A/N: Since each chapter poster here will actually be a one-shot, every chapter will get its own summary, list of characters, genre, warnings etc. Some of these connect to the two longer stories I'm writing, as they are just headcanons and drabbles spawned from them (I'll be sure not to upload anything that's a spoiler until the chapters it spawned from are up), some of them aren't, some are loosely connected to each other. These are mostly for fun. And because Neko insisted.

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers nor do I make any profit off of them.

The Treasure of the Izymael

Summary: This is a story about the last voyage of the Pirate Ship Izymael, her captain, and her first mate.

Characters: Vailgali/OC; Keiss

Warnings: OC Deaths

Ties into: The Crystal Rule

The southern reefs off the coast of Alfitaria were known for great gales this time of year. They could brew up in the ocean overnight and strike the coast or any of the southern islands within a day's notice. It made living in the region troublesome, and dangerous. Even more so if you were on a ship. This time of year trade routes were diverted to avoid possible storms and lessen the chances of a shipwreck. Only the very foolish or the very brave dared to sale these waters this time of year.

The crew of the Izymael was blessed that their captain was both.

"Listen up you lot of drunken sea dogs!"

The captain called to the members of his crew gathered in the ships mess hall. It was split into two floors, and upper and lower deck; though the higher floor had more than half of it missing in the center so you could see down to the lower deck. It was big enough to fit the entire crew and then some within it to dine and drink and dance when they were anchored or docked. But at any given time the spilt room was only half full. The large room suffered from dim lighting, the oil lanterns and torches used to light the ship just weren't quite adequate for such a large space.

The captain leaned over the banister to shout at his crew. He was a Selkie, just the same as the rest of his crew. All of them gathered from the far ends of the seas to search for treasure, fame, and battles that would live on long past those that fought in them. "By tonight we'll be off the coast of the Hepearl Reefs! Where we'll mark our finest day!" The Selkies cheered as he spoke. The captain wasn't as young as some of his crew members, but he still wasn't an old man. Not yet. He was just as fit as the day he'd left the main land on a small sailing vessel of his own and set out to make a name for himself the only way he knew how. Through thievery, deceit, and cunning. If not for life at sea, and a few old battle scars and scrapes across his skin, and the scar on his right cheek, he could have passed for ten years younger than he actually was.

"We'll sail into the islands and claim for ourselves the most legendary treasure of these seas!" He raised his hand high in the air and the Selkie's listening to him did the same. As he pumped his fist into the air is red hair swayed; the majority of it was wrapped up in a ponytail that came off the top of his head. His hair was actually starting to recede in the front, but it wasn't terribly noticeable yet. It was offset anyway, by the neat and trim beard he grew.

"In ancient days, long after the Miasma cleared and those greedy onions sought to claim the world again their navy stole treasure from around the world! And who took it back from them, but the Selkies of course! The true owners of the sea! The true owners of the world's wealth! A treasure trove of civilizations, stored and waiting for us! The successors of such great men!" The Selkies bellow cheered on and clapped, and the captain brought his hands down, slamming them on the banister. "But hear this now! We are not alone on our quest! Scoundrels from Lynari seek to take what's ours! Traitorous dogs that think they can best this crew! That think they should lay claim to the treasure that's ours!" The members in the mess hall booed and hissed. "They think that they can lay claim to what's rightfully mine!" They let out another cry, their excitement building as he spoke. "But it belongs to me! It belongs to us! It belongs to all of you honorary Brigands!" The crew's cheers were so loud he could hardly hear himself shout, he wasn't even sure if his crew could hear him any more either. "It's ours for the taking! On my ancestor's honor, that treasure will be ours!"

The crew erupted into cheers and applause tossing up bottles of rainbow grape whine, bandanas, and mugs. They cheered and sang to their leader, the last of the Striped Brigands.

The captain smirked and banged his fist on the banister as he walked away from it. He walked around the room, men cheering his name. It would be their greatest adventure. He was sure of it.

As he made his way around the room to the large double doors leading out of the mess hall an old Selkie woman stood there. She was slightly hunched over, with her hands crossed in front of her. Her wrinkled face caused the white tattoos on her cheeks to appear distorted. Her shirt had no sleeves, allowing everyone to see the elaborate tale of her life, imprinted upon her with white ink. The shirt dipped down in the back, allowing one other mark to be seen. The twisting symbol of the Selkie tribe, chaotic and untamed, and just below that a symbol of the north star and a dessert flower. To anyone passing by it meant nothing. But to other Selkies it meant to listen to what she had to say. She was a source of guidance and wisdom, and leader of Leuda on Lynari Island.

