Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, places, names, or things in this story besides Contru and Rog. They are mine and copyrighted to me. The rest is copyrighted to Square-Enix.
Chapter 1
The ocean was spread as far as the eye could see as a ship slowly passed through; cutting a path through it that left a large wake because of the size of the ship. The ship, which had run this route many times before, was heading for a small little island town of Agart. The captain of the ship, a tall, slender, yet well built man, with little above shoulder length sandy brown hair, looked over the side of the ship and watched as the ship broke through the grip of the water so that it could make it's way towards the town. He looked up around towards the sky and could feel the heat of the sun hit his face. The heat was better here further south than his town of Mythrila.
"Captain Contru." The captain didn't even turn his head when he responded.
"Yes, what do you need?" Contru turned and looked at him and was a little surprised at the appearance of his crew. All of them had taken off their armor they were wearing and now were just in shirts and trousers.
"There is a storm ahead Captain and we wanted to know if you wanted us to stop, go around it or just go through it?" Contru had to laugh at the last part because since he had been the captain of this ship, every storm they come upon he just had them go through it.
"Well first of all I want everyone in the crew to put their armor back on now. There are more monsters out there everyday and an unprepared crew could easily be killed."
"But Captain, the heat here is almost unbearable while we're wearing the armor, why can't we-"
"Like you said, almost unbearable so get it on right now. I will not lose my crew because you all think it's a bit too hot to wear the armor that could save you."
"Aye sir, and the storm?"
"Drop anchor here. We'll wait this one out, but get the armor on because when we are stopped we are easier prey. Double to guards tonight alright?"
"Aye sir." The crewman walked away and Contru looked in the direction of the clouds. "We could easily go through that…ah no matter. This will give me some time to think anyway." Contru walked down to his cabin and shut the door behind him.
~
Contru sat in his cabin thinking about the items he was going to trade with Agart and then maybe head further on to Eblan to do some trading for Agart, and if Eblan had something he wanted, he would trade with them too. Contru looked more at the maps and then heard a knock at the door.
"Who is it?" Contru never even looked up from the maps.
"Who do you think it is." Hearing the familiar voice Contru lowered the map.
"Come in." The door opened up and his only real friend of the crew walked in. Rog. His full name was Rogel, but everyone just called him Rog. He was a lot like Contru except his hair was more blonde than brown and he was just a little bit shorter than he was.
"Studying the maps again?"
"I just took over this ship only four months ago, I need to make sure I know my routes well."
"Understandable. I'm surprised that you stopped. For the storm that is."
"Yeah well I felt that I should give the men a little break. I have been running them hard lately. They deserve it." Contru looked at the map one last time and put it away. Just as he went to take his seat again, the rain started to pour down on the roof of his cabin. "Well here comes that storm finally." Contru took his seat and saw lightning and heard thunder as he lit another candle in the room. "So what brings you down here Rog?"
"I was just thinking of everything that has been going on lately. You heard of the rumors from Mysida right?"
"What? About the Red Wings of Baron attacking the town only a day before we arrived and taking their Water Crystal. I've been thinking about that too but with us not knowing anything about what happened exactly and why, we can't answer any questions we might have."
"That's true Contru, but what if they go after the other crystals too, like Damcyan, Fabul, and Troia. What then?"
"Then we don't do a damn thing because Mythrila has never been in Baron's way before and if Baron ever did do anything to us, it's like not we could fight them at all. All we have is our mythril and nothing else. Yes we have people that can fight off monsters on the open sea and the like, but besides that, we can't stand up to an army, especially not one that has the power of the airships."
"Maybe you're right, but still. Baron is one of the most powerful kingdoms out there and if no one stops them now, then who will be able to later?"
"The problem right now is that no one, can stop Baron. The power of the airships and those Dragoons and now that they have people training as Dark Knights maybe, there is no way to stop them. If Baron doesn't stop himself, then the whole world is doomed." Rog looked right at his friend of many years and was about to say something, when they both heard footsteps running towards the door. The door burst open and a crewman ran in.
"Captain, monsters are attacking the ship!"
"How many?" Rog asked.
"About twenty or so sir, we are out numbered out there." Rog looked right at his friend and they both knew at the same instant.
"Get everybody up on deck to fight immediately!" Contru went over by his bed and grabbed his Mythril sword and saw Rog leaving his cabin. Contru grabbed his cloak and put it on and went out after his crewman.
~
Soon, they got to the stairs leading outside and Contru could hear the fighting and quickly climbed the stairs and got on deck.
As soon as he was fully outside, Contru was completely soaked by the down pouring rain and saw some Eagles and Floating Eyes going around the ship. Contru noticed a Floating Eye coming right towards him, he pushed his crewman out of the way and drew his sword. As the Floating Eye went to hit him, Contru ducked out of the way and slashed the eye in the back, killing it instantly. Contru looked up and started to move towards one of the other Floating Eyes and heard the cry of a Zuu. Contru grasped his sword tighter but wasn't able to pinpoint the sound. As lightning flashed in the sky, he noticed a large area that wasn't illuminated when the sky flashed. Contru tried to follow it, but his eyes hadn't had time to adjust to the darkness outside so he wasn't able to spot how it was flying. During his lapse, an Eagle was preparing to attack him, but Contru noticed it right before it attacked and was able to kill it as it flew. Contru started to head for some of the crew that was dealing with a Floating Eye when he again heard the Zuu and saw it again as lightning flashed in the sky. This time though, he was able to follow it and it turned and started to head down towards the ship. Contru moved with the large, black bird as he could barely see it and when it got low enough to the ground, he slashed at it. He was able to hit underneath the body and the Zuu fell down on the deck. Just as he was about to deal the finishing blow, the bird hit him with its large wing right on his right arm. Contru dropped his sword because the all rain had caused the handle to get very wet and hard to hold.
"Damn." He went to go grab it but as he turned around, he heard the Zuu cry in pain and fall limp on the deck. He strained his eyes to see who had killed it. A person came around from the other side and walked towards him.
"I won't always be there to help you Contru."
"Shut up Rog. Let's finish these monsters off." Contru picked up his sword again and the two of them spilt up.
~
In a few minutes, with the entire crew fighting on deck, all the monsters had been killed or had run away. Contru met up with Rog after the fighting had ended and had started talking when the head of that night's guard came to them.
"Sir, a few of the men suffered minor injuries but nothing to serious."
Contru studied the man for a minute and then said. "Take them down to get patched up, I don't need anyone getting infected on this trip, alright. How long did you notice the monsters coming?"
"Sir, all we noticed at first was the Zuu. The Eagles and Floating Eyes came at us out of nowhere. We didn't see them coming."
"I see. Issues everyone on the guard tonight bows and arrows so they can get them from a distance."
"Sir, all we have are Crossbows, not any regular bows sir."
"Well issue them anyway, understand?"
"Yes sir, it will be done right away sir." The man turned around and started to head towards the armory to get the weapons. Contru looked up towards the sky as the rain continued to belt down on them and another lightning bolt went across the sky.
"I say we should get down below before we turn into water." Rog had a large smile on his face as the water from his hair ran down on his face, onto his lips.
"That's a good idea." Contru turned towards the steps that lead downstairs and went to his room where he dried off and went to bed for a troubled night of sleep.
