Disclaimer: None of the characters of Final Fantasy 12 belong to me. All copyright Square Enix and whoever made the games (My memory sucks, sorry.)
Sigill, however, belongs to me! Yay! Enjoy the second chapter of Saendal.


The captain of the ship stood up together with Fran after securing the ships course and turned, with a small glimmer of fury in his eyes. Trying to maintain his calm, he traversed across the room only to stop before Vaan and Penelo that had, just moments earlier, whisked away Sigill from her everyday life in her father's smithy to a world where she apparently could be considered a hostage.

"What on earth were you impudent kids thinking? You ought to have been more aware of your surroundings!" The younger ones could hear the anger in his voice, even if he managed to keep his composure.

"Sorry Balthier…" Vaan rubbed the back of his head. "We ran into some trouble while re-equipping."

"I'm afraid 'Sorry' isn't going to cut it." The older man came up behind them and pinched their ears.

"I know, I know! Let go!" Vaan cried, flailing his arms around him.

"Moving on - did you get the requested items?" Balthier let out a sigh, once again running his fingers through his dusty blonde hair.

Vaan and Penelo turned pale as their little 'heist' came to mind.

"About that…" Vaan chuckled nervously while slowly backing away from him.

"Go on." The older man said, grabbing Vaan's shoulders.

"We didn't have the time to buy any supplies; an Imperial walked in on us! So we took the blacksmith hostage and… Ouch!" Vaan was cut off by a swift strike to the top of his head.

Balthier massaged his own hand with which he had struck Vaan.

"You can't just take hostages. Dear God, Vaan – you do know this means we won't be able to even show our faces back in Rabanastre for a while?" Balthier motioned to Fran to land the ship. "What of the blacksmith?" He continued.

"We might have accidentally brought the blacksmith with us…" Vaan glanced over the cargo hold, noticing the unusually big pile of boxes and canvas he previously secured personally.

"You did what?! Where is the old man?!" Balthier growled, slightly cross at the mess their escape had made, both in the city of Rabanastre, and in their cargo hold. "We have to find him. I don't want any guests on my Strahl."

With those words, Balthier ordered the crew to look around for the unwelcome guest. Vaan and Penelo continued being scolded by Basch before heading out to search for Sigill as well.

"Damn kids…" Balthier muttered as he headed for the cargo hold where boxes and other things had been piled up. He couldn't stand seeing his beloved Strahl having debris scattered within her.

As he moved boxes and old weapons as well as ammo and spare parts, he uncovered a hand. It was rough, but small. Seemed more like a woman's hand.

"What on earth-" He cocked an eyebrow, wondering who else was on the ship. Was this a thief?

Balthier hastily threw all the boxes aside and found a redheaded girl lying beneath them. She had been knocked unconscious and grazed her forehead at some point. He calmed down a little, although still being wary of the situation. He picked her up in his arms and carried her to his own room on the Strahl.

He thought nothing more of it, and returned to the cockpit where the rest of the crew stood.

"Ashe, would you kindly go to my room and tend to our guest's wounds?" She nodded without questioning him.

"You found the blacksmith?" Vaan asked eagerly.

"I'm afraid not. On the other hand, what I did find was a girl. Red hair down to her waist. I wonder how she could've gotten aboard…" Balthier sighed. "By the sound of it, you could not find him either?"

"Why do you keep asking for a 'him'? The blacksmith we dragged here was a female… Kind of like the one you just described." Penelo mentioned.

"You two – my room, now." Balthier made haste back to his own room.

There she lay, carefully being tended to by Ashe.

"The wound is nothing serious. The bleeding had already stopped when I got here - I merely cleaned her up. I was just on my way back to the cockpit – do you want me to inform Basch and Fran?" Ashe rose in a graceful manner and swept by the three of them and stopped by the door, waiting for Balthier's response.

"Thank you, Ashe. I need you no further for now. Let Fran know the status of the situation, if you please." Balthier turned to Penelo and Vaan with a serious expression on his face. "Is this the blacksmith you were talking about? Or is she too, a common thief?"

Vaan glanced at Sigill, still lying unconscious on the bed, and nodded.

"Yeah, it's her."

"Good. That's all I need from the two of you. Now that 'tis confirmed, we can all breathe out before deciding on what to do with her. We can't have her stay." Balthier felt like he could finally relax.

A few hours had passed since they had landed in Giza Plains. Fran had activated the invisibility cloak for the Strahl and Ashe had been out with Basch on watch. They could never be too careful; even if they were invisible and all that, they were still close enough to Rabanastre; Imperials could show up at any minute.
Balthier was cleaning his trusted gun while Vaan and Penelo were outside, hunting down some wolves and Giza rabbits. Fran sat patiently beside him while he repeatedly assembled and disassembled the gun. It didn't take many minutes before Fran finally questioned his troubled expression.

"Do you wish to talk?" The Viera rested her head in her palms, calmly gazing at her partner.