"A rousing speech, Vaigali," she nodded to him as he walked by her. "I am sure every man will fight twice as hard when we reach Heparl."

"They had better, De'Andri!" The red headed Selkie crossed his arms as he walked past her. He had his own markings on his arms and back. The symbol of his ships flag for one was imprinted upon both of his arms. A hexagonal sea chart with three spaces filled in with the colors of his family crest. The red, purple, and yellow for the brigand, the old man, and the 'star'. Filled into the rest were the symbols for each of his victories, not one for a defeat. And the final mark upon his body, the distinction for a Selkie leader. Though he lead no place or town, just this ship. The purple stripe of Bal Dat wrapped around his arm. "They'll have to make up for us facing this battle without the first mate!"

"Ah," De'Andri, Turned to follow him. "Speaking of your first mate. How I wish you'd made her get off on Lynari. The fishermen say the seas are growing rough… I fear we are sailing right into a maelstrom."

He scoffed, "I cannot order her off the Izymael any more than you can. To argue with her is a maelstrom in and of itself. Her tongue is as sharp as my swords, and she wants to see the fruits of her labor."

The old woman shook her head, "It's a dangerous situation. You two are but young fools, if I was not needed for her care, I'd have gotten off in Lynari with my own girl and granddaughter with the rest of the women and children."

"It would be more dangerous still, to tell her she could not see Heparl for herself."

The first mate of the Izymael was almost as notable as its captain. She was a Selkie of undermined origin, never receiving her own mark of a place to call her own. She had given her self the mark of a seagull. She traveled where ever and whenever she pleased. And everything she found was hers. She had been the first mate since before the Izymael was even the ship they used to sail the world, coming aboard when it was but a handful of crew men, the captain, and a small trading vessel they'd stolen from a Lilty merchant.

She'd come to raid it, and never left.

Rather satisfied with the way she could handle a blade she was offered the chance to serve or the chance to drown. Perhaps it was because she managed to cut into Vaigali's face during their battle that she made herself first mate so quickly. But if you asked the men that served on board the longest, they'd tell you it's because she cut into his heart.

Question her, and she will tell, its' because he dared not risk letting someone so skilled stand against him, rather than with him in battle.

The captain pushed open the door to the first mate's room and cursed at the sight of her. She should have been in bed, but was sitting in her sleeping gown at a dresser that took up a wall in her room. Stolen from a Lilty noblewoman, it was very elaborate with flower engravings, and as far as he was concerned clashed with everything on his ship. She was digging through the boxes of stolen jewelry and accessories they'd collected over the years, pulling out a long strand of pearls and using it to tie up her light green hair; you could say it was reminiscent of the color of sea foam. Like the rest of them, her skin was tan from life out in the sun, which made the white seagull inked across the top of her chest stand out that much more. Around both her wrist were purple bands, added just last year, and down her back was the story of her travels at sea.

"Kei Nam," the captain banged his hand on the wall to get her attention. The maps and swords that hung form the wood shook. "You are supposed to be in bed!"

She turned her to look at him, questioning why he was making demands of her. As she turned her body she had to scoot back in her seat so the bump of her stomach wouldn't hit the end of her dresser.

"Vaigali, if you knock down one of those blades, I will put another mark on that jaw of yours." Once the pearls were set, pulling her hair off to the side, she dug out a blue bandana with a white pattern across it. Like the pearls she wrapped it in her hair, styling it in the old way, with the ends of it fraying off wildly. As if she had feathers or flowers in her locks. The white pearls were woven into the display giving her hair an elaborate look.

"Woman!" He stormed over to her and grabbed her by the wrist, "De' Andri told you to stay in bed."

"It's true, Kei, this far into your contractions, you cannot just get up and move about when you wish."

"I feel nothing." She pulled her arm back from the captain, "That medicine you gave me, makes me feel nothing. I could join you in the fight tonight! Even like this, no man could best me."

"That is hardly sensible." The old woman made her way to the bed and pulled the sheets back. "You are a restless soul. You need to rest. You are in the midst of having a child-"

"I wish it would come already." She got up and Vaigali lead her to the bed to lie down. "I am tired of being captive on my own ship."

"It is my ship, Kei."

"I'm the one that told you to buy it!" She lay down and a bitter look came across her face. "And I am the one that got the information from that man about the map to Heparl! And the one that has been looking with you for years. And now I must sit here, while you claim the greatest reassure Alfitaria will ever see." The Selkie woman shook her head, cursing to herself in their native tongue about children making her wits leave her as she started to tear up. "It is something I should do with you."

