Disclaimer: I do not own anything in Final Fantasy.
A soft groan escaped the girl's lips when she saw what was around her. Perhaps the dream made her forgetful, or perhaps a bit disoriented. But until now, she didn't know the situation she was in. And to be fair, she didn't even have a clue in the first place.
She was inside of what appeared to be a wagon, lying down on her side. There were some bags inside as well, which she was guessing was to make her harder to notice from anyone who passed them by. She could hear the talking around her, and recognized them as the whispers from her dream.
"And this is supposed to be discreet?" one of the voices asked, sounding uncertain. "I think it would have been better if we were in our airship."
"Yeah, and that's probably what others would expect us to do," another voice replied. "I do prefer our airship as well, but if we don't want to draw a lot of attention, this is the only other option."
"Well, there is the sea," a third voice piped up. "But then again, we don't do well on ships like that."
The talking died down and the girl allowed herself a quiet sigh. She did her best to shift her position, but that was difficult. Her hands were behind her back, crossed at the wrists, and tied together with a strong piece of rope. She had to bite back a gasp of pain, as she could feel the cords trying to bite into her wrists. She couldn't move her arms either, as another coil of rope was tied around her chest. Her ankles were tied up as well.
The brunette slowly closed her brown eyes, trying to remember what happened before waking up here. She hated to admit it, but she couldn't remember much. When she woke up before, she was in some sort of castle. No one would tell her what was going on, claiming that she should already know, and no one believed her when she claimed she didn't remember anything. At least, no one stepped forward to say so.
Apparently something went without a hitch, which she assumed was her capture. But they decided they couldn't just keep her there, and by order of their king, she was to be moved to a different location. Before she could even ask where, someone who was referred to as a Black Mage was summoned. She couldn't see his face because of the big hat he wore, and the blue cloak probably helped masked his features.
"That's right," the girl whispered softly. "That person cast a spell on me. I wonder if I was supposed to be asleep the whole time?"
The fear that she felt when she was in the castle returned to her. Many questions swirled in her mind, and yet she didn't have answers to any one of them. She had no idea why she was captured in the first place, and she didn't know what they were planning to do to her. And it was the unknown that was the scary thing.
She coached herself under her breath that she had to relax, but it was clear she was having difficulty in that. Even if she knew the truth, she would still be scared, and she realized this. She wasn't even sure if she was supposed to be awake yet.
The only thing she could think of to do was to just keep silent and just act like she was still under the Sleep spell. Maybe she might hear something else if she did so, and get some clues to her predicament.
They were walking through a forest, the sun barely able to shine through the branches, casting shadows that protected the guards from the sun's rays. After a few minutes, the soldier at the front of the wagon slowed his horse a bit, stopping in what appeared to be in the middle of a clearing. This strange mission, stranger than all the recent odd behavior of the king thus far, had been a strain on their nerves all day. The soldiers all sighed with relief and came to a stop as well, hoping for a long rest while exchanging uncertain looks.
Not everyone seemed so uncertain and after awhile they started to avoid each other's eyes, not wanting to appear disloyal by just looking.
"How much further until we reach the pick up point?" one of the men suddenly asked with a nervous expression on his face.
"It's still a little ways from here," another soldier answered, stepping up next to him. "Don't look so nervous. Anyone who sees us will think you are very suspicious, which we are trying to avoid."
"I know that, but I just don't like this," his fellow complained. "I mean, is this really right? With all that has happened lately, I am starting to wonder…"
No one could respond to what he was saying, and just let him trail off. They stared at one another for a moment before slowly shaking their heads. At this point, they were all too deep into this. It wasn't like they could back out of it now.
After a moment of silence, one of the soldiers volunteered to stand guard by the wagon. No one argued and instead drifted to other parts of the clearing. Some of the soldiers decided to try to take their minds off of what they were doing by talking about other things going on in their lives. Meanwhile, the soldier at the wagon just stood by, looking in to check the contents lazily before going back to keeping an eye out.
About a few minutes later, the sound of armored boots could be heard coming closer. All at once, everyone stood on edge. Despite the earlier comments, it was clear that just about everyone was nervous about this.
As the figure stepped closer, they saw a young man, covered from head to toe in black armor. His visor was down currently, and was hiding his eyes a bit. But as soon as they saw him, everyone relaxed slightly, and the watcher at the wagon once again took a lazier attitude.
