~Chapter 1: The Half-Breed~
A large, roaring campfire crackled and burned brightly like the sun in the middle of the town square as the villagers gathered around the campfire, dancing and singing to their hearts' content with music playing in the background. Those sitting just outside the dancing circle were happily eating their well-grown harvest as they celebrated the 10th anniversary for a Miasma-free world. The children were laughing and playing not far from their parents' sight as they ran around the square.
Roland, the village elder, stood before the large crystal that once protected the town from Miasma but now acts as a reminder of the hardships they'd suffered before. Turning to his people, he raised a hand and everyone stopped what they were doing.
"My people, we are gathered here today to celebrate our 10th anniversary of this glorious day where we finally feel the freedom from the Miasma!" The people clapped and cheered with the children following, not knowing the story. "Though we suffered many hardships and heart breaks for several decades, thanks to the bravery of our young Caravanners, they were able to purge the world from the dreaded Miasma. To allow our future generations to run wild and free." Said Caravanners were either given pats on their backs or affectionate hair-ruffling. "For that, you have our thanks. Now, without further ado. Carry on the celebration!"
And once again, music blared in every direction and villagers of all race danced in mirth. As the celebration continued, a male Selkie was instantly surrounded by every children in Tipa.
"Uncle, can you tell us the story?" a young Clavat child asked as he tugged onto the Selkie's hand.
"Yeah, the one where you and mom first became Caravanners!" a young Selkie girl said, tugging her mother to where he's sitting.
"Now, now, Tiy Rah." the older Selkie said before looking apologetic toward the other Selkie. "Sorry about that."
The male giggled, "It's fine. Peter is asking the same thing."
"He's not the only one." a male Yuke chuckled as he and his wife came up to them with their Yuke twins. "Seiberg and Arisha had been bugging us about it."
"But you promised us." Seiberg whined to his father.
"You said you'll tell us once we're older." Arisha retorted.
"Alright, settle down, kids." a male Clavat smiled as he patted the twins before sitting beside the male Selkie. "You're right. You're all old enough to know."
The children cheered and quickly sat down in a semi-circle around their parents who had made themselves comfortable by the crystal. Not a moment later, a family of five Lilties rushed to their small group.
"Whoa, hey! Don't start without us!" the older male Lilty exclaimed as his wife carried a baby while the two younger siblings trailed behind.
"Don't worry. We won't." the Selkie chuckled before looking around to see if everyone's here. "Well then, let's start, shall we?" The children nodded and subtly leaned forward. The Selkie cleared his throat and began his story.
~X~
Long ago, there existed a great crystal. People lived in their lives blessed with its radiance. One day, a great star fell from the sky and shattered the crystal. It warped the natural course of the world. Thus, causing chaos and Miasma to spread across the world. That was the beginning of it all. The people back then were struggling to survive against the toxic gas but alas, one by one, villages across the world slowly died out. It was then people realized that the shattered pieces of the Great Crystal kept the Miasma at bay so they built settlements around the scattered shards, which were the only thing that could protect them.
But the crystal's radiance can only last for so long and it can only regain its brilliance and protection from the Miasma by replenishing it with Myrrh, a powerful dew that could be found from a healthy Myrrh Tree. Thus began the journey of the crystal caravans: every year one caravan from each town searched for Myrrh from the Myrrh Trees to replenish their town's crystal.
These Caravanners traveled, and spent a year collecting drops of Myrrh from different trees.
If the Caravan fall, their hometown will fall with them...
This is the story of a group of Caravanners who are out to collect Myrrh...
~X~
A papaopamus bellowed as it trotted along the dirt path, pulling a caravan behind it. A male Selkie is holding onto the reins while a female Clavat is sitting beside him, reading the map.
"How much further to Tipa, Erin?" the male Selkie asked.
"We're almost there, Roku. Just a little further." the female Clavat, Erin, replied. She then turned to the side of their caravan to find their eldest Selkie son. "Are you alright, Jica?"
"I'm fine, mom." the Bandanna Selkie replied with a nod before calling over to the other side where his Clavat sister is. "What about you, Christie?"
"Same here." The Dark Coat Clavat shouted back.
The mother then peered inside their Caravan to find her half-Selkie, half-Clavat son. "Galen, are you alright back here?" Said boy turned to his mother from his books and nodded before turning his attention back. The mother sighed with a smile. "Honestly, dear..."