"You will remain here, Kei Nam, where it's safe and where you are safe," the old woman smoothed out the sheets on the bed. "Why don't you think up a name?"

"I have. If it's a girl, I will name her after me, and if its a boy, I will name him after Vaigali." The captain laughed as she smiled and nodded her head. However the elder was not amused.

"You two are but fools. A child needs a proper name."

"I think those names are rather proper," Vaigali put a hand on the green haired Selkie's shoulder.

"And vain, and thoughtless." The old woman poured a glass of water from a pitcher beside the bed. "A child is its own person. Not an extension of you. It's the next generation. You may give them some part of you, but you should never try to mold them exactly into you. They will have their own thoughts, and ambitions, and hopes and dreams. If you try to take that from them, they will grow up to hate you."

The two Selkies listened to the old woman speak as she handed Kei Nam the glass. The green haired Selkie took it and sipped it rubbing the top of her stomach.

"Are you sure it's even a live… I haven't felt anything since this morning after that brew of your Andri."

"It's meant to make the process painless. And lucky for you that it is. You're having a long labor, but it would go so much smoother if you stayed in bed."

The woman leaned back and glanced up at Vaigali, "I won't see the battle, but you won't leave Heparl until I get to see it, won't you? All these years on this ship, if I don't see it-"

"We will walk into that lost vault together, the three of us. To claim it as our own." He reached down and squeezed her hand.

"…And then? Then what shall we do? Shall we take it and sale on to the next port? The next treasure map? All of that together? Or will you leave me at port like your crew leaves their families?"

"Do you want to be left at port, Kei Nam? I plan to sail on, to find a place to store the treasure and sail on."

The two looked at each other for a moment and the green haired Selkie sighed. "I haven't a clue. I thought I'd like to sail on and forever… But I guess it depends upon this child. Maybe I will stay behind. I think… I'd like to give them a solid place. A place to mark down on their skin to say they are from here. I don't want them to roam, lost like we do. A solid home. Don't you think that's good for child?"

"Now, those are the words of a parent," The old woman smiled, but Vaigali pulled back from her.

"A solid home is good for a child, but not for a pirate. I will take you wherever you desire Kei. …But I am afraid I will sail on. There is still more treasure out there yet to be found."

The green haired Selkie shook her head, the blue bandana rustling against the pillow. "There is more to life than the treasure of wealth you know? I think that I have found the greatest treasure, right here on the Izymael."

As promised by the end of day, the Izymael was approaching Heparl. The island was lost among dangerous reefs that surrounded the southern coast. Very few tried to sail here, as the shallow waters and jagged rocks made it nearly impossible to navigate the area safely. And as warned by De'Andri, the skies had blackened and were thick with wind and rain.

But the crew of the Izymael was not scared.

The treasure they were about to find would leave their mark in history. The ship was already infamous throughout the world, now it would sail on forever in the thoughts of generations to come. The hands on deck rushed to and fro pulling at ropes and securing canons and canvas mast as they sailed. Not an hour ago, before the rain became too thick to see through, the lookout had spotted another ship sailing up on them. There was always someone trying to make a profit off Vaigali's exploits. No one had yet to succeed.

He kept a firm grip on the ships helm and turned it, navigating through the storm entrenched reef. His crew members shouted to one another what was ahead and relayed it back to him to help him keep the ship aloft. It still amazed him, how close they actually where to the southern end of Alfitaria. Not too far from the very land he'd run away from. He's spent his whole career on the high seas looking for this treasure. And to think it was right under his nose this entire time.

From behind a man shouted, informing him the other ship was closing in. Vaigali shouted out to his crew to prepare for battle and ready the cannons. He wasn't going to be stopped, not this close to his dream.

Below the deck, far below the raging storm, Kei Nam and De'Andri attempted to deliver her child. The medication was wearing off, and now all the green haired Selkie could think about was the pain she was feeling. She screamed and cursed, and begged for the old woman to do something. To her it felt as if the demon was trying to break her body and two. Like the bones in her hips were going to be shattered apart and her whole body split down the middle.

"What a child, you are having, Kei Nam. It still has not come!"

"You have- you have- you HAVE to remove it, De'Andri! I cannot take this anymore!" She thrashed her head from side to side screaming. Above the sounds of cannon fire began. "Get it out. Cut me open if you must!"

"Kei, if we were on my island I would. But to do so here, I do not know if you would make it-"

"Will I make it like this!?" She leaned up and grabbed the old woman's arm. "Do it. Get it OUT." She let go of Selkie elder and sobbed as she strained. The old woman watched her and backed up. She would need a blade. All they had were Kei's assortment of swords. But she would need to sew her back up as well.

