Okay, just as a warning, there are certain (and probably a few too frequent) situations where Rayne's mage skills seem… more than they should be. But, I swear, there is a reason for this! Please, just trust me.
Final Fantasy X and PlayStation are owned by Square Enix and Sony, respectively, meaning they do not belong to me. I am in no way, shape, and/or form claiming to be the owner/creator of these concepts, though I do claim any characters not apart of the original Final Fantasy X storyline (such as Rayne and Marcus) mine. As such, I would appreciate fellow authors and readers to give credit where credit is due and not steal any of my characters and/or concepts. Thank you, and have a pleasant day.
(A True Guardian)
When she had stormed out of the inn, Rayne took a right turn and walked for a bit before heading toward a thatched hut that had a 'Shop' sign hanging from the arch of the entrance. She marched up to the counter and dropped her coin bag on the counter, startling the old woman behind the register.
"Sorry, but could you count how much is there? I'm too angry to see straight right now, much less count."
The elder woman nodded and opened the green bag, pouring its contents onto the counter, "Boy problems, I take it?"
Rayne sighed loudly and shook her head, "Is it that obvious?"
The woman chuckled as she pushed the coins around, "Yes, well, I saw you come of the S.S. Winno, unconscious, in that young mans arms yesterday, so I figured as much."
Rayne looked at the woman in confusion, "Which one?"
"Oh," The woman remarked casually, "The one in the red coat."
"Ugh, him?!"
"Hehe, yes. He did seem like a tough nut, that one."
"How could you tell?" Rayne asked dryly, though she could already guess.
"His face." Score one for Rayne. "When he wasn't looking at you, he had such a stern expression. It almost made him look older than me."
They both laughed at this, but something the woman had said caught Rayne's attention.
"Wait, when he wasn't looking at me? Pray tell, whatever was his expression when he was looking at me?" Though she could already name a few: anger, disgust, loathing, etc.
The woman watched the shadows cross the girls face and replied, "Probably not what you're thinking."
"Oh?" Rayne raised a cynical brow.
"Yes, 'oh'. He actually looked fairly concerned."
Rayne stared at the woman, who was still counting, and slowly asked, "Concerned? Are we talking about the same man, here? Red coat and a stern expression, yes. But a concerned look on his face? Now that couldn't be him."
The woman stopped her counting and looked at the ceiling, "What else was there, now? Hmm, a rather large sword strapped to his back, traveling in a company with two other men, one another swordsman and the other a summoner, and I believe that they called him 'Auron'." She looked at the shocked expression on Rayne's face and smiled before turning back to her counting, "Ringing any bells?"
"But… but it couldn't be him. Auron hates me, and can barely stand to be around me. He couldn't possibly be concerned for me. You must have been mistaken."
The elderly woman sighed and stopped counting, pushing all of the Gil back into the bag. "Young lady, there is no mistake in these old eyes. There was nothing but concern in that young man's eyes for you when he carried you off of that boat and into the inn."
"But… he's always talking as if I am constantly in the way, and…"
The woman rolled her eyes and smiled, "That's typical for a man like him. He's the 'lone wolf' type, who's always trying to push those he cares for out of harms way, no matter how he does it. It's not that you're in the way, it's that he wants to handle his problems on his own, without you getting hurt because of him."
Rayne looked at the woman with wide eyes and backed away, shaking her head slowly, "Alright, you said 'care' close to two times in that spiel, and that is soo not Auron, and soo not how Auron would ever feel for me."
The woman smiled coyly, "Just like there is no mistake in my eyes, there is no fooling them, either."
Rayne's eyes widened even more and she coughed, "Uh, yes… well. How much is in there?"
The old woman quickly dropped to her default 'kind old lady' mode and said, "There's 7500 Gil here, sweetie. Would you like to buy anything?"
Rayne stumbled back and quickly looked around the shop, eying the various weapons on the wall. "Okay, I'm a Black Mage… I think. So, what would you suggest?"
Well, the stuffed animals like Lulu had didn't work; they all came to life and tried to attack her when she came near. Maces didn't go over too well, either; way to heavy. Staves were too light, lances were too long, and she couldn't very well buy a summoners staff without then being mistaken for a summoner.
"You know," Rayne panted after she had looked at well over half of the shops magical merchandise, "Maybe I don't need a weapon. I can use magic well enough without one, can't I?"
"Oh, but dear," The woman panted beside her, "What about melee attacks? You'll eventually run out of magic, and you'll be forced to do melee. What then? Your fists? I hate to say it, but magic users aren't characteristically strong with their melee against fiends, even when they have a weapon. And if you didn't have one, you'd be a sitting duck! No, it's best to get a weapon."
Rayne groaned and leaned back, ticking off her fingers as she spoke. "Well, what do you have that's not a sword, not a ball, is like a stave, but heavier, is like a mace, but lighter, is like a lance, but shorter, and is like a summoners staff, but not for summoners?"
The woman seemed to think about that for a minute, then stood straight and walked behind the counter. Rayne followed and raised a brow when the woman pulled a long black box out from beneath the counter. She slipped a key out of her sleeve and placed it into the lock, the latches on both ends of the box snapping open. When she opened the box, Rayne stepped closer to get a better look.
