Book III: Master of Chaos
Chapter 21-A Child in the Mountain
Riku tried his best to ignore the seventh hour of train movements. He gritted his teeth, feeling the pitying eyes of Meredy and Jellal across the compartment, their hoods still pulled up, though at this distance from the capital it probably wasn't necessary. Border-towns like the one they were headed to now were known for being blind spots for the council.
Focus on anything else,Riku told himself for the millionth time. He racked his brain. What else could he think about? Mavis, he wished Erza was here to at least attempt to knock him out, not that she was ever as successful as he'd like. Mystogan had coyly implied it was because she couldn't bring herself to hurt him enough to knock him out, but Riku liked to consider that maybe it meant he was just slightly more powerful than Erza, not that he'd ever tell her that. That would be a sure fire way to start a real competition, which he had very little desire to do. He avoided that sort of competition since they were both teens and he'd let slip that he had more magical energy than her. She hadn't even used magic when she knocked him straight into next week. Well, things change anyway. Still, he'd seen her do it to Natsu and the envy Riku had for that unconscious bliss was almost too much to stand.
Thinking of Erza made his lip twitch slightly, remembering their dance at the ball. She and the rest of the guild had probably made it back to Magnolia by now. What kind of trouble might they be getting into already?
Probably shopping, Riku considered. That had been what she said she wanted to do when she returned. He'd made sure to order a surprise from her favorite bakery, which she always stopped into for a break. She'd walk in, expecting to simply stare at the tasty desserts lining the glass cases, only that this time the baker would have all her favorites bagged and ready. That'd keep her sweet tooth satisfied for at least a bit, so long as no idiots knocked her on her way back to Fairy Hills. He almost smiled again at the images of Erza's delight, but a wave of nausea overcame him just then, and he had to focus on not hurling on Jellal's shoes (twice was enough).
As soon as the train pulled into the station, Riku leaped from the room through the window, rushing straight to a trash bin nearby and releasing his breakfast into it.
Damn, he thought, pushing himself away and inhaling fresh air. He leaned against the wall, letting his eyes close as he tried to concentrate on his breathing. He was going to need to eat before his journey, hopefully there was something affordable here.
"Feel better," Meredy asked, patting his shoulder sympathetically. "You still look a little green."
Riku gulped in another bit of air before opening his eyes. Jellal was looking around carefully taking in any potential threat. Satisfied that the border-town was as unregulated as they'd heard, he looked at the clock.
"Let's get lunch to discuss the plan," he said.
They sat down in a darkened pub, with an angry looking barman who was missing an eye, putting his face into a constant snarl. Riku went to the bar and ordered three drinks and three Pub Lunch Specials- the only item on the menu. Walking back with his full hands, Riku noted that Jellal and Meredy fit in perfectly in this pub. Most people kept their hoods pulled and their heads down, conversations kept to a mumble.
"You're hoping that someone here has some information on Tartaros and the gate to the underworld opening," Meredy whispered to Jellal before nodding a thanks to Riku.
Jellal nodded. "There was a dark guild near-by that might have had connections to them," Jellal said, taking a sip and making a grimace at the beer. He glanced at Riku, who shrugged and sipped his own pint. He'd had worse. Jellal continued, "tomorrow we can investigate their hideout and find a reliable source willing to share."
"What about you Riku,"Meredy asked. "Are you leaving us after all? I was starting to feel like you were part of our guild now!"
Riku pulled out the map Ultear had given him, unfolding it and flattening it on the table to reveal Ishgar and the outlines of the fourteen kingdoms within it.
"I think I'll start walking after lunch and head through the mountains here," Riku said, outlining his path from their current location into the kingdom of Seven. "Everything I've heard says that the village I need to get to is on the mountains over here to the North, but I figure there have got to be some villages leading there."
"Makes sense," agreed Jellal. "Better to avoid the main valley, which will likely be more active with royal guards and council members."
"Right," Riku said with a smirk. "I don't need anyone asking me for travel paperwork."
"Or extorting you," Meredy added. She pointed at the capital labeled Hohenheim. "Ul told me about this place. She said it's considered one of the worst places to live in because of the civil wars over the last century or so."
Riku nodded. "I looked into the history a bit and it seems like the royal family is more focused on their control in the lowlands, as opposed to the mountains, which don't have as many resources. Most people are in the valleys."
"Better to avoid as many people as you can," Jellal agreed. "Fiore doesn't have any real relationship with the Kingdom of Seven. If something were to happen to you, you'd be on your own." He took another sip of drink, managing to grimace less.
"I don't expect anyone to come rescue me,"Riku said with an indignant huff.
