Okay, I had to fix a few things in the geography of this chapter. For the record, the station is placed against the Nebra river, not a lake. The things mentioned in the previous description still hold. Penelo is Migelo's daughter, Reks is alive and a sergeant in the Dalmascan Cavalry. Chocobo's still exist but are not as relied upon as horses. All characters are human in this story.
The desert. It's searing heat could suck the life from any foolish enough to attempt to traverse it without sufficient quantities of water. Yet there was some mercy to this harsh and brutal clime. Pools of water pockmarked the maps of Dalmasca, but were sometimes dry. The most reliable of the precious oases was near the Estersand station of the Dalmascan pony express. The Nebra River was less than one hundred feet from the back door of the way station and was a source of good water year round. The station keeper, Migelo, often used this water to brew some of his special Dalmascan whiskey. His daughter, Penelo, used it to mix into her baking, which she did quite often to feed the various travelers on the stage routes. The riders, in particular their best rider Balthier, liked to take baths in some of the streams that flowed into the river, or in the pools that surrounded it in the rainy season. The stations stage tender, Fran, took the stage horses to water at a trough that pumped the life giving water from the rivers edge. All in all, it was this river that made life possible for those crossing the Estersand as well as those that lived there. And it was by this body of water that an almost unnoticed figure crawled his way to the shore before finally collapsing.
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Penelo walked out the back door to the station as she did every day. The large bucket in her hand betrayed her purpose. As she reached the waters edge something strange about the place caught her eye. A stick in the water near shore, but too straight to be natural. Penelo reached out and picked it up, her task nearly forgotten. The item now in her grasp held no fascination for her, she had seen many like it. In her hands she held an arrow.
"I'll show it to Balthier later." she quickly filled her bucket and moved back to the house.
She didn't see the figure that lay less than ten yards from her under a small tree.
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Balthier studied the arrow that Penelo had handed to him. To the express rider, the markings on the arrow were all too familiar.
"Looks like the Urutan Yensa have been raiding again." he thought. He was quiet for a moment.
"Penelo, where did you find this?" The speaker was Migelo, and he had a concerned look on his face. A look shared by Balthier.
"Down at the river." Penelo said. Balthier and Migelo exchanged glances. It was Balthier who spoke first.
"Migelo, tell Fran to get the station ready for a possible Urutan Yensa attack. I'll scout around the lake, see if there's anything there. That's fresh blood on that arrow, and if I'm not mistaken, there'll be a body." Penelo gasped at the revelation of a possible attack, her mother's death at the hands of the Yensa had not been pleasant, and the memories still plagued the teenager.
"I'll send Larsa to the fort, just in case." Migelo's words broke Penelo out of her stupor. Balthier simply nodded. Larsa was not only the youngest rider at the station, but also one of the best and most popular. His courage had been proved on many occasions.
"Get him out there as soon as possible. When Al-Cid gets here, tell him to wait for me." Balthier said as he pulled his six-gun off of the rack just inside the door. Penelo watched as he buckled the heavy gun to his waist, a sense of foreboding choking her.
"I'll go with you." Balthier glanced in her direction.
"All right. But stay close." Penelo nodded. Migelo turned his gaze to Balthier.
"Keep her safe man." Balthier nodded.
"As if she were my own." Migelo seemed satisfied with the statement, and went to get Larsa.
"All right girl, stay close and be careful." Balthier told Penelo as they stepped out the door.
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Balthier searched the riverbank carefully near where Penelo had found the arrow. He knew that when the Urutan got hold of anyone not their own they didn't kill them immediately. They tortured them to death, slowly. Balthier had come across the corpses far too often to be naive about what could happen.
"Balthier?" Penelo's voice shook with fear as she pointed toward the tree that had provided shade when she was younger. Balthier looked closely and, sure enough, there was a prone figure lying underneath. Penelo watched apprehensively as Balthier drew his gun, checking it quickly to make sure the hammer was on a loaded chamber. He approached the figure carefully, but no motion from the body. When he was close enough to make out details he let out a light gasp. The body was that of a young boy, perhaps Penelo's age. The remains of a small fire lay scattered across the ground. The buckskins the boy wore were torn at the shoulder, and the material was blackened at the edges of the cut, as was the flesh underneath. The boys hand held a knife, obviously used to cauterize the wound.
"Balthier, what is it?" Penelo's voice betrayed her anxiety.
"Penelo, go get your father. I'm going to need him." he said, making sure to keep his voice even. Penelo was quick to obey. Balthier looked out toward the desert, scanning for any sign of the Urutan that had done this to the boy.
"No use...looking...lost them...days back." the boys voice was raspy, dry, and weak. Balthier looked at him for a moment.
"What's your name, lad?" the boy was silent for a moment. His answer was weak and hesitant.
"Vaan."
"Well you're safe now Vaan." The boy collapsed back down to the dirt. Balthier gazed at the young mans features for a moment. Grubby jeans tucked into patchwork boots that looked like they would fall apart at a moments notice. The torn and tattered buckskin shirt barely covered the wiry frame that seemed to bear too many scars for one so young. The beaten and worn hat had chunks missing from its brim, as if it had been chewed on by some wild creature. The gunbelt strapped to the boys waist was absent its gun, but looked to be in worse condition than anything else. The shell loops were empty, and the leather was falling apart at the seams. Balthier noticed the saddle and bridle that lay next to the tree, but there was no horse in sight. His observations were cut short by Penelo returning with Migelo.
"What's going on Balthier, have you found where that arrow came from?" Balthier looked over.
"Yes, get over here, this boy's been wounded." Penelo was quick to hurry over and kneel next to the still form that lay on the ground.
"Dad, hurry. We need to get him inside. He's still bleeding." Balthier and Migelo were quick to pick the boy up and carry him to the house.
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Okay, now that the update is taken care of I should be able to finish the next chapter. Please review.