2. Different Worlds
The plains are quiet today. You can hear the pounding of the slavens as they criss-cross the desert. I've never seen one up-close until today. When Dad used to bring me here before, he was always careful to avoid the slavens and the sleipnir groves. I remember him telling me, "Penelo, the slavens are from a different world, never forget that. We allow them to live here, and they do not bother us." While I've seen some merchants in the city selling the slaven hide, it usually does not go for much money. People around here seem to feel at ease with the giants.
Up close, they are intimidating. They look like walking pillars or some ancient ruin come to life. But their eyes - so deep. Still, I would not want to get on their bad side, and I did stay far enough away… this time. I've heard that the slavens and the wolves have a kind of agreement, but then the gossips of a hunter are often some of the worst kind.
I rushed out here as soon as I heard from Migelo. Vaan's such a foolish, little kid. He needs to grow up and take some mature responsibility. I'm sure Migelo would be open if he actually ever offered to watch the shop or take more interest acting like an adult, instead of running off on and doing whatever he pleases whenever he wants. He doesn't realize the sacrifice we made for him; he never really did. At least Reks had the maturity to join the order and make something of himself. Vaan's just a stupid street kid who continues to harbor hate in his heart.
The people in the village are nice. They raise cockatrices here. I've often seen wild cockatrices being used in fights in Lowtown, but actually seeing the birds here following orders and fluffing their feathers and eating dead things is a bit of a relief. After all the stories, it's nice to see people taking care of them like living things instead of hunting them to extinction.
The sunstones are glowing in the distance. For thousands of years we have used the sunstones, unaware of their power. I hope to one day study them in some depth and really understand them, because it seems my people have become so accustomed to them as a source of power, we rarely resort to anything else now. While the Gizan people who have devoted their lives to the study of these things are very open when it comes to visits from the city every now and then, there's no doubt it handicaps us. But how else could we exist in the middle of a desert, without them?
Where is Vaan? He must have gotten carried away with something else. It feels like I've been waiting forever for him. There's a moogle who's tried to set up shop here at the village, but it looks like business has been really poor for him in that last few days. He came over to talk to me. Moogles really freak me out though. Their slanted little beady eyes and those huge ears - almost like they were a more evolved rabbit. But where do they come from and how could a rabbit learn to speak? Their language is so strange, and they speak our language even stranger. I kind of hope the village gets some customers, because the moogle merchant keeps making eyes at me and "smiling" at me, if you could call it that. Different world, totally. Maybe I should go talk to one of the slavens and ask him if he'd set up shop at the village too.
-Penelo