"Just don't die, or Erza will kill us," Jellal said with a stern face, though his eyes danced with laughter as Riku's face flushed. Riku turned away as Meredy's laughter broke his indignation.
...
On closer inspection, it seemed inevitable that Riku would need to pass through four villages. To remain out of sight to the dictator of the Kingdom, Riku would walk, not that he was complaining. As he moved through the forests and mountains from Fiore's border into Seven, he found himself much relieved. The nice part of traveling alone, without any real timeline was that he didn't have to deal with carriages or trains or transportation. He didn't mind walking at all, and especially not when the breeze was nice and the scenery so lunch and green that you would have no idea of the violence in the Valley below if you didn't research it ahead of time. The first day he walked until the moon and stars appeared high in the sky. Then he climbed the sturdiest tree he could find and hooked a hammock on two reliable branches. Laying back, he used his foot to gently push some leaves away. He fell asleep soundly with a view of the stars twinkling above him reassuringly.
The next morning, sunlight streamed through the hole into his face, waking him up. He broke down his sleeping arrangement, ate a quick snack he'd brought, and leaped down to the forest below. Continuing his walk he allowed his mind to wander thinking about anything that floated into his minds eye- Ultear, Erza, the Magic Games Tournament, fighting dragons. Then he let his mind drift back even farther- to his travels in Alvarez and his time with Mystogan and his growing up in the guild. From this vantage point, these images and people brought a slight smile to his face. Had they struggled? Definitely. Were they stronger for it? Also definitely.
A new scent reached Riku's nose as a breeze blew past. He was now on a dirt road, barely maintained and only wide enough for foot traffic. It led up to a village that seemed to teeter on the edge of the jagged mountain rock. At any moment the houses might tumble into the abyss below. Riku moved forward cautiously. On closer inspection, the houses were small, only one or two roomed, and in disrepair. There seemed to be almost no one around, except for an old man sitting on his porch. A table sat next to him, and next to that an empty old man spotted Riku, adjusted his glasses, then seemed to wave Riku over.
"Your looking for someone," asked the old man.
"Not really," Riku admitted, "just passing through on my way somewhere else."
"But there you'll be looking for someone, yes," chuckled the old man. "Yes, yes, the young are always on the move. Come sit and maybe I can help tell you what you need to know."
Riku hesitated for a moment, looking up at the sun. It was only noon and the village was pretty empty. Maybe this guys just lonely, wondered Riku. Shrugging he took the empty seat the man motioned to.
"Tea," offered the old man holding up a kettle that seemed to have appeared by magic. The aromatic scent caught Riku's nose as the old man poured the rich golden liquor. It smelled slightly fruity and familiar. It was the scent he had smelled before entering the village, but that was much to far for even Riku to have smelled...
"Do they make this tea around here," Riku asked, nodding his thanks as the old man put down the kettle with shaky hands.
"They use to long ago," the old man sighed. "These hills use to have tea plants galore and we were known for this particular blend. But, in the last few decades the plants have been forgotten. They can make the tea cheaper in the capital and the young men have all left for better opportunities."
"You're not alone here, are you," asked Riku. The lack of people would explain the dilapidated status of the village, but certainly it wasn't safe.
"No, no." The old man allowed a smile to play across his feature. "There are still a few of us old folk around for now."
"Why don't you go to the capital with your friends and family," Riku asked.
"You sound like my wife. 'Amos, let's go out into the world! Let's leave behind this village while we can,'" chuckled the old man sipping his tea. "Age gives you time to look back on your life with new eyes. Now I'm too old to go anywhere, even if I wanted to. No, no, this is my home. How could I leave these mountains and plants behind? Someone's got to pick the tea leaves."
Riku shifted uncomfortably. Maybe it was the tea or the strange pondering of the old man, but something seemed unsaid.
"Soon the men from the capital will come and relocate us anyway," he sighed, unaware of Riku's discomfort. "Until then, I want to stay here. Though, now that I think of it, there is something you could help me with. Do you see those tea plants up there?" He motioned shakily to a group of shrubs sitting on top of a vertical wall, seemingly inaccessible from any path. "Will you go and collect the leaves for me? None of us have been able to do it all year, and they'll die soon."
Riku looked at the cliff, then to the old man, then back to the cliff again. Fuck, he thought, pushing himself up from the chair and moving towards the cliff. Once he reached the base, he gave one last look behind him to the old man, who waved his hand as if to tell Riku he was on the right track. Riku looked up the vertical wall. Riku scratched his head in thought. What to do, what to do... He could try a blast of dark energy, like some sort of set pack, but that didn't seem like a likely way to get as high as he needed. Perhaps he could find a path? No, there was obviously nothing but cliffs there. His only option would be to climb.
