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Chapter Three:
The True Path
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Coarse, deeply jade grass lashed out at the trio, attempting to
make them hurtle down the craggy cliffs of Mount Kolts. The mountain
range loomed over them, and mist gathered halfway to the summit.
Luckily, they wouldn't be heading to the summit.
"How much longer do we have to go on? I haven't walked this far in a long time..." Terra muttered.
Locke spoke up. "We just got started, love. Besides, unless we get Magitek units, we're gonna be walkin' an awful lot in this war."
Edgar fixed his ribbon as he trudged on with tenacity. "Do you
really believe that our actions will begin a war with the Empire? I find it
hard to believe that a small resistance faction could do anything other
than blitzkrieg tactics, if even that. It's also bad sport to rely on Lady
Terra quite that much," Edgar pondered.
Locke nodded. "I guess I see where you're going, Highness. It's a little hard to see that a tiny group like us could tear apart a superpower like the Imperials... but just because something is impossible to see doesn't mean that it's impossible."
Terra thought about their words as she walked. She became
enveloped in the conversation as much as the darkness of the cavern
path enveloped the three travelers. The wood creaked and shook under
their steps, and Edgar's steps thudded loudly on the planks. Locke's
steps were barely audible, and her own steps were slight clicks from her
heeled boots. Her feet still hurt.
She climbed crude, stone steps up to a higher cave exit, and the other two followed her. She heard voices outside. "Wait...I hear
something. Someone," she paused.
Locke and Edgar ground to a halt. "Imperial sympathizers. See their uniforms?" Locke said quietly, pointing at the two figures. By the light of the exit, a pair of tall, bulky men stood chatting. They garbed in red gi pants, but were otherwise unhindered by clothing. Their hair,
unsurpisingly, was pulled back in ponytails. Despite being monks, they
still had some semblance of style, Terra mused.
"Come on! They've got their guards down!" Edgar urged, drawing his sabre and rushing forth. Locke drew his dagger and flew towards the brawlers, and Terra belatedly brought up the rear.
"Maaan, I'm so glad Master Duncan bit the big one. He almost killed me the other day during kata!" said one of the brawlers.
Edgar, positioning himself carefully behind the other, brought his blade down hard straight down his skull. The talkative brawler's eyes widened as the left half of his companion's skull spun past his feet. He wiggled his toes slightly as the blood drenched his soles. "What's going on!?" he demanded, whirling on the trio. He feigned backwards to avoid Locke's swipe. Springing back at his assailant, the monk threw a reverse punch straight into Locke's solarplexis. Doubling over, Locke gasped for air and relief from the sudden sharp blow. Following up on the attack, the fighter jammed his knee into Locke's forehead, causing him to soar backwards onto his rear. Locke's leg twitched as blood eked from his face.
Terra put her arms forward and closed her eyes. Chanting an
incantation without truly knowing the words, she sent a blast of flames
at the monk, who screamed in agony, swatting at the air as if
shadowboxing. When the smoke cleared, the charred man stood shakily,
his clothing blackened and torn. He launched towards her with less
speed than he had when clobbering Locke, but it was still formidable to
catch her offguard. Edgar ran towards her, but he was not timely
enough to make it.
She drew her knife, and had it prepared to bat at him. Before he could so much as wind up for a one-two, however, he coughed up blood. His eyes were wide with surprise as he fell to one knee. Locke, bleeding profusely from the wound on his head, held his dirk with a sheath fashioned out of brawler. His eye which was not impaired by blood trails had a look of grim intensity to it as he kicked the fighter off of his dagger. "I told you..." Locke paused to cough, "..that I'd protect you."
Terra dropped her blade and rushed over to the damaged treasure hunter. Locke held up his hand to stop her, and straightened himself out, complaining softly about the pain. He reached into his pocket and pulled the stopper out of a potion vial, drinking the precious lapis liquid. As he pushed back his head to finish off the small vial, the wound on his forehead swiftly closed, and the blood dried and caked his nose and mouth. Throwing down the vial, it shattered into a dozen pieces as he wiped his mouth off on his sleeve and glanced up at the still-surprised Terra and the upset Edgar. Locke glanced sidelong at the regal fellow. "What's wrong?" Locke inquired of him.
