Hey, everyone!
Here is my second Xenoblade fanfic. Last time I got some tips from P.T. Piranha, little miss saigon and Cormag Ravenstaff. I hope I did better this time.
Once again, there might be typos, since English is my third language. The people might also be a bit OOC. Hopefully not too much. I have played and replayed this game on the Wii and New 3ds so I hope I'm not too much off.(Yes, I got a New 3ds just to play a game I already have on the Wii. Got a problem with that?)
Anyway, please enjoy and please review. It would mean a lot. More A/N at the end.
Arriving in Alcamoth chapter 1After saying goodbye to the group Dickson, Alvis and some of the other Homs boarded the transport ships and set off toward Alcamoth. The few remaining Homs would stay at Sword Valley to support Shulk and the others with things they might need.
The ships weren't very big. There were some chairs and a small table in the middle of the main room, right behind where the control room was. Weapons and equipment were all over the walls.
As soon as the ship left the ground, Dickson put his gunblade on the table, then sat down in one of the chairs and threw his feet up on the table. He leaned back and closed his eyes, trying to get comfortable. He didn't hear Alvis walk up to the table and sit down on the other side of the table before he spoke.
"Are you tired?" Dickson slowly opened his eyes and looked at the other man across the table.
"Yeah, not sleeping for days does that to you."
And he hadn't slept for quite a while. After getting Alvis' message about the allied force and meeting them at Sword Valley he hadn't had a lot of time to get ready. Which meant a few sleepless nights in order to get the anti-mechon weapons ready.
Shulk had he Monado, so he didn't need one. But one for Reyn and one for the Colony 6 girl, Sharla was it? Dunban already had one, but he could use a stronger one. Aside from that Alvis had written about two others who had joined the group and they needed anti-mechon weapons as well.
One was a Noppon, who used biters in battle. He had seen those before, but he had never built one. That was a bit of a challenge on its own.
The other one was a High Entia girl, who used an ether staff. When using ether arts with a normal staff, she could hurt Mechon, but an anti-mechon weapon would let her do even more damage. Once again, a weapon he had never made before.
Making the weapons had taken time, as well as getting the materials. Getting everything had also cost him quite a bit of money. And then those brats started complaining that he wanted them to pay for the weapons...
He shook himself out of his thoughts when Alvis started talking again.
"It will take us a couple of hours to reach Alcamoth. I would recommend you take advantage of that and rest a bit. Once we arrive, his highness Kallian will want to meet us"
Dickson just 'Hmmm'd, folded his arms behind his head, closed his eyes and leaned back again. He didn't sleep quite yet, but instead thought about everything he had learned when he met the group.
Finding out there were Homs inside the faced Mechon hadn't been much of a surprise. He had expected something like that. Mumkhar attacking Colony 9 was no surprise either. The man had never really fit into the colony, and had always been a fairly unreliable guy. His hatred for Dunban hadn't been hidden from him either.
He had not expected Fiora to be a faced Mechon, since he had assumed she had died, like he had been told. But it didn't come as too much pf a surprise either. After all, her body had never been found, which means the Mechon took it.
It had been nice to see Shulk, Dunban and Reyn again. They seemed to have gotten stronger and gained more confidence. Same could be said for the Colony 6 girl.
The new members in the group had been interesting, to say the least.
The Noppon, Riki, had been a typical Noppon. Short attention span and childlike enthusiasm. But this was the first Noppon who would go fight the mechon, which made him stand out from others.
The High Entia girl, Melia, had gotten his interest as well. She had small wing, so she was obviously half Homs. She didn't speak much, but when she did, it was in a clear posh accent. That would suggest royal background. But then again, he wouldn't be surprised if most High Entia spoke in at least somewhat posh accents...
He didn't even notice he had fallen asleep until he heard Alvis talk to him again.
"Dickson, wake up. We have arrived in Alcamoth."