"Leave him be, Erin. You know how the boy is." the father chuckled as he snapped the reins to make the papaopamus go faster.
XXXX
"Sala Nah, are you awake?" An Elegant Lilty shouted to a small yet quaint house beside the river. "I wonder if she's not home..." Suddenly, as she finished her words, the door suddenly swung opened, creating a loud 'bang' and a male Raccoon-Tail Selkie was thrown out of said home. The Lilty was stunned at the scene but regained her composure and came to the male Selkie's aid. "De Di, were you bugging Sala Nah again?"
The Selkie rubbed his aching head before replying, "I was just giving her a hand. I tried waking her gently like you said but she still snoozed through so I resorted to my last idea."
"By dumping water on me, De Di?" an enraged female Shark-Eye Selkie stormed out of her home. "And not just any water, but FREEZING ice-cold water!" the Selkie shrieked at the emphasis of 'freezing'. De Di looked terrified at the female before turning to his only help, only for her to back away as a way of saying "I'm not getting involved."
"Whoa, what did you do this time, De Di?" a male Bare Head Lilty grinned at the scene in front of him. "And before you say anything, there is no way I'm getting a taste of Sala Nah's wrath."
"And you call yourself a friend, Gil Wood!" De Di shouted before screaming and running away from the female Shark-Eye, shouting apologies into the wind. The two Lilties shook their head in exasperation. "Those two can never get tired." Gil muttered before turning to the female. "So, Nana Mil, did you hear we're having a new family arriving to Tipa today?"
"Really? I haven't heard about it. What are they like?" Nana asked.
"Don't know. Just heard from dad who heard it from the village elder. Said that the new family is an Alchemist." Gil replied with a shrug.
"An Alchemist? We haven't had one since the previous one moved out four years ago." Nana then took Gil's hand. "Let's go see."
XXXX
A young female Spiral Yuke stretched her feathery arms into the sky as she walked out of her home before waving her staff, casting a spell to start the mill for her family. As she did this, she turned her head to the side to find her neighbors, a merchant's family, getting up for work. She quickly turned her head back to the mill when a male Bumpy Yuke walked out of his home, a faint pink tint on her helmet.
The Bumpy Yuke noticed her and waved a good morning, which she hesitantly returned.
"Ilias, can you come in for a moment?" her mother called. Ilias called back a reply before waving to the male Yuke and disappearing into her house, still flustered.
The male Yuke tilted his head in confusion, wondering what was wrong with the female when his father called him. "Heinrir, could you help me with these?" his father asked as he lifted up a crate of items.
"Yes, father!" Heinrir hastily came to his father's aid. As they moved to open the stall, Sala Nah and De Di rushed by with the Lilties each greeting the father and son duo before chasing after the Selkies.
The duo just watched them go before chuckling and shaking their head while going on with their business.
XXXX
A Clavat Blacksmith was busy hammering down the heated metal when he heard the two Selkies creating a commotion. He chuckled out loud, muttering about "Youthful Spirits" and turned to his son, a male Natural Clavat, who is pumping air into the coals.
"You should be more like them, Kieren." The boy rolled his eyes at his father before continuing his work. The man sighed and was about to continue his work when he noticed a caravan entering Tipa. "Huh, that's odd. Our crystal Caravan doesn't return for another half a year. Must be the new arrivals." he muttered as he wiped his hand clean of dirt and oil before going ahead to greet the arrivals. Kieren had stopped his work when he heard his father muttering about new arrivals.
Tipa is a small town located at the very tip of the titular Tipa Peninsula, so it's not common for them to have visitors like Caravanners or travelers, much less new arrivals, so it peaked his interest on this family as he hurriedly rushed to his father's side.
He could see the other families are taking interest in this new family as the other kids his age stopped to have a look.
XXXX
"Welcome to Tipa!" Roland extended his greetings to the family as he shook hands with Roku, then Erin. "I hoped the journey isn't too rough on you."
"No, not at all." Erin replied with a smile. "We did have a few problems with the occasional monsters popping up everywhere, though."
"But they're no match for me, of course." Jica boasted.
