Final Fantasy - All Series Fan Fiction ❯ Final Fantasy: The Crystal Chronicles ❯ Departure ( Chapter 5 )

Pre-chapter commentaries are about to disappear, mostly because I hate using them. Unless needed, you will never see an intro paragraph again. Godspeed, and hope you enjoy the rest of this.

 

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“Where are they?” Roland looked about the empty town square, hoping to catch a glimpse of the caravan members. When he did not spy them, he looked down at his hands and twiddled his thumbs.

 

“I am sure they are coming, Roland. I do not understand why you are so anxious for them to get here. It isn't even time for them to be here yet.” Said his wife, Malayde.

 

“You're right. Still… I cannot shake the feeling that something is wrong. The ages of those who first set out seems to get younger and younger the older I get. Their parents, as long ago as that was, started when they were eighteen, not sixteen. And we started out when we were nineteen, which is younger than the twenty of the previous generation...”

 

“Alright, I get your point. For gods' sake, they will be fine, even if they are young. It's been at least forty years since there has been no returning carvavan.”

 

“Then tell my soul not to feel heavy.” Glancing at the smithy, he saw the door of the house opening, and audibly sighed when he saw Velius come out the open doorway. Looking over to the path on his left, he saw first Degio, then Nikki and Nadia leading the paopamus with the wagon, coming around the bend. They lined up side-by-side in front of Roland, their weapons at the ready as they had been instructed. They looked at him expectantly. He felt a familiar surge of pride as he looked them over, the fear that had possessed him moments ago fading into the back of his mind.

 

“At ease.” He said. After saying this, they visibly relaxed their bodies. Roland walked up and down, looking them over one by one, admiring the intensity apparent on their faces. Backing up so as to face them all, he smiled broadly, and spoke.

 

“It is good to see you all came so promptly,” he began, taking a deep breath after saying this, “I would expect nothing less of you, seeing as that you all came from some of the hardest working families I ever knew. Today, you will set out in search of myrrh. You all know how important this is to our village. We have chosen you because you are the most capable of retrieving the myrrh necessary for our survival.” He noticed Nadia twitch slightly at the corner of her mouth after this comment. He understood that she was upset with him not allowing her brother to come with the rest of the caravan. “However, you must know that you are merely mortal. It is very possible that you will die, if not on this journey, then on future journeys. You take a great risk, going out into the world. But I, and everyone else who lives with us, and in our village, are sincerely grateful that you are willing to take this risk. And I look forward to seeing you all again. Move on, and Godspeed.” Bowing to them, Roland rose, and they bowed back. After they straightened, the caravanners broke up and moved off, walking toward the border of the town. As they were leaving, Roland thought he spied a dark form in a nearby patch of woods. When he looked back, the form was gone, and he dismissed the whole incident as a result of his failing eyesight.

 

As he turned around, he remembered a similar farewell that he had given to a caravan during his first year as chief of the village. It had been composed of a very similar team: One member from each tribe. Unlike this team however, the Lilty had been the only female on the caravan, and they had all eyed each other with distaste and distrust the entire duration of their training, much unlike the current generation, and had continued to dislike one another the entire duration of their companionship.

 

The unbidden flashback disturbed Roland as he watched the wagon cross the bridge that connected Tipa to the outside world, unsure why he had just recalled events he had tried so hard to forget. Sensing something was wrong with her husband, Malayde walked up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder.

 

“What's wrong, Roland?”

 

“Do you remember the first caravan I sent out?” Perplexed by his question, she nodded her head.

 

“Yes, Brian's first caravan. The poor souls… even compared to the paths taken by some of our predecessors off this mortal coil, it was most unfortunate, especially for him.”

 

“Do you know this is the first time that there has been a member of each tribe attending the caravan since then?”

 

“But it's mere coincidence. It was bound to happen eventually. Do you somehow think that history will repeat itself?”

 

“I don't know. I pray to whatever god is listening, though, that it doesn't.” Turning back toward the exit of the village, he spied the caravan walking over the crest of a hill, then disappear from sight down the other side.

 

~~

 

Upon crossing the town border, Nikki performed an ecstatic flip in her sheer happiness to finally leave, and escape the bizarreness of her conversation with her family.

 

“At last, freedom and fighting are ours for the taking. Gone are the days of dealing with bastardly siblings and pissy parents. Booze will flow and asses will be kicked, blazing our trail of glory and fortune into world history!” While making these hopelessly optimistic comments, Nikki still managed to keep a firm lead on everyone else walking backwards, miraculously not stumbling over her own feet as she walked.

 

“Sounds like someone got scolded before leaving. What was it this time: beating your little brother too hard after he commented on your marksmanship, or was it that you blew up the lab again after finding bomb powder?” asked Velius, always fascinated with the level of chaos ever present in her home.

