, he started to get frustrated. Too much was out of sync with the way things were 'supposed to be'.

"Do you know something about this?" he muttered to the boat's turbulent wake. As before, his only response was the murmuring of the water.