"This is the Strahl."

Balthier puffed his chest out and rested his hands on his hips in fake nonchalance as he stared at his baby, pride and amusement playing just beneath his smoothly controlled features.

"She airship enough for you?"

The boy knocked against him in his excitement to get to the ship. He stopped short in amazement, wanting to reach out and touch it but not quite sure of Balthier's reaction if he were to do that.

"The Strahl. You really are a Sky Pirate," Vaan breathed as though he had just now believed it.

"Well the headhunters seem to think so," he responded rather drolly.

"What's the good word, is she ready?" Nono hopped down from the steps into the ship, wrench aloft in a symbol of triumph. Balthier raised his hand in greeting and thanks as they passed. He rather enjoyed the little creatures, despite the prejudice against their extorting ways.

"So, is she armed? How fast is she? Could she take the Ifrit?"

Balthier listened to the prattle of questions with a mixture of amusement and mild annoyance. "I suppose I could tell you, but…" he paused to wave the boy aboard. "Wouldn't you rather see for yourself?"

Fran took her seat next to him, polished and professional, pressing the controls before she had fully sat down. The Captain joined them, taking position just behind Balthier's seat, peering out the huge bay windows.

"How flies Bhujerba?"

"Oh, she's as free as she can be, for now," Balthier mused. "The Empire took notice when they announced the Princess' suicide and your untimely execution.

He continued booting up the ship while watching the scene next to him. Vaan had abruptly leaned over Fran, curiously examining the controls, and Fran, (startled wasn't the right word, Fran was never startled) whipped around and with one glance made the boy back off. She was none too keen on anyone near her really. The boy stepped back, hand dropping away from the control he was about to touch, and moved over to stand behind Balthier instead.

"If it becomes know that I am alive, the Marquis will lose their favor." the Captain adeptly switched his focus back to the conversation at hand.

"I try to steer clear of such things," he replied with a hint of sarcasm. The lights on the control sprang to life, bathing his face in soft orange. "Right, it's time to fly. And no wagging tongues or you're like to bite them off," he added, hoping the boy would let them have a peaceful flight before their meeting with the ruthless head hunters. Never mind Ba'Gamnan.


Balthier was less than amused. His desire to go traipsing through the magicite meadows that were Lhusu was somewhere just above his desire to have each of his legs tied to a separate chocobo and be pulled up and down the streets of Bhujerba in his nightclothes on the way to let the Imperial Guard pull out each of his fingernails and feed them to him. Or shortly, he didn't really desire it at all. He was also not a huge fan of the young lordling that had decided to accompany their little party; Balthier had recognized the Solidor house symbol holding the boys cape together, the polished accent of the Arcadian gentry. Why the youngest son of the Emperor would want to come exploring the depths of a dirty mine escaped him, but it could be nothing good. What was more, they had traipsed all up and down the labyrinthine hells of this place with nary a sign of the girl-or Ba'Gamnan, now that he thought of it, and he couldn't decide just where to go with this particular revelation. It was certainly no great loss of company, but at the same time Balthier was eager to find the girl, take the little street urchins back to Rabanastre, and take Fran and the Strahl back to the skies where they belonged. He was thoroughly tired of being underground where he could not even see the smallest wisp of cloud.

He watched the young 'Lamont' gazing at the glittering magicite in the walls of the mine with more fascination than he liked to see. The same look had graced Cid's face, and it was a look Balthier knew boded no good.

"Errand all attended to then?"

The boy did not turn from the magicite as he responded. "Thank you. I'll repay you shortly.

"No, you'll repay us now," he strode towards the boy as he spoke. "We have too much on our hands to go on holding yours."

The boy turned, concern etched across his young features.

"So where did you hear this fairytale about nethicite?" Balthier was towering over the boy now, mere inches from him. "And where did you get that sample you carry? What do you know about the Draklor Laboratories?"

The boy tried to turn away, but Balthier put up an imposing arm to stop him, leaning against the rock over the boy. "Tell me: who are you?"

"Balthier!" Vaan came up, clearly agitated at Balthier's behavior. He could feel the Captain's confused silence, Fran's concerned and reproachful stare, but he had no time to address either.

"You kept us waiting Balthier." Well, now he had the answer to his revelation. It was bad.

"You slipped away in Nalbina, we missed you!"

Ba'Gamnan and two of his cronies, Balthier had never had the time or care to learn their names. What with them looking to kill him everything he turned around he didn't think formalities realy mattered.

"First a Judge and now this boy, the whole affair has the smell of money about it."

Balthier was impressed with his wit at the moment, and his ability to keep calm when he was quaking. "Keep your snout in the trough where it belongs. This thinking ill befits you Ba'Gamnan."

Vaan surged forward, demanding his girl; Balthier was not a little impressed at the boy's gumption, particularly in the face of the bounty hunters' odd murderous tools.

"This girl; we cut her loose when we got here and off she ran, crying like a babe."

'Well,' Balthier thought, 'at least one thing is going right today.'

'Lamont's' magicite sample wizzed past his head, distracting the muddle headed Banga long enough for the party to run past. Balthier was torn between chasing 'Lamont', who was surprisingly fast, and escaping the Banga, who were not so much. They had almost reached the entrance of the mines where they halted for breath, all of them hot and panting, aside from Fran, who shook out her hair and announced that they had lost the Banga.

'But we lost the boy too,' Balthier thought ruefully as they headed back down the winding cart tracks.


He was not entirely sure how the events of the day had gotten them to where they were now. Just before noon he and Fran had been lounging in the Sandsea, planning where they would go next (it was going to take awhile, as Fran kept shooting down all of his ideas, mostly because there was a 102% chance they would result in death) and now he was being arrested and detained by the Marquis of Bhujerba for he knew not entirely what, and tomorrow would be lead away to a prison ship to face the Judges. Not exactly his best day. Not his worst, by any means, but not so much the best either. Fran was most thoroughly put out with him, though only he could really tell the subtle changes on her impassive and beautiful face. He smiled and moved to sit next to her, pushing his shoulder against her so she might rest her head. She leaned against him, long ears tickling the back of his neck, allowing herself one moment of unguardedness while the others slept on the hard bunks around them, guards standing just outside the door.

"We seem to keep making our way into dungeons, Sky Pirate."

"In defense, dearest, this dungeon is in the sky. So it is not a true dungeon, and we are in the sky."

Fran did not reply, only the subtle twitching of one of her ears cluing him that she was amused. Balthier smirked; they would get out of this, he and his leading lady, and go back to the skies free to write the rest of their story. They did need to be more careful, though; he wasn't sure how many more times they would be able to wriggle away from death.

Fran's ears drooped, her breath coming in softer, slower motions against his arm, signaling she was asleep. He smiled slowly, content for the moment, banishing the worry in favor of enjoying what could be the last peaceful moment for a long while.