In the box, nestled in fitted black velvet, was a staff. The pole was blue and had silver filament that snaked out of the silver butt of the pole and wound its way up to the top, gradually thinning towards the center and thickening again towards the top. At the top, where the threads were thickest, they joined in two strips on opposing sides and arched out, curving back towards the pole in fine tips. The full arch of these two strips was about six inches long, and their outer edges were filed into two fine bladed wedges. At the very top, nestled into the hole the two silver strips made, was a fiery ruby, held in place by five curved points and surrounded by fine Celtic style ornamental opal-colored filigree.
Rayne looked at the staff with wide eyes, nearly having a heart attack when the old woman told her to pick it up.
"Are you crazy?! I would tarnish that thing the second my hand touched the casing, not to mention what would happen if I actually touched the pole, itself!"
The woman laughed, "It's alright. The maker was a master who knew a bit of useful magic. It's impossible to break any part of it, and the only way you could smear it is if you didn't clean the blood off of it after you struck a fiend."
A bit hesitantly, Rayne used both hands to lift the pole out of the casing. She took a few steps back and turned to the side, holding the staff vertically in front of her. The cool metal beneath her fingers soothed her nerves and before she knew it, she was twisting the pole around herself, moving similar to the way Yuna would dance when she preformed the sending in that very port in ten years.
When she had stopped moving, she was facing the counter again and the ruby at the top of the pole was glowing blood red. The old woman behind the counter began to tear up, and she muttered, "In all my years, I never thought I would see that staff reach the hand of its rightful owner…"
Rayne watched the woman silently for a moment before asking, "Who made this?"
Wiping her eyes, the old woman replied, "My husband. He moved on to the Farplane twenty years ago, and I promised him that his last and greatest creation would make it to its true owner, a young Black Mage. I've been waiting for you for twenty long years, my dear. Thank you for finally coming."
Rayne watched at the crying old woman with wide eyes when a thought hit her, "Was your husband, by any chance, blind?"
The woman nodded, "Yes, in the final years of his life, he was struck blind while he was battling a Sinspawn."
"As a Black Mage, himself?"
The woman nodded again.
"And you're completely sure he's dead."
Confused, the woman nodded again. "Yes, dear, I am. True, there was no proper sending for him, but his pyreflies never formed a fiend, so I believe he passed on. Is something wrong?"
Rayne shook her head, muttering, "No, nothing at all…" She then looked back to the skillfully made staff in her hands. "How much do I owe you?"
A horrified looked crossed the woman's face and she ran out from behind the counter, grabbing the girl's arm tightly and shaking her head rapidly, "Oh, dear, nothing at all! This staff was made for you and you alone; I couldn't possibly price such an item."
Now it was Rayne's turn to be horrified, "But I couldn't possibly accept this without some form of payment!"
"Dear, seeing the staff reach your hands is payment enough! If you insist, though, think of it as… a birthday present, or something. But please, don't ask for Gil to be exchanged for it!"
"Birthday…"
The woman nodded, "Yes, a birthday present. Tell me, dear, when is your birthday? Then we can label it early or late, depending."
"Um… actually… I believe it's today…"
The woman smiled, "Well, then, Hap—"
"The Ochu!"
They both stopped and looked at the blanket that acted as a door, the cry having come from the other side.
"The Ochu is attacking Lord Braska's summoning party!"
The woman felt Rayne tense and saw her eyes widen with worry, so she ran back behind the counter and began throwing items onto the black case. Seeing what she was doing, Rayne walked slowly over to the counter, watching as blue and purple vials were stacked, along with bottles of green powder and several bundles of Phoenix Down.
"Dearie, take these and go help your friends. Just head back to the inn, turn left, then right, and run straight into the woods. Now, look here," she pointed to a blue vial, "These are Potions for health," she pointed to the purple, "These are Antidotes, for any poison," she pointed to the green powder, "These are Ethers, for restoring magic," lastly, she pointed to the Phoenix Down, "And these are—"
"Phoenix Down, right." Rayne nodded, grabbing the items and shoving them into her bag. She soon ran out of room, though.
"Here, have another."
Rayne grabbed the sky blue bag and pulled open the navy drawstring, shoving the rest of the items in and quickly tying the bag to the leather mesh of her shirt. She then pulled out a handful of coins and slammed it onto the counter, cutting the old woman off before she could protest.
"At least let me pay for these."
The woman stared at her for a moment before nodding, then lifted part of the velvet casing inside of the staff's carrier and pulled out a leather object. "The sleeve, dearie. It's the sheath for the staff."
Rayne slipped her jacket off and strapped the sleeve to her back, slipping the staff in before throwing her jacket on again.
She then turned to the door and lifted the blanket, but paused and looked back at the woman. "Not really the time, I know, but how do I look?" She spun in a circle and placed her hands on her hips.
The woman looked her over and smiled, "Like a true Guardian."
Rayne returned the smile, "Thank you." She turned back to the entrance and ran out, the coins in her purse and the items in her bags jingling softly like bells.
The woman walked to the entrance and pulled the blanket aside, watching her as she ran to the forest. "Like a true Guardian."