"Is that you, Captain Cecil?" one of the soldiers inquired. "Where have you been?"
The man known as Cecil allowed himself a tiny smile at what he heard, but quickly shook his head. "As of now, I am not your captain. I'm sure you are aware of this."
"Yes, that's true, but you will always be captain in our eyes!" another soldier remarked.
"I see." Cecil slowly lowered his head for a moment, before addressing the soldiers. "To answer your other question, I was down in the village of Mist."
No one dared question why he had been there and instead looked at their former captain with sympathy. They had all heard about Mist. Talk had eventually spread over why Cecil, along with the commander of the Dragoons Kain, had to go there. To say the least, they were glad they didn't have to take the job, but they were all certain it was haunting the dark knight.
One of the men suddenly looked curious and asked, "What took you so long to return, sir?"
Cecil looked to the wagon and noticed that the one standing guard appeared to be asleep. He shook his head and turned his gaze back to the others. "I'm sure you heard about the earthquake that happened there. Well, there was a landslide and that slowed me down."
For some reason everyone was paying so much attention to Cecil that no one noticed a girl sneaking around near the wagon. After making sure no one was watching, she crawled inside. A relieved smile appeared on her lips when she saw a short, brown haired girl.
"Just like he said," she murmured as she approached the girl whom she assumed was still sleeping. Thinking that perhaps she might have been drugged, she started to reach into one of her pockets for something that would do the trick.
No sooner than she made the move did she see the girl's eyes open, revealing their brown color. "W… who are you?" the girl asked in a hushed voice.
"I'm Serah," the pink haired girl answered in the same quiet tone. "Don't worry, I'm here to rescue you."
Serah leaned forward and carefully started to work on the knots of the ropes. Neither girl said anything so they wouldn't alert anyone. The brunette did her best to fight back another wince. Noticing her slight movement, Serah silently apologized.
Meanwhile, Cecil and the soldiers were talking about things that had happened since he had left. The pink haired girl smiled, thinking he was doing a good job. But, she knew it was just a matter of time before they were found out.
Serah finally got all the knots undone and looked toward the other girl. She watched as she slowly sat up, stretched her arms a little bit, and then gently rubbed her wrists. Even though what happened next more than likely took a few seconds, it felt longer than that. They were looking at each other, and she seemed to just stare at first. Maybe it had to do with her clothing? Her white and pink outfit wasn't something you would see everyday.
Upon realizing what she was doing, the brunette shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude…" she started to say.
Serah put a finger to her lips to hush the girl. "We have no time. Can you walk?" The brown haired girl nodded wordlessly, causing the other to smile. "Good. Come on, we need to get out of here."
The brunette nodded her head in agreement and quietly followed after the other girl. They got out of the wagon without being noticed, and were carefully making their way back the way Serah herself had come. Things seemed to be going smoothly. Perhaps a little too smoothly.
One of the soldiers happened to look their way. "Hey! The girl is getting away!" he shouted, alerting everyone to what was going on.
Serah quickly reached out, grabbed the girl's wrist, and started to run as quickly as she could. The brunette stumbled a little, as she wasn't prepared for such a move. She gasped in alarm when she heard someone order the guards to go after her.
"What are we going to do?" the brown haired girl asked, doing her best to keep up with the other girl.
"Over here, kupo!"
Serah nodded and quickly turned toward the speaker, taking the other girl with her, and causing her to stumble again. With a final burst of speed, the girls went into the nearby bushes and quickly ducked down. The brunette gasped a little to get in some air, but when she saw the look in Serah's blue eyes, she stopped and her breath caught in her throat.
Not long later, the sounds of many footsteps ran passed their hiding place. One of the soldiers stopped for a moment, looking into the bushes. He smiled a little, then quickly headed off after his fellows.
"What was that about?" the brunette wondered. "Did he know we were here? If so, why did he just let us go?"
Not knowing what to say to what just happened, the two girls sat there in silence. Relief flooded into the brunette's eyes and for the first time in what felt like a while, she allowed herself to smile. She was finally free!
After a few minutes, another set of footsteps could be heard, but only one. They came to a stop and there was silence for a couple more minutes, as though the one who was there was checking something really quickly. "It's safe to come out now, Serah, Chrysta. You too, Mog."
