The Monk
The Mist was a very thick orange and yellow color, swirling over what was an empty wasteland stuck between two nations. It was dead silent until a small whining noise could be heard reverberating off the dead bodies littered over the sand. You couldn't see ten feet in front of you but you could feel the presence of people, whether they were alive or dead. The whining man could be heard limping, yelling for assistance. His cry was cut short by the deafening sound of a gun shot, which echoed off the air itself.
Then there was silence again.
Thunder, a rolling storm was closing in around the border as some soldiers rushed to cover behind dead ally's. The thunder was actually the footsteps of the opposing army, rushing after what they thought was a dead ally. Their war cry's filled the Mist filled air as it began to part, revealing the enemies first line of defense: a pathetic amount of Squires and Knights. The foreign armor-clad soldiers known as Samurai plundered the heart of the defense, slaughtering anything that seemed to have a form of attacking.
As the Samurai decimated this small army, a giant airship appeared out of the clouds and opened fire on the unsuspecting Samurai, mowing their sizable army down to handfuls. As the Samurai retreated, the Knights yelled with a victory, as their nation just won five feet of more territory.
Welcome to Ivalice.
It was raining hard. If a man held his head up too long, he'd drown. It was so dark in the courtyard, if you weren't aware there were eight individuals standing there, you'd remain ignorant. They stood in a circle, all standing in front of a door that lead to a separate nation, except one. That would be Outcast, the only one with no true name. He was not destined to be sent to a nation. Most were relaxed, but a few were nervous, such as Pan, Cynthia and Nate. They were the youngest and were not really optimistic to be sent off to a war they knew nothing of.
Sensei came out of the shadows and stood in the middle of the circle, not saying anything, letting them talk as they must. They awkwardly shifted in their spots, glancing at each other, some with no sympathy, others with concern.
"So, I guess this is it, eh?" Nate finally broke the silence.
"Is that all you can say?" Cynthia yelled, almost breaking into tears.
Jessifer laughed out loud and nodded towards Pan. "What's wrong, won't see your lover anymore?"
Cynthia blushed and looked down, cursing at Jessifer under her breath. Pan looked around and then smiled.
"Why are we gonna fight now anyways? It's not like we won't meet each other again, right?" He looked at Outcast and then re-thought what he just said. Some of the warriors here won't even care if they knew the others were dead. They were all ready to fight each other to fulfill the fate of the world; they were even in their battle garments.
Cynthia was in the usual platemail and legs with a medium-sized helm on her head, a blue cloak behind her to mark her status as a Knight and two swords on the belt, one being the sacred sword of Zelus, the other being a plain steel. Though her armor looked heavy, it was standard issue and she was used to the weight after many years of training in it. Pan himself was in a simple warrior Monk outfit: An open blue vest with red cloth pants. He even wore his favorite headband, and was fiddling with his wristcuffs.
Nate, a far older man than those two, was wearing a blue cloak wrapped around his body to warm himself with his black tunic underneath it. His hat, a plain straw hat, was a symbol of his training as a mage, even though he detested it. His glasses could be seen flickering in the occasional moonlight, and his breath almost froze on his whiskers. Jessifer, who wasn't really a human anyways, or so they think, was in her ceremonial green cloak and black dress, with her holy staff tied to the back. Everyone was always wondering where she came from, since summoning required a horn that could focus all the mana in one's body, few human ever summoned, but she had a natural horn. Most people had a fake strapped to their heads, blessed or usual mystified by a professional mage. She also had fangs, giving her a more cat-like appearance, which seemed to suit her darker skin tone.
Echram and Azmar could possibly look alike if one could ever see Azmar's face. Being raised as a ninja, he was taught to never have alliance's, never have a loved one and never show your face. Ecram, however, was always in his armor, but his face shown. He was a handsome young man, a boyish face like it never seen combat before, and bright, blond hair, with a long strand sticking upwards then drooping lazily down in front of his face. The Samurai was constantly in crimson armor, said to belong to a powerful warrior in a foreign land. The Ninja was in the blue and black gi the clans wore, helping him keep silent and invisible at the times of night.