"Stay here," as she spoke the sounds of blast became louder and louder. "I will return once I get a needle from my room." The old Selkie hurried from the room just as Kei Nam screamed again.

Above the two women the Izymael dueled against a rival ship. A crew member worked the helm while Vaigali lead his men into battle against the rival pirates. They swung in on ropes to board his ship and blasted cannon balls back and forth blowing holes in one another's hulls. The captain of the vessel raised his arms high, shouting in Selkie to leave no survivors as he brought his blade down into the chest of man. Around him metal clashed and guns were fired.

The rain still raged on. The wind was blowing so hard the droplets were blowing sideways.

It was so dark from the storm, one could hardly see two feet in front of their face, it was only clear when the lightning flashed so brightly that the world lit up for an instant.

Every time it flashed all around him, Vaigali could see men fighting and falling. Guns firing and the sparks from two swords clanging. The Izymael rocked as it took on more cannon fire, the lower decks of the ship taking heavy damage allowing wind, and rain, and sea water to pour into the inner ship.

Kei Nam felt her room rock violently after the last blast. She had never been below for a battle. Always on deck fighting by Vaigali's side. She groaned and held her stomach, crying. "You stupid thing! Why are you doing this to me! Do you not want to be born! Do you want to die in there! Do you want us both to di-AAYE!" She was knocked from her bed by the next blast. It felt as if the whole ship was turned by it.

The green haired Selkie struggled to stand still crying and calling out to De'Andri. The old woman had never returned to her. As she stumbled toward the door she felt water on her feet. Kei opened her door and was mystified to see water running down the hall. When the lightning flashed the entire narrow passage way lit up. There must have been a hole in the ship. "De'Andri!" She ventured out into the damaged hall, the wind whipped up her gown and her ponytail. The blue bandana flapping wildly in the storm.

"De'Andri!" She gripped the wall and made her way down to the old woman's room. The closer she got the stronger the wind was, and the louder the storm became. She finally reached the Selkie elder's room. Or what was supposed to be it.

There was a gaping hole in the ship. The wind, the rain, and the smell of gunpowder poured into it. The wood was still crackling with bits of fire from the cannon ball that had collided with the ship, and the rooms contents were slowly sliding out into the ocean.

"DE'ANDRI!" Kei gripped the wall with her hands as the wind blew in. It nearly knocked her off her feet. She pulled herself back against the wall and let out a cry of terror. She started to move back to her room. Her back pressed against the wall as she cried. She cried from the pain, she cried from fright, and she cried from loss. The old leader of Leuda was gone.

Kei stumbled into her room and collapsed near the dresser still crying and holding onto her stomach. This couldn't go on. She couldn't go on. The child had to come out.

Vaigali and his crew continued to fight. The first mate of the rival ship lay at his feet, he'd sliced his blade across the man's throat after he'd sliced it a cross his right eye. The captain of the rival vessel was ramming the Izymael, trying to force them to run aground into one of the reefs. The two ships were firing now at point blank range. Their cannons tearing through each other's decks. Members of the Izymael had jumped ship and were fighting on board the other deck. The storm's winds were knocking people too close to the edge off into the shallow waters below.

The man at the helm turned the ship sharply as they came upon another reef breaching through the surface of the ocean. The Izymael rammed into the rival vessel, turning it and forcing it up onto the jagged land. The ship was wrecked against the reef, but not without a cost. The waters were too shallow for the infamous pirate ship. The jagged rocks just under the surface tore into the hull and let the salt water flood in.

As the ship turned away from the attacking vessel the men cheered. Vaigali raised his arms and let out a cry of triumph. There wasn't a ship yet that could best him and his crew. A man on deck called out for the captain's attention. They called him to the front of the deck. Just ahead when the lightning flashed an island could be seen. It stood with an ancient building, the ruins of an old city, now an old store house, was dead ahead. But the waters were near impossible to navigate. The flashing light revealed a myriad maze of coral, and rocks, and shipwreck vessels.

But still it was there. Just in the distance the treasure that he'd sought all his life.

"Press forward! We're almost to Heparl, lads!"

The crew members scattered to prepare for their approach to the lost treasure, but another came running up. "Vaigali! Captain, sir! We're taking on water!"

"It doesn't matter! We'll repair her once she's at the island!"

"But sir- there's so much of it! And the rocks continue to scrape up the ship!"