"Oh, really? Like the time where you almost got yourself stuck in a hole?" Christie reminded. "If it weren't for me, you'll still be stuck in that hole, waiting for the Mu to maim you." Her Selkie brother just stuck his tongue out and huffed away in annoyance, unloading their belongings out. Unknown to them is that a young Clavat boy had stepped out of the Caravan and is making his way towards his parents, all along casting his eyes downwards while clutching a thick book. Except for the children who had their eyes on the boy.
By then, the Blacksmith had already introduced himself to the family and was introducing his son.
"-and this is my son, Kieren." he lightly pushed his boy to the front. "Come on, son. Say hello." The young boy didn't say anything as he continued to stare at the other Clavat who is hiding behind his mother.
"Oh, dear. I almost forgot." Erin said as she pushed Galen out into the open. "This is our son, Galen. He's a bit shy."
Galen clutched his book tighter as he hid his face behind it, "...hello..." came a soft whisper before he hid behind his mother again.
"I'm sorry. Galen's not used to other Clavats yet... After what happened in Rohesia..." Erin trailed off, with Roku rubbing her shoulders reassuringly. Knowing what she meant, the Blacksmith then showed the Alchemist family their new home, which is coincidentally not far from the Blacksmith's.
XXXX
A few weeks had passed since the Alchemist family had moved into Tipa. It wasn't easy at first, as most of the belongings are very fragile and must be handled with care so the move was slow and easy. Then came the fact that the other families thought their son, Galen, is a bit odd. Being born to a Selkie father, his appearance is of a Wolfie Selkie but his clothes is that of a Cap Clavat.
Unlike his older siblings where they looked and dressed the same as their origin, Galen is figuratively the black sheep of the family as no one can tell which he is: a Clavat or a Selkie. Normally when two different tribes interbreed, their offspring are of the same kind as either the mother or father, never both. Though the fact that there is not much known about interbreeding of two different tribes doesn't help the situation.
Also with the fact that said black sheep had made a point that he doesn't trust Clavats by avoiding every Clavat in the village, with the exception of his sister and mother. In fact, he did this by locking himself in his room, reading than going outside. Even though the family is friendly and fun to be around, the villagers weren't so sure about young Galen. Some had wanted to ask the question but felt that it's being rude until...
"Hey, Christie." Gil Wood called to the Dark Coat female. The eight children were hanging out at Sala Nah's as they get to know the elder siblings of Galen and maybe said half-ling himself. "Is Galen a Selkie or a Clavat?"
The other children turned to the Bare Head with disbelief before watching Galen's Clavat sister in worry. Their family had already warned them on asking the question as they deemed it a violation of privacy.
To their surprise, Christie just tapped her chin as her eyes went skyward as if thinking of the answer. "...not sure."
Silence enveloped the children until Gil Wood broke it, "What do you mean, not sure?"
"It's just what she said. Galen, in appearance, is a Selkie but he seemed comfortable wearing the standard Cap Clavat clothing, saying that the Selkie ones showed too much skin."
"How is this, showing too much skin?" De Di retorted as he pulled on his clothes.
"Galen never did like to show his skin since the people in Rohesia kept saying that he had such fair skin like a girls'." Christie explained. "Though I couldn't blame them since, no offence to you guys, the male Selkies do look more feminine than masculine."
"I think I can understand what you mean." Sala Nah nodded. "Is it true that he doesn't like Clavats very much?"
Jica and Christie shared a look before the brother replied, "It's not that he hates the Clavats. It's just... he doesn't really trust them that much. Not after what happened in Rohesia."
"What happened in Rohesia?" Gil Wood asked but was silenced by Nana and Ilias. "What? Did I say something wrong?"
"No, it's alright. We're used to the treatment back then, but Galen is another story." Jica said. "Ever since mom and dad got together, the people in Rohesia opposed of their relationship. After that was simple glares and bad gossips about us but nothing more."
"Until Galen was born, that the hostility grew stronger." Christie solemnly drooped her head. "Threats, bullying, and beatings were the common ones he faced every day."
"Oh dear..." Ilias gasped in horror. "But I thought Rohesia is multi-tribe city, just like Tipa."
"It is, but the city is divided into four parts. One for each tribe. So long as no tribe enters another, no fights or wars will break out." the Clavat grimly replied. "Father broke that law by accident when chasing a thief who had stole his goods into the Clavat's part of the city, and that is where he met my mother. The both of them never did like the law, in the first place." She then proceeded to recite the laws. "No one is allowed to trespass another. No one is allowed to meet another. No one is allowed to marry another. And finally the most important, all children must belong to a single tribe."