Edgar's eyes widened as his gaze shifted to Terra for a moment, and then back at him. "I shall tell you later. Now..it is not important."
Locke shrugged, and walked outside, where the clouds and mist covered the daytime sky. There, not even twenty paces to his left, did he see another orifice. Moving on, he found himself again covered in
darkness. By the light, he could make out a long, turn-laden bridge.
Pausing on the edge, Terra toed off a rock into the abyss. The trio
stopped, counting the seconds. Five...ten...fifteen. Apparently, they didn't want to fall off the edge.
Terra led the way, able to vaguely make out the bridge in the
shadows, and stepped off of the bridge. Locke followed behind,
unconcerned with his steps, yet Edgar looked at his feet almost piously.
The dusky light of day was welcome, and they were not,
thankfully, starved for light as of yet. Terra trodded on, rounding the
large stakes for a rickety suspension bridge. Locke poked at the
algae-dressed stakes, as if he were testing their abilities.
Terra strode across, taking care not to invest power into her
steps, for wariness of the bridge's dilapidation. Halfway through, she
thought she felt something odd. It was not that of physicality, but
more...psychological. She looked off the bridge to the left and the right,
but saw nothing. Was it simply her mixed emotions about joining a
resistance group to challenge the Empire? She stopped a moment in
thought.
She lurched forward with a yelp when two entities crashed into her shortly thereafter. Whirling on the figures, she found a red-faced Edgar and a shocked Locke. "Hahah! Try not to stare at Terra's ass so closely, next time, Edgar!" he chuckled.
Edgar shook a fist at the treasure hunter. "You were looking as well!!" he shouted at him.
Locke shrugged. "What's your point?" he asked.
Terra growled as she grabbed them both by the elbow and forced them in front of her. "Stay up there, you two!" she ordered.
Locke laughed harder. "You want your revenge on us by looking at our asses, now?"
Terra was about to retort unkindly as she heard a noise. Turning, she noticed three Cirpius birds swooping down at them all. "Looks out!" she cried, ducking. Locke and Edgar dashed off of the bridge.
"Terra, over here!!" Edgar exclaimed, motioned to her with a hand.
Terra ran as much as she felt would keep up the bridge, keeping her head bowed low. A Cirpius divebombed her in the back of the head, rendering her unconscious. Locke drew his mythril dagger as he narrowly evaded a swooping avian. Seeing the downed sorceress, he
rushed towards the Cirpius responsible. "Son of a bitch parrot!!" Locke
cried, throwing himself at the bird. As the Cirpius readied a set of talons,
Locke landed on its back, weighing it down to the moist grass. With a
mighty thrust, he pierced the bird's skull with ease.
"Time for some cruel death!!" Edgar yelled triumphantly.
Locke winced. "Nobody enjoys your razor-sharp skill at taunting, my liege," he stated.
Edgar, ignoring Locke, pulled out a large phonograph, and set it upon the ground. Kicking it, the machine belched horrible tunes and
melodies. Fast voices came into place, and the Cirpius spun around
uncontrollably. As they tore each others' flesh apart with screeches and
squawks, Locke shook his head.
"At the very least, you make up for it in some area, alike this one," Locke conceded. Rushing over to Terra, he tickled her with a phoenix down feather, and watched mirthfully as she laughed back to life.
"What...happened?" Terra asked softly.
"Amnesia again?!" Locke asked suddenly, and then smiled at her when she frowned. "We rid the bridge of the parrot population," Locke said simply.
Edgar groaned. "They're called Cirpius, Locke. They're very
territorial, in case you didn't know that," he stated, taking the needle off
of the record and putting the machine into his pack again.
"What the hell where you playing?" Locke asked.
Edgar grinned, and pulled out the recording disc. Across the
glossy black surface read the nonsensical word "Chumbawamba". Locke
arched an eyebrow. "While it might not be so bad for us, it wreaks havoc
on animals," Edgar noted.
