By SuzuriHeinze
FIC START!
When Kain left the Dragoons of Baron behind, he knew that it was a way of getting a fresh start in life. He loved his homeland. The castle in which he grew up in alongside Cecil and Rosa; the lovely village where he took his first punch to the face; the grassy plains where he spent many an hour with his father's beloved wyvern before it passed away... Kain loved that place more than anywhere in the world. That moment when he told his closest childhood friends - the King and Queen of Baron now for almost twenty years - that he was leaving left him feeling sad, desolate, alone.
But, upon deep reflection, he also knew that he needed time away from Baron, even more than the seventeen years he was away. He accepted his past transgressions, and all of those in the family back home forgave him multiple times despite the fact that he could not. Yes, he was close with them many years ago, but now... those days seemed distant after the War of the Crystals. The days when Golbez used Baron's resources to tear apart the world. It was then that Kain betrayed his best friend and the woman he grew to adore. Every day he was awake, Kain remembered all of those events. Every single one ripped through his memory, his heart, his soul, over and over again. And no matter how many times Queen Rosa embraced him to tell him that everything was fine now, Kain didn't believe it. Seeing her beautiful blue eyes look at him with worry was far too much for him to endure on a daily basis. As much as he would have loved to return home, that expression ate into his being like a parasite.
He closed his eyes as he stood upon the dock of the airship, letting the wind brush his blonde hair against the cerulean sky. Kain took a deep breath, realizing that he had been away from Baron for a few moons time, at the very least.
He took on the job of being Prince Ceodore's personal commander to help him attain his proof of knighthood. The boy was eager to learn, having asked if he could have time in Fabul to specifically gain upper body strength before heading on to the cave where the proof of knighthood could be attained. While in Fabul, Kain recieved a letter from one of the traveling companions from during the War of the Crystals. It had been sent to Baron, but a Baron messenger brought it to Fabul. The White Mage Porom told him of an earthquake that hit Troia during her last stay, and many were without homes. The Epopt Council asked of her to send for anyone that could help with rebuilding, and Kain was the first she thought of. He decided that a few weeks in the hands of Master Yang would do him good, and he was on the airship headed for the westernmost country in the world.
Why?
He answered his own question. There were people in need of help, and while he was training Ceodore, he was also trying to do everything he could to make up for everything he'd done in the past. Kain wanted to make a difference in the world, a positive one.
"Sir," the pilot of the airship said, calling Kain out of his long-winded thoughts. "We are landing in Troia."
"All right, then," Kain said with a nod, feeling the ship decend straight down onto a patch of grass right outside the village wall. He had no idea how it worked, as he was not an engineer of airships or a pilot, but after spending so much time traveling on the flying boats, he was used to that sensation even more than flying on the back of a dragon anymore. And that only made him think about when his father was alive, well over twenty-five years ago, when their family's wyvern was in the best of health.
He remembered having been here before many years ago. Once the ship had been firmly landed onto the ground, Kain took a moment to disembark and look at the environment. Troia was a nation blessed by the Crystal of Earth. The land was full of vegitation, and grew better harvests than anywhere else in the world. In fact, Troia was the number one provider of food to desperate nations after the War of the Crystals had ended. It only made sense that someone would come to repay the long overdue favor.
"Kain!" a female voice called out to him. He turned to see the cute pink-haired Porom standing there next to the village entrance, waving at him. Before he could wave back, she was all ready running up to him. The next thing he knew, he was being embraced tightly by her, and all he could do was give her a friendly pat on the shoulder in return. "Oh, it's been so long. Where have you been? Were you not in Baron?"
"No, I've had other duties that have needed my attention," Kain replied as she pulled away. "I had been in Fabul, seeing to Ceodore's training. A Baron messenger brought me your letter. And I left the moment I had the chance." He pulled her letter from his pocket. "You wrote of an Earthquake tearing apart the village?"
"Most are without homes. Are the Red Wings of Baron willing to take the time to help this country town?" Porom asked. "In the past, this would have been considered beneath the military might of such an elite unit."
"All the help Troia has given us over the many moons must be repaid somehow. Even though it is just me and the crew of the Falcon, we are more than willing to do what we can to help," Kain said, smiling slightly. "Now that there are no more wars, we should focus on more peaceful efforts."
"Hmm, you're right," Porom agreed. "If you guys are coming..."
Kain turned to the airship and let out a loud "Red Wings, fall in!" All ten of the men that manned the airship stood in a five by two formation within five minutes. "We are here to assist in the rebuilding of Troia. The Epopt Council is in power here, and whatever they say is the law. Do what you can to help the citizens of Troia as well." He then did an about-face and marched with them into the town itself.
The village had one entire building standing whole, and even a part of the nearby castle was missing. People were huddled in cloth tents. Kain smelled the air, noting that it had also rained recently. He took a few more steps, feeling the ground squish beneath his boots. Porom was with the villagers, healing wounds and trying to lend an ear to their troubles. Kain sent five of his men to work on rebuilding a house, and the other five to fixing a storehouse that held precious food reserves. He picked up a hammer to start working on the village wall, when he noticed a woman running from the castle as if she was in the deepest state of panic.
Porom stood up immediately, recognizing the woman as someone very important. Kain couldn't hear the conversation, but he could tell from their faces alone that the news was not pleasant. He reached for some nearby cut wood. It smelled of decay. He was going to need cut stone for this, and he had no idea where to get it in this country. Kain needed to speak with someone about it. He approached Porom and the woman from the castle.
"I'm not sure what I can do about it," Porom said, even though her face revealed worry. "An airship can't get that close, can it?"
"No, that's too dangerous. It could damage the castle!"
Without any ideas, Porom grunted. She turned around to see Kain standing there, waiting for an opportunity to speak. "Kain?" she asked. "Is something the matter?"
"The wood planks that were set next to the wall have rotted," he said plainly. "If you wish to see it mended properly, I will need stone. Where can my men find the hard, white stone used for construction in this village? All of the buildings are made with it." Kain held up one of the wooden planks to show them both the damaged state it was in. "This will not hold."
"The quarry is up north, close to the magnetic cave," the woman from the castle said quietly. "Thank you, young man, for caring enough to bring this to our attention."
"I wish not to have to rebuild more than once," he replied. "I will head over to the Magnetic Cave and bring back stone with the airship."
Porom watched him start to leave, but suddenly reached out for him and grabbed his hand. "Kain. Before you go, I need your help with something important."
"Oh?"
"Lady Tiala here tells me that the Troian Skyreader has locked herself away in the tallest part of the castle," Porom explained. "She's important to Troia, as she is the one that reads the stars via magic to see the future and can read the weather based on the behavior of the sky. The Epopt Council is worried as she's been in there for a week."
Kain faced Porom and uttered "...what would you have me do?"
"Only what a dragoon can do. Jump up there and see if you can find out what's going on." Porom said. "No one here can climb up walls. We aren't Eblan ninjas. We're mages and farmers out here. I know the moon brought you to us because this is something only you can do."
"I will do my best," Kain said, following Porom and Lady Tiala to the castle.
He took a deep breath again, just like he had when he was on the airship. There were things in this world, good things, that were meant just for him to do. Even if it seemed a waste to have all his combat ability used to simply find a missing important member of the Troian court, Kain was thankful that he could use something he trained for so long to be useful. There were no forseeable wars in the future. How else could he use his Jump skill?