The brunette looked confused but followed Serah from out of the bushes. Cecil stood before the girls and pulled up his visor, allowing them to see his blue eyes. It was safe to say that the girl was puzzled about a couple things. The first was obviously the dark knight himself. But there was also the fact that he called her Chrysta. At least, she was sure that was the name he used for her. She was pretty sure it wasn't Mog.
"Is she okay, kupo?" asked a nearby, cute sounding voice. The brunette turned toward the source of the voice and saw a white furred creature flying in the sky. He had purple bat like wings, a pink diamond shaped pom pom on the top of his head, and a round, pink nose. The girl couldn't help thinking how cute he looked.
"Yeah, I'm okay," she answered, allowing her voice to rise higher than it had been up until then. She turned her attention to Cecil and tilted her head. "You called me Chrysta, right?"
"Of course," the knight replied with a nod of his head. "You told me yourself."
"I did?" Chrysta questioned, even more puzzled than she was before. "Do I… know you?"
Cecil, Serah and Mog exchanged glances before looking back at her. "Yes, you should know, kupo," the moogle said nodding his head. "If it wasn't for him, you would still be a prisoner, kupo."
Cecil looked away, as though he suddenly wasn't able to look into the brunette's eyes. "Of course, if it wasn't for me, she wouldn't have been captured in the first place."
Chrysta blinked her brown eyes and eyed each of her rescuers. She was sure that they had come to save her, considering what Mog had said. But was it possible that they knew something about her past? She wanted to ask, but for whatever the reason, she couldn't get her voice to work.
"Anyway, we should probably get going," Serah quickly suggested. "We don't want them catching up to us once they realize they passed us."
"Yeah, you're probably right," Cecil agreed, nodding his head.
"Where are we going?" Chrysta asked, stepping toward the group. Even though she didn't know who they were, they did rescue her. That and she felt much safer with them.
"It's probably best if we didn't say," the knight answered slowly. "We don't want anyone to know where we are going."
The walk had been uneventful and despite how Chrysta felt she was unable to ask her questions. A few hours later, the sun dipped over the horizon, making it difficult to see in the woods. Figuring that it would be better to rest, they pitched a tent. After having a meal, which the brunette greatly appreciated, the girls decided to sleep. Cecil didn't seem to mind saying someone had to keep watch.
Despite it all, Chrysta couldn't sleep. Perhaps it was due to the spell she had been under before, but she knew that wasn't the full reason. The questions still swirled in her mind, and she still didn't have her answers.
Now there were even more questions than there were before. What was Cecil talking about before? Where are these people taking her? And that soldier whom stopped for a moment and passed them by. Did he know they were there and just didn't say anything?
However, there was one thing everyone knew at this point. She had amnesia, and unlike the Baron soldiers, they believed her. Cecil didn't seem to know what to make of the information, but she could remember the confidence in Serah's voice when she said that her memories were bound to come back.
With all those thoughts in her mind, Chrysta stood up with her blanket and wrapped it around her. She stepped outside to see Cecil sitting by the campfire. "Cecil?"
"Chrysta?" The dark knight stood up and looked over his shoulder. "Can't you sleep?"
The girl slowly shook her head silently.
"I see," Cecil murmured. The young man looked up to the sky, although it was difficult to see anything through the branches. They even blocked their view of the moon.
"Cecil, I want to ask you some things," Chrysta said slowly as she approached the campfire. "I mean, about before. What you said…"
Cecil shook his head again and turned it hoping to avoid the girl's gaze. "With what I've done, if I were to tell you what happened, I wouldn't expect forgiveness."
"But, you rescued me," the girl protested.
Cecil stood there for a moment, wondering if he should tell the girl what happened. In a way, he was glad she couldn't remember it. But was it really for the best he didn't tell her?
"Cecil, won't you tell me what happened?" Chrysta asked, giving him a pleading look even though she was sure he couldn't see it.
Cecil nodded a little bit and turned to face her. "Yes, I think you deserve to know that much."
Author's Note: I know when one thinks of the Red Wings, they think of the airships, but I did have a reason for doing it this way. And as for the horses, I wasn't thinking of chocobos when it came to wagon.