Locke, shaking his head, glanced around. It was so peaceful now that the enemies were gone from sight.
Rustle. Locke's ears perked up, and he looked around more
carefully.
Rustle, rustle. Locke looked above him, where a black figure was standing. As he pointed up at the figure, the man found that he, too, was being watched. He launched himself off of where he stood to a further point on the mountain, where he was no longer visible.
"Who was that? He really needs to learn how to hide better," Terra said.
"That...would be a visitor, it seems," Edgar said, with a hesitation on yielding the response.
"He needs to have less baggy clothing...those pants make noise like crazy," Locke admonished the stranger, and walked on into the next cavern.
After a short jaunt in the dark, the three arrived at a long grassy path. "This could take a while to walk through..." Edgar told Terra.
"A while, nothing! We can cross this in mere minutes! Here, just jump over this rock like so..." Locke showed off by sailing over a large rock in the path. "Come on!" he called from the other side.
"I...can't jump that high," Terra muttered.
"I'll mess up my clothes," Edgar called.
"Mess up your clothes?! Dammit, Edgar...fine! I'll be here when you guys get here!" Locke fumed.
The light-haired adventurer was indeed there fifteen minutes
later, his bandanna pulled over his eyes, and his left foot placed on the
rock which he had leapt over before. "Ready?" He asked them, pulling
back up his bandanna.
The band of rebels trudged onwards, through the path.
Rustle, rustle.
Locke halted in his tracks. "Show your face, you miserable excuse for a ninja!" demanded Locke.
The one who was following them previously came into view before them. His long silver hair was tied back, as seemed was customary to most people in the world. His massive form blocked the next cave quite nicely. His baggy gi pants were all that the man wore, for his sinewy tan body shone darkly in the dusky evening sky. He wore a cruel smile as he spoke. "Sabin sent you, right?" he asked, not expecting an answer. He turned his back on the group, and jumped into the cave wall. Springing off of the stone, he ricocheted towards the three with a wide roundhouse kick. The three fell to their knees, looking up at the man.
"Vargas, where is Sabin?!" Edgar demanded, rising to his feet.
Vargas laughed loudly. "I was about to ask you the very same
thing! Seeing that you don't know either, you will die here and now!"
Vargas declared.
"One thing to remember in your next life, pal! Take some sneaking lessons, because you couldn't hide if your life depended on it!" taunted Locke.
Vargas bellowed ferociously, and stepped away from the cavern entrance. Two answering roars came from behind him, and then their owners flanked Vargas. A pair of Ipooh bears stood on their hind legs, their dirty claws swinging in midair.
Terra held her arms out at one of the approaching bears, sending a blaze throughout the beast's coarse fur. Enraged by the flames, the Ipooh slashed at Edgar. With a cry, he slumped to the ground, blood oozing from his cuts.
Locke responded to the fall by lunging at the Ipooh. Piercing its chest with his blade repeatedly, the bear fell to the grass below with a
lamentatious cry. The Ipooh's twin swung at Locke, who leapt hastily out
of the way, dirk in tow.
Vargas threw an uppercut at Locke, and caught him square in the chin. Tearing from the pain, he backpedaled to avoid further damage for the duration of the blurriness. Terra held up her hands once again, and sent a fire spell on Vargas. He cursed a little, and turned towards her.
"Thanks, Locke," said Edgar's voice. While Vargas was distracted, Locke had applied a phoenix's down feather on Edgar, whose wounds still oozed a little. Edgar woozily picked up his regal-looking sword and chopped at the rushing Ipooh. With a thud, the bear fell in place with its severed bestial head.
Vargas looked at all of them, and smiled grimly. "That's IT! Time to die!!" he cried at them, as he assumed a martial arts stance.
"No! It's your time, Vargas!" came a shout.
Terra glanced over at the interfering stranger. He had golden hair drawn back into a ponytail and spiked backwards in front. His massive physique protruded from his tight sleeveless shirt, and his baggy white gi slacks flowed like plumes of white smoke blowing in the wind. "You've really crossed the line this time!" the man cried again.