Joles, their one and only Bard, was barely able to contain his self so he could leave. He never got along with anyone there and didn't intend to leave on a good note. All he has on him was his harp, a brown tunis and a fur hat. Nothing to pretect himself with and no skill anyone had known about, seeing as he joined only last spring. Last, The Outcast, was in a suit of armor so thick and covering, Cynthia looked as if she were bare. Not one part of flesh could be seem from him, save the area around the eyes. His sacred lance was with him at all times as well. He hardly spoke and no one knew how old he was or even where he came from. He, unlike the others, was not placed in front of a door to the outside world. No one knew what his fate would be, except the Sensei.
"Well, my children and those of the gods, you must now leave," Sensei finally spoke up. Once he spoke, the rain stopped and everyone looked up to the full moon. The stars were not out but the moon did more than enough to illuminate the ground around them. The soldiers turned to their doors as some looked at the others around. Pan looked at Cynthia and mouthed "I'll come for you" and tapped his index finger on his head. She smiled and stepped through her door. The brothers stepped through their doors as well, looking at each other one final time. Jessifer looked sadly at The Outcast, who just turned his head away from her. She reluctantly passed through.
"Thank you, Father," Nate said to Sensei then passed through too. Joles, laughing as usual, started to step through, but turned to Pan and said: "Well, better go catch her?" then he disappeared. Pan looked regretful, as if he was about to do some heinous act, and looked back at his teacher.
"Father…"
"Pan, you're the strongest willed man I've ever met. You'll do fine out there, just keep an eye out for the others."
"Keep an eye out for Joles, Pan," The Outcast spoke, his hollow voice cracking against the skies. Suddenly, it rained again.
"Hey, you keep yourself alive," Pan looked at Outcast with a wondering eye, like trying to figure out what the meaning to a particularly bland painting was. "Can I ask you to do me one favor?"
"It's Jacob," Outcast gave the answer without Pan needing to waste his breath. Then, he jumped from the ground to roof and disappeared in a flash of lightning. Pan smiled to himself then stepped through the door.
It was a weird feeling, the lights around him were of all different colors, swarming like a nest of angry bee's. The path way illuminated with every single step and Pan realized the doors were transporters, magical doors that allows one to go from one entrance to the other in a few moments. Pan looked at the room, morphing into a cylinder shape as he walked along, shielding his eyes from the brighter colors like magenta and pink. Then, it started to go black and the exit seemed to be moving slightly. Pan raced for the exit and jumped through, hitting a wooden wall and landing on a padded wooden flooring.
"Damn, my head!" he rubbed his skull where it hit the pillar he was looking at with a half opened eye.
"And you're going to fix it, along with your language and the wood."
Pan turned around to see a chubby, bald man smiling with, his eyes squinting so you couldn't clearly see his pupils. He laughed at Pan when he got up to bow only to fall back down. He was the head priest of the monastery and the combat instructor, although his physical body seemed to disagree. He helped Pan up and lead him to a separate room where there was tea waiting on a low table, custom for the monastery's in this area, as were the paper door and strange custom to sit on ones knees as they spoke, ate and drank.
After Yukio, the head Monk, explained Pan's purpose to the retreat to him, he pulled out a tray with many small glasses and an odd shaped container filled with a strong alcohol. They celebrated the arrival of their new brother by nearly downing the whole bottle in a few short minutes, but Pan could feel the buzz in his body. It wasn't as if he never had a drink like that, but the booze was far stronger than he ever had. Yet, it made his body seem warmer and he didn't have that sickening feeling he would usually get from drinking too much with Outcast.
Suddenly, the world seemed much farther that second.
"Hey, Pan! Look alive, the god's blessed us and our world with your arrival! One we've been waiting for years!"
He smiled weakly and then thought about when he would meet with his friends again and help save the world. The world seemed to be so distant later that night, laying on the ground bed. He thought about Cynthia and the times they snuck away at night and of Jacob and when they would run and go drinking or harass the other students. His entire childhood was behind a giant stone wall and now he felt like he was being plunged into a suddenly cold lake. He turned his head and looked at the night stars and started dozing off, fighting it.
"I need… the sleep," Pan said as he slipped into unconsciousness.
[The places, references and items/characters are under the ownership of SquareEnix and I only borrow these. Any other real life reference is completely coincidental.]