"Fran, dear – you really know when something's up. Well, I am pondering on what we should do with the girl. She must be around Vaan and Penelo's age, but she's a blacksmith – or so they say at least. She is probably very inexperienced and has most likely never been outside of Rabanastre, nor fought a monster before – she'll only slow us down." Balthier rubbed his temples, taking a break from cleaning the gun and continued. "Although we can't just leave her here, she won't be able to get back alive – nor can we escort her back, you know so too."

Fran tilted her head.

"Balthier, this seems to be one of those rare occasions where you show care for another hume. Though I am afraid I cannot answer your questions; I am not in the right place to make such a big decision. You will have to speak with the other humes if you wish to know what to do in this situation."

"Oh Fran, you amuse me. I simply wish for our journey to proceed without any disturbances." Balthier replied, cocking one of those famous grins of his.

"If that's what you believe. I will go out and take the second watch; it's late, you should go to sleep. I propose you move the girl to the cargo hold or stockroom overall, leave blankets with her and get into your own bed." Fran stood up and walked over to the open board walk. "Good night, Balthier."

"Good night, Fran." The man replied.

On his way back to his room Balthier took off his vest. The plated parts of it had been scraped and Balthier could not stand being seen in such a manner. He inspected it carefully before letting out a big sigh.
Upon opening the door, he saw Sigill standing before him in the dim lit room, looking rather confused. She looked like she was drunk out of her mind.

"Oh, awake, are we? I hope you slept well, although I cannot guarantee your temporary bedroom will be as comfortable as my bed."

"Where am I? Who are you?" Sigill rubbed her forehead, taking a good look at the handsome man standing before her. It had been a good 'sleep', but right now she just had a terrible headache.

"Not even a care? You covered my bed in filth. Well well, I guess you are a little bit dizzy. And since you seem to know next to nothing, I shall explain your situation - You are aboard the Strahl; my beloved aircraft. You also happen to look at the leading man himself; captain of said ship. Now you tell me your name, young one. 'Tis rather rude to ask ones name before giving your own." Balthier lay the vest on the bed, carefully analyzing her every move.

"So her name's Strahl? It's a beautiful name – fitting for such a marvelous ship." Sigill felt rather uncomfortable with the man staring at her like that. "And the name's Sigill – I'm one of Amal's daughters. He's the blacksmith in Rabanastre." She looked at the vest he had lain down. "Is it damaged? I can fix it if you want me to."

"Amal, you say? I thought it was weird. Well, I suppose I should welcome you, Sigill. My name is Balthier – a sky pirate." He paused, lifting one of his eyebrows and smirking at her. "If you dare to touch my vest without making it worse, I might consider letting you try to patch it up. It better look better than before, though." He threatened, still with that glimpse in his eye and that cocky grin of his.

"I believe I was kidnapped. I am afraid I must retract my offer and make my leave. I do not wish to be part of any 'pirating' of any sort. I was raised better than that." Sigill began to remember what had happened earlier before she had passed out. "I can't believe how you can take advantage of a young woman. Pirates really are the worst."

"I too, must apologize; you will be stuck here for at least a couple of days more until we decide what to do with you. We can't just let a hostage run off like that." Balthier's smirk was filled with intrigue over the girl. "You will have no other choice, although I can promise you Vaan and Penelo will get their fair share of scolding first thing tomorrow morning for doing such a thing. Now, let me lead you to your room and we will surely see one another in the morning. I will have Vaan introduce you to everyone then."

Sigill was rather ticked off at his statement. She couldn't believe her ears when he told her she would be stuck with some sky pirates. Surely, so far it hadn't been that bad but she certainly didn't intend to stay. Taking a deep breath, she calmed down in fear of making the captain angry. She knew she had to play her cards right and this surely wasn't the way to win. Putting on a poker-face, she smiled at him and spoke a few last words before leaving the room.

"Can't do anything yourself? Too posh, are we? You're ridiculous, Balthier. And by the way, I'm leaving first thing in the morning. You won't even remember I was here." She couldn't keep her faked smile up, and even the dumbest of people could take the hint as soon as she had opened her mouth and the words came pouring out. Her voice quickly went from faked kindness and carefree-ness to a darker, more serious tone.

"I think not." Balthier unbuttoned his white frilly shirt as he moved over to her, getting closer every second. "And watch your tongue, young lady. You're not leaving without my permission. Maybe you'd be useful to us; a blacksmith could always come in handy – don't you think? Besides, the rest of the crew gets a say in this as well." His eyes told her he was being serious. Balthier had her in his grasp by merely using his way with words.

The sight alone of him frightened her. He was intimidating; something about his voice and calm yet on-guard posture seemed dangerous, kind of off. Sigill could barely hold back her anger at all any longer; all she wanted to do was to take that vest of his and throw it in his face, yell at him for his cocky attitude which had ticked her off.

The boy and girl named Vaan and Penelo were the ones who had whisked her away from her safe home, one she'd never even thought of leaving – but right now it Balthier had taken her hostage as well, in his own way. It was something she couldn't describe.


Second chapter done! So, what do you think? Rate and review for more chapters! :'