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a/n: Due to the difficulty of the WHO'S THAT CHARACTER challenge, we are now placing CHARACTER COUNTERS per chapter to be able to give a bit of a hint to everybody out there reading...
Chapter 27: Dreams and Idols
She was running...as fast as her legs could carry her, she looked about her as she ran, yet could not see her pursuers, though she could hear them, as if they were just beside her, breathing down her neck. She could hear herself breathing, panting as she ran. She was running faster, faster and faster until it was too late, she felt herself fall, her vision hazing and fading as she plummeted down.
She could not breathe, her lungs felt constricted against her chest that no matter how much she tried to force her chest to breathe in air, they would not relent.
It was only then did she hear the thundering footfalls of the terrible wyrm chasing after her, its fetid breath tingling at the back of her neck that made her heart beat faster as she tried to run faster.
She could not scream, not even when she fell and turned around to meet with the hellish and hollow sockets that the wyrm called its eyes; she could not move and run away again as it descended upon her, its angular teeth about to tear her limb from limb…!
'Yvelle!' a loud voice echoed her name in her ears and she wondered from whose lips her name came from.
'Yvelle! Kupo!' this time the voice was distinguishable but Yvelle could not call back. The wyrm had robbed her off her voice…
'Kupo-po! WAKE-UP!!"
With a huge gasp of air, Celeste Yvelle snapped her eyes open, realizing that whoever had bitten her had saved her from a terrible nightmare. Feeling the sweat fall across her face mixing with the tears she tasted on her tongue, she sat up on the bed, grasping her heaving chest and meeting the eyes of the person or rather creature that had awoken her.
Montblanc was staring at her from where he stood at the foot of her bed, his pompom clutched tightly in his hands, his beetle black eyes usually filled with cheer, now filled with concern for her, the newest member of Clan Centurio.
'Kupo!' Montblanc squeaked. 'Are you all right? You gave us quite a scare, kupo-po!'
Yvelle stared at the moogle confusedly, before noticing the Nu Mou, Ma'kenroh and the Viera Krjn standing also in the room, with looks of concern on both their faces.
'I'm fine,' she let her breath out in a whoosh, hastily wiping the tears away from her face and pushing the stray locks away with them. 'It was just a nightmare. Not any that I am unaccustomed to.'
'Dreams often depict what our hearts will not tell,' Krjn interjected softly. Yvelle looked at her.
'I have had this nightmare before. You need not worry that I will not wake from it. I am sorry for troubling you so late at the night.' The hunter spoke softly.
Montblanc shook his furry head, his rabbit ears flapping. ' 'Tis nothing kupo! We are only concerned for you. I remember when you first came here and asked us to give you a home in exchange for your services and I remember, kupo, what I told you…'
'That you are willing to give me anything that you have if I stepped away from the hidden entrance of the clan,' Yvelle finished for him and this time a smile came. 'I remember as well.'
'What dream is it that you have each night, child?' Ma'kenroh interrupted in his gravel voice steering the subject back to her dream.
Yvelle turned to look at the Nu Mou. She looked at them, wondering if she could tell them of this one true secret she had not told anybody, not even her own flesh and blood. She knew that they had not done anything to betray her trust, and to tell them of her dream might be but a little payment for the home they had given her.
Silently, after a deep breath, did Yvell relate her dream to those creatures who will serve as her family from now on. She watched as Montblanc reached with his paws to touch her hands comfortingly, while both Ma'kenroh and Krjn nodded sympathetically. What she did not tell them was the fear she always felt afterwards, of falling asleep and never waking up. She retold her dreams as if they were of just a trifling matter that would soon go away in time.
When she finished her tale, she found that Montblanc had had a warm mug of the moogle drink that the Clan leader was fond of. He handed it to Yvelle and she accepted, albeit rather warily. Bansat, one of the top hunters of the Clan had warned her about moogle drink, of being too strong for humes.
When she tasted it however, she found her chilled bones satisfyingly warmed. She smiled now at Montblanc and his companions, grateful for their comfort, and was suddenly reminded of how useless she was of the clan. She was no fighter, no matter how hard she wanted to become one. She simply lacked the experience and the training of a real Clan Centurio hunter. She vowed now, as she gave back the empty mug to Montblanc's outstretched hands that she would do everything, everything possible to rise above her clan rank Moppet. It was hours later, when she finally fell asleep once more from the herbs the moogle had placed in the drink for a dreamless sleep did Yvelle's tears and fears subsided.
