An experiment in form, this is a series of drabbles about random encounters while I play through Final Fantasy 4. There's a few that aren't battle oriented, and some fixed encounters will end up in here too. Knowledge of FF4's story will help understand the whole. Comments are appreciated.

Keipo Desert

The sand moved underneath her feet, catching Rydia by surprise. She would have stopped, but then a metal hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back. Looking up, she saw a tall man in rough dark armor that completely encased his body. One hand remained on her shoulder, while the other brought out a sword with a black blade. That blade was within her reach.

And it was the stuff of nightmares, that sword and that armor. The sword craved blood and violence; she could hear its wordless whispers, its begging for more to kill whether it be man or monster. In trying to be heard by its wielder, it kept pulling for more battles to be fought. Thus far, it wasn't being heard yet, except for the child. The armor was also trying to be heard, but did so by fighting the person it was protecting. He might not realize it, but the armor was invading his mind and soul with its dark magic, trying to corrupt and consume both until they were made whole. Man, sword, and armor, a remorseless bloodthirsty devil walking the lands and destroying all around them.

Yet, the blade was out to protect her. The armor was there beside her, taking the monsters' blows so that she did not come to harm. That was because the man was fighting back against the power of the dark knight, deaf to their temptations. If he listened, he might have more power. But he did not.

Rydia looked past the blade to see that five Sandmen had come out. What were those monsters? Were they really once human, now mutilated beyond recognition by the sand demons? She tried to recall her magic lessons for something to help… maybe an ice spell. Before she could do that, her guardian took the glowing sword and slashed out towards the monsters. A group of black waves ripped through them, causing them to scream horrifically until their bodies crumbled into brown sand. She had seen him do that with large groups so often while walking across this desert, but the dark magic still made her skin crawl.

Then his legs gave way and he collapsed onto his knees in the sun-baked sand. Rydia panicked. "Cecil!"

"It's okay," he said, although his voice sounded exhausted. She saw his eyes briefly from behind that full face mask, but the shadows were so dark. "We've been walking a long ways; do you want to set up a tent and rest?"

"I'm not tired," she said. Maybe her feet hurt from walking so far, but she wasn't tired. "But your sword is killing you in little bits every time you use that dark magic."

Cecil shook his head and made himself get back onto his feet. "Don't worry about that. I think we should take a break; I don't want to push you too hard." But after he got the tent set up, it was only a matter of minutes before he was completely asleep.

Rydia didn't get to sleep as quickly. She was scared, honestly. This man had killed her mother's dragon, which had killed her mother. After that, he had caused the whole village of Mist to burn down. Now she was alone, and strange soldiers wanted her dead. But, Cecil was protecting her. All the people that she knew and loved were dead, and she didn't know what to do or where to go… except to follow the man who had destroyed it all.

Although she felt a strong desire to run back to Keipo and find someone to help her there, she didn't know who else would be strong enough to protect her. And through her magic, she could hear that the sword and armor were still awake. They had latched onto Cecil's guilt and were using it to cause him nightmares when his body was too tried to awaken from them.

And that made her want to help him when she was terrified of his power. Rydia clasped her legs to her chest and cried. "What should I do, Mommy?"