Balfonheim Apprenticeship
A tale from the world of FFXII
The weather was always erratic on the Cerobi Steppe and today was no exception. Suphyn road across the gently rolling hills, downward, east to the port of Balfonheim. A lazy drizzle was falling as he wove between the battered windmills and purple blossoms whose faces drooped downward with the weight of the rain. His mottled white and yellow chocobo glanced nervously from the corner of its dark eyes at the bandercoeurls lurking amidst the knee-high grass.
The sky was beginning to clear as the road grew muddier, more earth than grass, where it was more frequently trod. A pair of bellwyverns flapped near the cliff's edge. Suphyn didn't want to try to take them on his own. He was glad they did not block his path.
The edge of Balfonheim beckoned, and the lanky youth hopped down from his mount, leading the bird toward the chocobo-renting moogle.
"Finally back in town, huh?" the tiny critter tittered from her perch on the fence.
"Took me longer than I thought. Got hooked into working for the three brothers on a few hunts down on the Phon Coast. ...Can I leave my bird here until I find out where and if I'll be staying?"
"Same rate as usual," the brown-eyed moogle smiled as Suphyn dutifully handed over the previously agreed upon amount of gil.
The sun was shining weakly over Balfonheim as Suphyn thanked the moogle and headed onto the stone streets of the bustling city. His destination was the bar, an easy spot to pick up information about jobs, rumors, and the general goings on among the sky pirates and the empire in general. There seemed to be a bit less noise than usual from the merchants who laid their goals out on boxes and blankets to entice the eyes of passersby, but plenty of buying and selling was still going on.
"Just wait up a second!" a shirtless youth called to several companions who were leaving him behind as they continued to the aerodome. "I want to unload all this loot before we go back to Rabanastre! I'm tired of breaking my back carrying it!"
"Perhaps if you built up a bit more muscle from carrying it, you'd be able to swing an axe better," a suave-looking man suggested.
Suphyn passed them and approached the bar. He swung the door open cheerily, expecting to see plenty of successful pirates spending a little of their well-earned gil here, but instead his grin was greeted with silence and soggy glances.
One red bangaa banged his fist softly on his table and sobbed over his drink. The rest of the patrons looked equally downcast, if not as noisy about it.
"H-hey," Suphyn strode up to the curvaceous woman behind the counter, "What's going on around here? You double the price of booze or something?"
"Word spreads fast, but not that fast, I guess," she shrugged.
"I just got into town. I've been out in wild country for a couple of weeks."
"Well, it's big," the brown-haired woman answered. "Reddas is dead."
Suphyn's mouth fell open. If that were true...Well, no wonder morale was so low! If it were true...who was he kidding? He had no reason to doubt this woman and the sick feeling in the pit of his stomach was backing her up. It had to happen someday. Even Reddas couldn't live forever.
"Watch it, kiddo, are ya trying to catch flies?" the bartender tried weakly to lighten the mood.
The young man closed his mouth. He had no remaining desire for a drink. He turned and left the bar. Would this place last much longer without its charismatic protector and leader? Now the lethargy pervading the docks was no longer curious, but wholly reasonable. It was a mood of mourning.
Suphyn strolled along the streets, dreary even as the sun washed over the stones, toward Reddas' manor. The flags were flying as halfmast to mark the great man's passing. Rikken, Raz, and Elza were sitting outside on a few crates, watching the people go by.
"How'd it happen?" he asked them.
"He went a hero," was Elza's succinct response.
"Struck a blow against an old enemy," Rikken added.
"What a guy," Suphyn sighed. He didn't have any details, but his imagination could fill in a possibility or two for the good and courageous man's defeat. It wouldn't be many months before there'd be a ballade written circulating the truth, or at least the partial truth, of him all around the region.
"I bet there are more than a few women mourning the loss," the youth continued.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Rikken nodded, "The one inside's distraught. But if she knew him as good as she thinks she did, somewhere in her heart she must've known that he would go when this time came."
Curious, Suphyn walked up the steps to the mansion. Reddas' followers didn't stop him. He put his hands on the glass and looked inside, pressing his nose against the windowpane. He didn't see anyone inside, but of course there was plenty he couldn't see from this place.