"I see. By marrying to another tribe, your parents had broke the second and third law." Heinrir concluded.
"And by having Galen, he had broke the last and final one." Ilias finished.
"That is why we hastily left Rohesia and fled to Tipa." Jica said. "We thought that we could give Galen a fresh new start but... I think it'll take a bit of time."
Unknown to the eight, Kieren was eavesdropping on their conversation as he leaned nonchalantly on the tree trunk not far from the house with his hands behind his head.
"...Rohesia, huh?"
XXXX
Young Galen is, for the first time, outside by the riverbank practicing his magic on a few rocks that scattered themselves around the bank. Looking over the book he's always seen carrying, he memorized the chants that are needed to cast a simple fire spell and its more advanced ones.
Standing up and taking a stance with his hands stretched outwards, a red magic circle appeared beneath his feet as he chanted "O flickering blaze, burn those who oppose me... Fire!" A small fire ball launched itself at the one closest to him. Once over, Galen inspected the damage. The rock, if a monster, only suffered a minor degree burn.
He sighed in disappointment. "Looks like I still have a long way to go."
The ten year old went to gather his book when he noticed a figure at his peripheral vision. Turning his head, he inwardly squeaked at the sight of a Clavat. His body instantly going into defense mode; he scurried away from the Clavat and curled into a tight ball, awaiting the kicks and punches he's expecting.
But none came; instead, footsteps were heard and he could feel the presence of the other crouching close to him. The next thing he know, he felt his head being patted. Slowly raising his head, he stared at the Clavat with wide-eyed confusion.
"Hey, you alright?" Kieren asked. Galen blinked as he remembered this Clavat was the one he met when his family first arrived in Tipa. Slowly and hesitantly, he nodded. "That's good."
"...Aren't you going to badmouth about me?" Galen whispered. The Clavat only raised a brow at the question. "Cause that's what the others did back in Rohesia..."
"That doesn't mean I'm gonna do that to you." Kieren said. "Besides I'm not as law-abiding as those damn idiots."
Galen stifled his giggles at the insult. "Were you from Rohesia as well?"
Kieren nodded as he sat down beside the Half-Breed, "I was born there but my parents weren't too happy about the laws they enforced so we moved out and start a new life in Tipa just four years ago. I can understand why though. I mean, what is with the ridiculous laws? Like 'No one is to meet another.'" Kieren then imitated a low noble voice. "What? Are they expecting us to walk down the road blindfolded whenever we go to the city square where the divisions meet?" Galen laughed at that. "Seriously, what is up with that?"
"So you don't like the people of Rohesia?" Galen asked.
"Never did. Bunch of stuck-up snobs." the two shared a laugh at that one. "I did wonder if they ever bump into something with their noses so high up in the air."
"Well, I did see one bumping into a lamp post before." Galen giggled at the memory. "The Yuke Noble was so engrossed with his nose high in the air that he didn't watch where he was going and rammed into the post."
"Oh yeah, I remembered seeing one who actually fell into a drain. Man, the guy had stank for almost a month."
The two chatted more until the sky began to turn a pinkish-orange. Galen noticed it and stood up from his seat, dusting his pants. "I have to get home, or mom will worry."
"Mine too. I'll walk with you, since we are neighbors." Galen nodded. The two boys then walked down the path home. "You know, you're the first one I ever talked to in Tipa."
"Really? What about the other kids here? Aren't you friends with them?" Galen questioned as he faintly remembered that the Clavat had talked to the two Yukes that lived just across them.
"Not really. We talked, but we aren't exactly close. Everyone who didn't know Rohesia's true colors all believed it's like Tipa; a peaceful multi-tribe city. So having someone who had experienced the true horrors of said city is kind of a relief." Kieren explained.
Galen nodded and silence loomed over them. Galen wanted to ask if Kieren had experienced the same as he did so badly but seeing as the other is a full-blooded Clavat, that reason was immediately dashed. As the boys arrived at their homes, they bid each other goodbyes and entered their respective homes.
A/N: Before anyone says anything, Rohesia is my own made-up town so there is so such thing in the original game. Also the fact that Clavats can breed with both Lilties and Selkies got me thinking as to how their offspring will be like, and how the people around them will react.
Anyways, this is my first fanfic for FFCC so no flames, rate and review~