He stretched slightly before sitting up in the chair and rubbing an arm over his eyes. He was still tired, but a bit less than before. He noticed Alvis and the other Homs, who had been driving the ship, were ready to get out. He stood up and grabbed his gunblade, swinging it over his shoulder. He grind at the two others.
"Shall we go then?"
"Yes", Alvis nodded. Then he turned to the other Homs. "I think it's better if you stay here for now." The man nodded and sat down in one of the chairs.
Avis turned back to Dickson.
"I will lead the way. Many High Entia will most likely stare at you quite a bit. We don't get Homs here very often. Just ignore them."
"No problem. Let's just go meet the prince or whatever." Alvis rolled his eyes a bit at the answer, then smiled slightly.
"You haven't changed one bit, Dickson."
Then they stepped out into the city of Alcamoth.
The first thing Dickson saw when he stepped out was the huge building, presumably the palace where they were heading. There were lots of High Entia walking around doing their daily stuff. And many of them did, indeed, stare at him like Alvis said.
He held his head high as he followed Alvis toward the palace, completely ignoring the gawking people around him. He noticed a few Noppon in the city as well, which didn't surprise him one bit. Noppon got along well with just about anything.
Soon they arrived at palace. Dickson noticed all the guards either at their posts or patrolling the area. Their armors looked pretty sturdy, but the wings outside the helmets confused him a bit. Wouldn't it hurt them if the wings got damaged? Weird design choice, but he could only assume there was a reason for it.
They went deeper into the palace, to a fountain with stairs on both sides. They went up the stairs and continued to a transporter. Here Alvis turned to Dickson again.
"This transporter will lead to the Audience Chamber, where prince Kallian will meet us. It shouldn't take very long, and afterwards you will be given a room where you can rest during your time here."
Dickson nodded. "Okay, let's go meet the prince." They then walked into the transporter and to the Audience Chamber.
In the Audience Chamber there were more guards and at the end of the room stood a man Dickson assumed to be the prince. Alvis walked to the man and kneeled before him. Yep, definitely the prince. He also noticed Lorithia standing a bit to the side. Dickson decided to just stand beside Alvis, and let the others do the talking while he observed. And ignored Lorithia. She hated being ignored.
The prince didn't look very old, but High Entia didn't age the same way Homs did. He was probably over a hundred years old. He had large wings, meaning he was a pure-blooded High Entia. He had short silvery hair, like all High Entia. He wore a sort of armor, as well as a dark blue cape. He stod tall, and his eyes were determinate. He started talking to Alvis.
"Seer, it is good to see you back. Are Shulk and the others at Sword Valley?"
"Yes, your highness" Alvis answered, lifting his head to look at the prince. "Shulk and the others are travelling through Sword Valley and toward Galahad Fortress as we speak."
The prince nodded, apparently pleased with the news. He looked briefly at Dickson before turning to Alvis again.
"And who is your friend?"
Dickson was just about to introduce himself, but Alvis beat him to it.
"This is Dickson. He is the representative of the Homs regarding the allied force. He fought in the Battle of Sword Valley. He is Shulk's guardian and Dunban's friend. He is also an old acquaintance of mine."
The prince nodded at this as well, before turning to address Dickson.
"It's nice to have you here, Dickson. I am Kallian, prince and current regent of the High Entia. As you know, we're hoping for the allied force to come together as quickly as possible. We are going to send word to the Noppon and other Homs so they can be a part of it. The ministry of research are developing anti-mechon weapons and other things. Do you have any ideas?"
Dickson took a moment to think about it. It seemed like a good plan. Just one thing...
"Sounds pretty good to me. I would like to write to the Homs myself, though. Old Otharon in Colony 6 is probably not going to like this whole thing very much. He is more likely to come if I ask him to. I also need him to bring some soldiers from Colony 9. That okay?"
Otharon would be angry at the High Entia for not helping at the Battle of Sword Valley, but he probably would agree, eventually. Kallian seemed to think about this.