The door slammed open, causing the young man to jump back from the window. A blond woman, not much older than himself, stood on the first step. She gazed up at the currently clear sky. A slight breeze mover her loose, wavy locks. "The gods don't even have the sympathy to dim the skies a little in respect to him and our great loss."
"Well, if it makes you feel any better," Suphyn piped up, "It's raining out on the steppe. ...But maybe it's sunny not for irony, but as a sort of congratulations to the governor."
Her fierce brown eyes sent a piercing glare through him. Suphyn shuddered. He had always thought Reddas would have loved nicer girls than this.
"Who are you?" she inquired, her voice softer than her gaze.
"Suphyn," he bowed in what he imagined must have been a dashing fashion. "The next governor of Balfonheim!"
She squinted oddly, looking him over. Messy hair, silk sash, generally weatherworn appearance, but a bright, naive face. "Good luck," she said.
He was mostly sure she was being sarcastic, but that wasn't going to get him down. "Thanks," he accepted her statement for what it wasa. He walked back down to the main street, and she followed, a few steps behind.
"Did you ever meet Reddas?" the young woman asked. Her voice had lightened even further. It sounded like air whistling through cracks in a wall.
"Uh, not personally. I mean, I never really got a chance to talk to him. I saw him out in public once or twice," Suphyn muttered, a little embarrassed to admit this to someone who knew Reddas quite well.
"You need a lot of charisma to be a leader," she lectured him, "And some good common sense. Some knowledge of economics wouldn't hurt either, or practical experience. Do you have a ship?"
"No, no, not yet. I served under Cap'n Francesca for a while, but I left her to help my uncle, Don, on what turned out to be a wild goose chase. I haven't been up in the sky as anything but a passenger for a few months past. I'm grounded!" he bemoaned his situation.
"Elza," the girl called, causing the red-clad woman to look up, "I don't need that tiny craft. I never liked being a captain as much as a lowly passenger anyway. I'm going to let this kid have it."
Elza nodded. Suphyn practically jumped. "An airship?! For me?! You must be kidding!"
"Don't get too excited," the surprisingly generous woman cautioned, "It's a bit of a fixer-upper, but for a first time captain, I think it'll do..."
"That's fine! That's great!" Suphyn cheered.
"I'll take you around to the back to see it," she waved for him to followe her. "My name's Lianna and the ship's called..."
Suphyn's mouth fell open, but he quickly closed it again, smiling grandly with his mildly crooked teeth. The airship was tiny, mostly just wings, engine, and cockpit, but it bobbed lightly on the water, silvery glass shining.
"Dragonfly," Lianna finished.
Suphyn rushed up to run his hands along the smooth surface of the craft. He glanced at the young woman over his shoulder, "I don't mean to be ungrateful, but...what about Reddas' big ship?"
Lianna laughed, "It's being handed down to his loyal crew of course."
"That makes sense," he nodded, "And, err, thank you. She looks like a real beauty. I never thought I'd own something like this."
Lianna understood his feelings even if he wasn't doing the most exemplary job of expressing them. Like Reddas' recent passing, it was overwhelming, and hard to speak about because of this. "So..." she spoke up," If you still think you want to be the new Reddas, you better fly off and get some real experience. Come back in ten years, Suphyn."
He grinned roguishly, "Maybe I will. And you can watch me do it. I could use a partner."
"You're not my type," she argued sweetly.
Suphyn slid the door open and hopped into the ship. It didn't look like he'd have room for his chocobo unless he really arranged carefully and didn't carry much loot. "Yeah," he turned around and spoke again to Lianna, "I'm not much like Reddas. I'm young; I'm inexperienced. I'm pretty weak and scrawny. But you seem like you know more about being a sky pirate than you're letting on. I bet you'd be a great partner."
"You are honest," she admitted, "And you could use the help..."
"All aboard that's goin' aboard!" Suphyn yelled enthusiastically, slipping into the pilot's seat. He flipped the first switch to start up the engine.
Lianna sighed and shrugged to herself. She jumped in and pulled the door clsoed. She smoothed her skirt over her knees as she sat down beside Suphyn, who flipped a few more switches and steered the ship off the water joltingly fast. Well, amateurs had to begin somewhere.
"Glad to have you aboard!" Suphyn thanked Lianna.
"Likewise. ...As long as you know how to land, that is."