AN- Just churned this out in about 40 minutes this evening. The next chapter shall be the hunt methinks. Let me know what you think. I'm still trying to find voices for most of these characters so any help is much appreciated. Enjoy.


"Perhaps if we follow this ridge…" Basch suggested cautiously, "We shall have a vantage point from which to spot the beast. There are several places to climb down to the plains where we can intercept it once the whereabouts is known." He indicated the ridge in question by drawing a finger along a line on the map which Balthier had earlier drawn on in red ink, the map itself being lacking in any description of the gradient of the terrain.

"Aye, t'would seem the best plan." Balthier concurred in a half-bored drawl, noticed that the young Larsa was trying his best to stay alert and interested beside him, but his eyes were drooping wearily, and he was slumped against his seat, hands clasped loosely in his lap. Sighing softly, the pirate reached for a pencil and traced the line Basch's finger had followed, marking their route. "I suspect if we begin at mid-morning it will be found somewhere in the vicinity of this pond." He announced, drawing attention to the vague blue smudge he had also added to the map earlier. The cartographer's guild were becoming particularly slack lately, and those unfortunate enough to take their maps at face value often didn't return from places like the Tchita Uplands to be able to complain that their map led them into a ravine or cave filled with vicious fiends.

"I don't see why we're hunting game, mark or not." Ashe cut in, her tone reminding Balthier of a stern school teacher. "We have more pressing issues to attend to. Why waste our time on hunts?" Basch had the decency, or perhaps politeness, to look abashed, colour rising in his cheeks as he looked away from the princess' scowl. Balthier on the other hand rolled his eyes with a sigh and looked pleadingly to Fran, silently asking her if they could run away from this mess. She responded with a twitch of her ears which told him no, they could not, so he instead directed his gaze pointedly towards the princess.

"Because, your Majesty, in case you had not noticed, we are the most ill equipped army ever formed. Whilst Fran and I have at least been consistently using our weapons for the last 6 years, you have never wielded your sword in anything but a play fight, Vaan and Penelo have not fought anything more pressing than a dire rat, and the dear Captain has spent the last two years withering in a cell. And as our noble back up we have a twelve year old boy so naïve he would fall asleep upon the shoulder of a known sky pirate!" He glared downwards to where Larsa had inadvertently nodded off and curled into Balthier's side.

"Yet you have not moved him." Basch interrupted, indicating that Balthier need only shrug the boy away.

"There is yet tenderness in him, Basch." Fran mused from the corner. "He has youth in him too. He remembers what it is like to be a boy amongst men." She flicked an ear in amusement which earned her a chuckle from Basch and a scowl from Balthier.

"Would that I could remember such days!" Basch yawned, stretching.

"That, old man, is beside the point." Balthier grinned, feral. "Do you not agree that we all need to train more before facing any real enemy."

"Aye, sorry though I am to disappoint you, Majesty, Master Balthier is right. The children at the least have a way to go before they are ready. And the spoils of the hunt will add much needed funds to the party."

"Hey!" Vaan whined from where he and Penelo had been playing cards separately. "We're not children!"

"Shut up Vaan." Penelo swiped him. "Hey Balthier, did I see on the poster that the reward for this hunt includes a powerful dagger?"

"Indeed you did." Balthier replied stiffly as Larsa snuggled into him, oblivious. "It has enchantments which sap the enemy of strength beyond the blow itself."

"Wow! That'd be really useful." Penelo mused, wide eyed. "Vaan!" she chastised, catching him eyeing her hand. "Stop cheating."

"Well there you have it." Balthier turned to Ashe again. "Can you deny Penelo her desire of a new dagger? Or that we need money to buy more supplies? Tis but a day, Princess. Vayne can do little in a day."

"Very well." Ashe conceded, a stiff grimace on her face. "But I will not lose sight of my goal! I shall retire now." With that she swept from the room, the door knocking loudly behind her, causing Larsa to snap awake and jump up.

"Oh! Forgive me Balthier, I did not mean to presume upon you so." He mumbled, embarrassed at his own awkwardness.

"Forget it." Balthier waved a hand in dismissal. "I think perhaps you ought go to bed…"

"Yes, to bed." Larsa nodded sagely before standing. "I bid you all a good night." He bowed slightly before fleeing the room.

"A strange child, that." Fran smiled from her dark corner.

"You might have said the same of me if you had known me at that age." Balthier mused.

"I say it of you often enough now!" Fran retorted with a twitch of her nose, and her ear to match, a sign of rare indulgence in playfulness. "Penelo, please take Vaan with you and go to sleep." She ordered in a motherly tone, and Penelo did her best to stifle Vaan's vague whining as she dragged him to the room they would share.

"Peace at last!" Balthier groaned, flinging a forearm across his eyes and leaning back on his chair. Basch beside him chuckled wryly.

"Get much older before your time and you shall become like me." He warned.

"I think not, Basch, for you see, you possess a quality which I do not."

"Oh? And what might that be?" Basch grinned. "Loyalty? Fealty? Dullness? Pigheadedness? That which defines a country bumpkin?" He teased, leaning close to peel Balthier's arm from his eyes.

"Nay…" Balthier deadpanned. "A beard." The three burst into raucous giggling, which they were obliged to stifle for fear of Ashelia's wrath in the morning.