XOXOXOX
Yvelle heard voices at the back of her mind to rouse her once again from her sleep. When she opened her eyes once more, the light was extinguished and she was alone in her room.
The voices that woke her came from outside her room, somewhere down the hall. Looking outside the window, she saw that it was dark still, and that whoever was still awake was not bothering to be quiet.
'We need to talk to the Queen…' a young masculine voice floated inside the room, and his words brought her attention back to the voices.
The Queen? Yvelle thought that whoever the speaker was, he was talking about the Queen of Dalmasca. Rumors around the Clan was that Queen Ashe, two years ago had signed up at Clan Centurio and along with whom later became the Clan's finest finished off several of the elite marks that no other hunter could defeat. It was said that Montblanc offered the Queen, Princess then, to stay on as a hunter but the Queen, obviously, could not do so. Instead, she had given Clan Centurio the highest honor, she made the Clan the official clan in Rabanastre and made the coat of arms a signet in the Royal Palace. The Queen was said continued to correspond with the moogle, asking for progress and information that only the clan leader can know.
So whoever knew that the Queen knew Montblanc personally must know the Queen personally as well, as she heard the moogle answer the speaker. Who could they be she wondered? She was a curious creature by nature and though she knew that she should be getting the much needed sleep to train with Monid and Bansat tomorrow, she could not very well pass this opportunity to get some information that only she and Montblanc would know.
Looking around for her dress robe, and putting it on, she quietly left the room, making as little noise as possible.
Yvelle followed the voices to the main Clan hall, hiding in the shadow of the big door leading to it. She saw Montblanc, perched as usual on the railing of the balcony, and she also saw several other people, standing in front of Montblanc dressed like they had been traveling roughly.
Three males, each of different ages, and a female. The youngest of the group, one of the males, was speaking with Montblanc now, and Yvelle recognized it as the earlier voice she had heard. He was speaking of being discreet about this meeting with the Queen, of it being an important meeting and if the moogle could possibly assist them in this endeavor?
Yvelle listened carefully and so intently that she was clutching her dress robe so tightly in her hands, she could feel her nails digging in her palms.
'Come on Montblanc,' another one of the males urged. ' We know that out of all people, you could help us speak with Ashe----the Queen,' he corrected hastily that the female of their group looked at him curiously.
' You can stay for the night, kupo-po!' Montblanc said earnestly. 'We always have room here at the Clan hall. But kupo, we will see what we can do about meeting with the Queen, tomorrow.'
The party breathed a sigh of relief. 'Thanks Montblanc.' The one who hesitated in speaking the queen's name spoke again. 'You don't know how hard was it to travel across Ivalice with the renegade Emperor of Archades traveling with us and me and Penelo being known names amongst hunters.'
'Vaan!" the female, called Penelo chastised. 'Not so loud! Do you want people to wake up and hear you?!'
Vaan looked sheepish and Yvelle struggled to contain her gasp. The news that the Emperor of Archades was at Clan Centurio was nothing compared at the news that Vaan and Penelo, the most legendary hunters in all of the Clan, nay, in all of Ivalice had finally returned to report once more to their clan leader! That she was but mere inches from them made her heart pound in a pace faster than ever! These were the Hunters! She had often dreamed that she would meet them and speak with them, learn from them exactly how it is to become a hunter and how delighted was she to discover that they were almost the same age as herself! That meant that she too could become a hunter, if only just below them!
Yvelle could not keep her excitement that she let out a squeal of delight that she regretted the minute she let it out. For the oldest of their group, the only one whose voice she had not heard had turned his head towards where she stood. Yvelle quickly retreated deeper into the shadows though she was sure she had not been seen. But she could not deny that those green eyes had a look about them that Yvelle knew could pierce through any surface.
She shook her head at that absurdity. No Hume can see through walls! But just to be sure, she hastily went back towards her room, contenting herself with the thought that she will wake up at dawn tomorrow and would see Vaan and Penelo before she left for training, even though it will only be a glance.