 

“Neither. I got `The Talk: On Your Own Edition'. I know that all the other tribes think the Selkies are skanks and pimps, but I shouldn't have to expect that kind of treatment from my own mother.” Reliving the conversation about the contraceptive potion with her mother aroused her need for freedom more than her wanton desire to smack her little brother for wringing water on her face while she was asleep.

 

“Well, I guess we have absolutely no reason not to believe the stereotype if your mother gave you the speech and that didn't happen with any of us.” Replied Degio, with Nikki's reply being full contact with the business end of her racket, leaving his helm ringing louder than most bells.

 

“At least you won't have to be worrying about going into the world unprepared, then.” Nikki's head spun in the opposite direction, the look of betrayal on her face proof of the damage wrought by Nadia's comment as she sat at the front of the wagon, holding the reigns of the paopamus.

 

“Hey, this isn't fair. You're not supposed to be on their side!”

 

“Who, me?” Batting her eyes at Nikki while supporting her head by interlocking her fingers under her chin managed to wrestle a suppressed laugh from her as she was bared defenseless for further comments.

 

“It's not like you're so innocent yourself, Ms. Popped-My-Cherry-During-Stretches.” Accompanying this comment was a coincidental pop coming from Nikki's right, which caused her to turn her head towards Degio again. A faint reddish trickle was dripping through the slits in his visor, making her raise an eyebrow in a questioning look.

 

“Strange. I didn't think Yukes had noses.” Said Nikki, staring in fascination at the translucent fluid as it crept down the metal

 

“W…we don't. But some bodily reactions occur the same in Yukes as they do in the other species.”

 

“Like nosebleeds when you're being perverted?” Velius, who at this point had tried to keep himself from laughing at Degio's reaction to Nikki's off-key comment, lost all semblances of restraint from hearing her question. He fell to the ground in hysterical laughter, and couldn't stop himself once it started. Pulling back on the reins of the paopamus, Nadia let it drift to the side of the road to eat grass as she watched the scene unfold. The trickle of liquid became larger as Degio realized what had just transpired. Contrary to Nikki's belief, he often sprung `nosebleeds' whenever he was nervous, a reaction which usually made the situation worse.

 

“Not like THAT! It just happens when I get really nervous, and… and… Velius, you're hardly helping me, here!” Reaching into his pack, Degio pulled out a cloth in order to wipe the stream of liquid which was now flowing freely from his visor. Lifting it up, he stuffed the cloth in, hoping that it would stem the flow. Deciding that anything went in this situation, Degio pulled out the vials he had received from his father. “You keep this up, you won't get one of these.”

 

Nikki's immediate reaction to seeing the vials was fear. How the hell did he lift those off me? She thought, thinking they were the contraceptive potion she had been given by her mother. “H… how did you get those?”

 

“These are from my father. I was supposed to give you one but…” He stopped midsentence as Nikki collapsed on the ground in a heap of tears and sobs, which also made Velius pick himself up off the ground to see what had happened.

 

“Please give those back. They were from my mom, and I wasn't trying to be mean when I was talking about your nosebleeds. It was just a joke. Give `em back, give `um back.” The nosebleed in question, which had stopped with the addition of the rag, began leaking out from between the slits again, this time with new fervor.

 

“W, what are you talking about? These aren't yours.” Looking up at Degio in surprise, Nikki's crying came to a halt, her eyes puffy from the sudden fit.

 

“What?”

 

“These have a special potion in them. It dissolves any inorganic substance, but is totally harmless to living matter.” Holding one of the vials out to her, Degio hoped he would be able to prevent her from bursting into tears again. Reaching into her belt pouch, she found both of her vials still there. Taking one out, Nikki compared them in the sunlight. Sure enough, the two potions were different in color. Her misery swiftly replaced with anger, Nikki put both of the vials in her belt pouch, and whipped her racket out again. Rage filled her very being, and she wound up her arm for the most powerful swing she could manage. The end result was a blow of catastrophic proportions, a blow so powerful it was accompanied by a minor squall, and sent Degio's helmet flying in the opposite direction that the caravan was going to travel. The featureless black blob that sat in place of a head spoke up.

 

“What was that for?!”

 

“That was for making me think you shamed me! And you can run and get it yourself!”

 

“Through the miasma?!”

 

“You better run fast if you want to have a chance of getting that helmet back, otherwise you won't make it back before you pass out and DIE!” To emphasize her point, she smacked the paopamus, startling it into moving again. “Start running, helmet boy! And remember, I won't save you if you get stuck outside the field!”

 

~

 

That took WAY too long to rewrite. Anyway, now I got the next chapter out! YAY! Now I can sleep!