"You listen to me! We will keep moving forward until we reach Heparl or-"

"And half the living quarters are gone, Captain! Everything on the starboard side!"

"…What!?" He grabbed the crew member, "Are you certain!" The man nodded and Vaigali dropped him. He ran from the upper deck into the stairwell. He raced downward, the further he went the more damage he saw. There were Selkies trying to make patches in the hull, and people running and lying about hurt from cannon fire. It had never been this bad after battle before. He ran lower to see them shutting the doors to the starboard side trying to keep the rain out. He pushed past them ordering them to open it up.

Before him was a wrecked hallway. Indeed half the rooms were gone. Just gaping holes where they once were.

"Kei Nam!" He ran down the hall, the ship was slowly slanting from the water it was taking on. "Kei Nam! Answer me!" He arrived at the green haired Selkie's room to see the door hanging from its hinges. Inside the outer wall was gone, and the bed was missing. The elaborate dresser dangled, tittering about to fall into the ocean. The maps on the walls were fluttering madly in the breeze and the collection of swords was all but gone.

"KEI NAM!" He held onto the door way, the sight had nearly knocked him to his feet.

"…Vaigali…" He turned around. Just over the wind he could hear a female voice saying his name. He turned around. No one was there. "Vai… Vaigali…"

It was coming from the door behind him. He pushed himself across the hall and pushed open the damaged door. There was still a room here, though the wood was splitting in the walls, and the floor was covered with water. Water and blood.

Propped up against the far corner was the green haired Selkie swordswoman. Her ponytail had fallen out, her sea green hair was a tangled, red stained mess, and the pearls that had been in her hair rolled about the wet and bloodied floor. Her grown ripped was dyed crimson, the color was slowly spreading across her body, but draining from her face. In one hand she clutched one of her blades, a short sword covered in her own blood and what was left of the strand of pearls tangled up in her fingers. In the other hand her bandana wrapped around a bloodied squirming mass.

"Vaigali…"

"Kei…" He walked into the room. Though it was only a few steps he could have sworn he walked a mile.

She watched him cross the room, smiling, but her eyes looked dull. "…Heparl… Heparl… Did you make it…to Heparl…?"

He knelt down next to her and touched the side of her face. "Aye, we're almost there. The ships a bit worse for wear, but we'll walk in there together."

She let go of the sword and reached up to touch the right side of his face, a few more of the pearls falling from their strand "Your eye… Your eye is... marked up… Someone other than I cut into you…"

"Don't feel bad, Kei Nam. It was a cheap shot… I put him down, quickly."

She coughed and continued to smile, "After, after Heparl… Where will we sail to next? Are you- are you leaving me and him at port?"

"Him?"

"Yes… it's a him."

"…Kei Nam," Vaigali put his hand over hers, "I will sail you wherever you want to go."

"…" She closed her eyes, "I want to sail on and forever. I don't, I don't want to go…"

The Izymael never made it to Heparl. The crew, unable to get an answer from their captain about the ships distressed state opted to turn the vessel and make a break for the coast nearby. It was a risky voyage, and either by their own luck and ingenuity, or the grace of the Crystal they made it to the southern coast of Alfitaria. But by the time they reached it, the ship was near uncontrollable.

At best they could do was aim for an uninhabited cove and arrange a controlled crash.

When the storm ended, members of the crew ventured out to try and find aid for the wounded, or at least get a general feel for where they were. It took them all night, but they finally convinced their captain to leave the damaged ship and come out and survey where they had crashed. The Izymael had rammed into the cove at an angle, the front half of the ship slanted upward and the back half was still partly out to sea. However the constant ebb and flow of the tide was already steadily pushing the back in up and into the cove at an angel as well.

There were several natural tunnels leading in an out of the area and up to the top of the cliffs. The crew members and the captain walked through them just as the night was ending.

Vaigali still carried the blue bandana and newborn it was wrapped around. The blood on it had dried. The blood on him had dried as well.

They reached the top of the cliffs just as the dawn was breaking and looked out over the tropical southern coast line.

"We can get another ship, Captain." A Selkie spoke up. "We can go back to Heparl and-"

"We're not going back." Vaigali looked out over the ocean with his one good eye as the sun turned the dark waters crystal blue, the incoming waves bubbled up with sea foam. The lightest color of green.

"W-we're not?"

"We're not… No more treasure hunting for me boys. You all are free to go if you want… But I'll be staying here." The men looked back and forth at one another. "I think it's high time I made something solid for myself. Something to firmly keep and protect. Not all treasure is wealth, boys." He looked down at the baby boy in is arms.

"Isn't that right, Keiss?"