"Old man," growled Riku annoyed as he rolled his shoulders in preparation. All this work for a cup of tea? He sighed, shaking his head and focusing as he reached out to position himself. "Just don't look down," Riku told himself as he began his climb. "This cliff can't be taller than those statues next to the arena."
He made it to the top in under an hour, at least that's what he figured based on the sun in the sky. At the top of the the very thin landing he found himself surrounded by tea plants, their branches overgrown and their leaves fragrant in the air. Riku counted ten plants total. He picked a handful of leaves and then stood, looking around himself. He didn't have a container or bag of any sort.
"Even if I did have one, how would I get back down," he reasoned. Then he got it. He took out his hammock, laying it out across the limited ground and quickly picked as many leaves as he could. When the hammock was full, he tied it around his shoulders and took a deep breath, sitting on the ledge and looking at the drop below. "Almost done," he said more confidently than he felt. Then he began his descent.
When he finally made i back to the old man, the tea kettle had been replaced by two bowls of soup. Riku, now very sweaty, dropped the hammock of leaves on the ground and returned to his seat.
"You've helped me greatly, my boy," the old man beamed. "So now I'll help you. Have some lunch here. Eat eat."
Riku obeyed, taking the soup and slurping some into his mouth. It tasted refreshing and delicious. The old man continued his talk as Riku ate. "There are two paths outside the village, one that leads you through a village in the upper mountains and one that leads to a village in the lower mountains. Take the upper path, the higher in the mountains you go, the less likely you will run into any unwanted company. Besides, the upper path should cut your journey in half and save you a day of travel, if not more."
"Thanks for the advice," Riku said finishing the soup and putting the bowl back down. "And thanks for lunch."
"Of course," the old man replied. He placed a bag of tea leaves on the table and patted it. "And take this as a final thanks- peppermint tea. Always great for improving health and focus."
Riku dispensed the tea leaves on the porch, tucked his hammock and the new packet of tea leaves in his bag, then moved from the village, following the path until he reached the fork. Then, following the advice, he took the upper path. Riku had been walking for about an hour before it occurred to him that he'd never told the old man who he was looking for or where he was headed at all, but somehow, Riku had the sneaking suspicion that the old man knew.
"Hey, stop there!"
Riku froze in his path, mind brought back suddenly to his chosen path. The old man said he was less likely to run into anyone unfriendly on this path and yet, here he was, spotting a large, troll-like man yelling at him from further down the path. No, Riku realized. Not him, but whatever the blur was staggering zig-zag across the narrow path. Riku grabbed his sword as the zig-zagging blur approached and ran right into his torso, falling down as if it had run into a wall. Riku peered closer. It was a kid, with sandy brown hair and soot smudged skin all across his face. He looked sweatier than most kids did, even when running, and his breathing was ragged.
"Hand over the kid!"
Riku looked up to see the troll man had come closer. The kid didn't move on the ground. Riku stepped in front of the kid, blocking him from the troll-man, and positioning his sword in place. "What do you want with a sick kid," Riku asked, eyes narrowing.
"None of your business," snarled the man, pulling out his own weapon- a large ax that glinted in the sunlight except for a piece at the sharpest edge which was stained red. Riku's eyes flashed to the village farther down the pathway where the kid and troll-man had come from. Was the blood from there?
"Well, I'm not handing him over," Riku said, moving his eyes back to his opponent. "So, I guess you'll have to go back to the cave you came from."
The man let out a snarl and lunged forward, but Riku was read and sent a dark twister his way, throwing him back.
"A mage," roared the troll-man leaping up again. Riku moved forward cautiously making sure the kid was still behind him. The man lunged again, this time barely giving Riku enough time to dodge the first ax swing before it came down at him from above. He held up his sword and caught the ax just a few inches from his face. Riku could practically smell the iron from the blood stain. Alright, this had gone on long enough. With a deep breath, Riku sent a dark dragon roar at the man, sending him and his ax tumbling down the mountain and out of sight. Riku sighed, putting his sword back on his back before turning to the kid who had started the whole ordeal.
He knelt down and poked the kid's cheek, but the kid didn't respond.
"Hey," Riku said, poking again. "Hey, kid. What did you do to get that guy so angry at you?"
This time the kid just moaned. Riku looked back at the village further down the trail, then to the mountain ledge the troll-man had fallen down. Well, he couldn't just leave this kid lying here in the dirt when he might be sick or injured, could he? Riku already knew the answer, so he picked the kid up and headed towards the village, listening carefully for any sounds that might warn of incoming danger. But, he didn't hear anything.
In fact, he didn't hear the sounds of any sort of life in the village at all.
Hope you enjoyed this first installment of Book III! Don't forget to review (if you like). Thanks lucky333123 for the new review! How exciting!