"All right. You can write the message to the Homs. They are probably more likely to listen to someone they know. Could you do it right away? I would like to get it done as soon as possible."
Dickson shrugged. That wasn't a problem. He already knew what to tell Otharon, anyway.
"Sure, no problem. Just get me some paper and a pen".
Right after he said that, a guard came forth, holding out a pen and a block of paper for him.
"Thanks" he said to the guard. That sure was quick. Did the guards always carry around a pen and paper, he wondered, as he started writing. A couple of minutes later it was done. He gave the pen and rest of the paper back to the guard. Then he turned to Kallian.
"There, done." He folded the paper in half, not really knowing who to give it to. Kallian nodded again.
"Thank you. You can give it to Donnis" He pointed to one of the guards who stepped forward. "He will deliver it to Colony 6".
Dickson gave the note to the guard who took it and, after a nod from Kallian, left the room, probably to get ready to go to Colony 6. Kallian turned to Dickson again.
"Thank you. You will now be shown to your room by Galdo" another guard stepped forward" so you can get some rest if you wish. I will discuss some matters with the Seer and Lorithia."
At this, Dickson finally turned toward Lorithia. She was glaring at him with a loo that clearly said "I don't trust you, and I'm keeping my eyes on you". He just gave her a confident grin, knowing it would annoy her. And he could see it did. If looks could kill...
He looked at Alvis for a second.
"I guess I'll see you later?" Alvis stood up and walked over to him.
"Yes. I would show you around Alcamoth, but I have my duties. Maybe another time."
Dickson nodded to him, and then to the prince, before following Galdo. Rest sounded pretty good right about now. They walked through the transporter, went down the stairs and turned to the left. They stooped at the second door, which revealed another transporter. They took it and ended up in a corridor. Then they stopped at the fourth door.
"This is your room" Galdo told him. "You can rest or spend time here whenever you wish. You are also free to walk around the palace and Alcamoth however you wish."
He opened the door for Dickson and then gave him the key.
"If you need anything, feel free to ask one of the guards. They all know you are here as a guest." With that, he walked away, maybe to return to his duties.
"Cheers" Dickson said. He wasn't sure if the guard heard him. Whatever.
He walked into the room. It looked pretty nice. There was a large bed, a small table and some chairs. There was also a large window with some blue curtains. When he opened them, he got a nice view of Alcamoth and Eryth Sea beyond it. There was a door that led to a small bathroom. All in all, the room was very comfortable.
Even though it was only noon, Dickson decided to rest a bit, since he still was very tired. Just for a few hours. He could check out Alcamoth later. He kicked of his boots, put his gunblade on the small table, and laid down on the bed, without bothering with anything else.
He was fast asleep within minutes.
A/N
There will be a second chapter where Dickson sees more of Alcamoth and meets some of the locals.
Here's some other stuff about this chapter:
I don't know how Alvis got a letter to Dickson, he just did, OK?
Dickson didn't know about Mellia and Riki so the only way he could have weapons for them is that Alvis told him. So he was in a hurry to make these new weapons and get them ready in time. This means he didn't get much sleep. At least in this story.
There is one NPC in Alcamoth who says they rarely see Homs there, and another says Alvis is the only Homs he has ever seen in Alcamoth. So I think the High Entia would be pretty curious when a Homs shows up in Alcamoth. That's why they stare
Alvis gives info on Dickson so Kallian knows who he is and trusts him easier, and maybe a bit more, than otherwise.
Xenoblade Wiki says Dickson and Lorithia have something of a rivalry, which I don't really agree with, since she outright says he disgusts her. I can imagine Dickson just pissing her of all the time.
Donnis and Galdo are NPCs in Alcamoth, in the palace.
I gave Dickson a proper room in this. He even got a bed. That's more than Shulk and the others got. They just had a table and some chairs. Where did they sleep, on the table?
Anyway, please review! =)