"Sabin?!" said Edgar and Vargas simultaneously.
"You killed Master Duncan, didn't you?! Why, Vargas? Why did you kill your own father!?" demanded the Sabin, the newcomer.
"Naive fool! He chose you to be the successor of the dojo! You, over his own son! His ONLY SON!!" screamed Vargas.
Sabin turned on the high rock he stood on, facing away from the group. His pants fluttered and flapped with the breeze's helpful hands. His eyes were downcast, and his voice came rather quiet in comparison to Vargas' furiful tonality. "No...he chose you, Vargas."
"Lies! All lies!" retorted Vargas powerfully.
"Master wanted you as his heir, not me. He knew of your fine
spirit, old friend!" Sabin reaffirmed, leaping off of the rock he stood
upon.
"LIAR!! Your time has come! Taste my Blizzard Fist!" shouted
Vargas again. His left heel slid back into the dirt, and a small mound
collected at his foot's base. Twisting back his torso, he spun around with
his right fist leading. A black wave of energy slowly moved towards
them, and then flew at them with the subitolike speed. Ice crystals and
snow thrashed at the four, and they all tried to hold their ground against
the snowstorm. Edgar lost his footing and tumbled backwards onto the
grass. Locke, too, lost his footing, and followed Edgar's forced direction.
Terra finally was flung away from the immediate battleground as well.
Sabin stood tall as the attack subsided. Ice frosted the grass
blades, and Sabin's own clothes were a slightly lighter shade of blue. He
hadn't, however, moved even an inch from his place where he stood
pre-blizzard.
"You've grown strong, Sabin. It will be a great pleasure to kill two of my greatest adversaries in such a short span of time!" Vargas cackled.
Vargas closed the gap between the two martial artists, and threw a roundhouse at Sabin swiftly. Blocking the onslaught with his forearm, Sabin threw a left hook, catching Vargas on the cheek with surprise. As he stumbled away, Sabin lunged with a straightline punch, putting all of his weight into it. Vargas sailed clear over Sabin's attack, kicking him in the back of the head as he did so. Sabin whirled on Vargas and clenched his fists tightly. "You'll never escape your fate, Sabin! Time is growing short for you!" Vargas exclaimed as he scowled at his rival.
Sabin launched himself at Vargas, planting both of his feet on the large man's chest in an exploder. As they both fell to the ground and
rhythmatically sprung up to their feet, Sabin took a step away from
Vargas. "There's no chance at me beating him at this rate...dammit,
there's no choice left!" Sabin battled with himself.
Just then, Vargas performed a crescent kick which made contact with Sabin's gut. Wincing in pain, Sabin bared his teeth. His fists flew rapidly, seeming to be a hundred fists at once with unbelievable speed.
His fists' afterimages confused the wounded trio, and his fists launched outward before they even recoiled. Vargas felt the last blow before the first, but they all hit at the same time. Crashing to the ground, Vargas took in his last breath.
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The three sat up as Sabin walked towards them. "Brother!" Edgar called. Sabin smiled as he hugged his brother.
Locke leaned towards Terra. "Just between you and me, but I
think that our king isn't, well, as appreciative of the fairer sex than you
or me," he whispered to her.
Terra turned to him. "What do you mean by MY appreciation on the fairer sex?!" she whispered back fiercely.
Locke winced. "Well, it was worth trying to ask," he spoke aloud.
A furrowed-browed Terra took her leave of the rambunctious
youth and approached the two brothers. "Um...aren't you a little bit far
from your gym?" she asked of Sabin.
Sabin turned to her, his blue eyes scanning her. "Well....ah, I guess that's a complement. Big brother, who is this?"
Edgar looked at the malachite-tressed woman and smiled. "This is Terra. Terra, Locke, this is Sabin."
Locke wiped off his dagger as he leaned against the cave arch. He grinned to himself as he heard his name.
"We're headed to the Sabil Mountains," announced Edgar.
"No more mountains, please!" wailed Locke, complete with a sour face.
Sabin shifted his weight onto his left leg as he crossed his arms dominantly. "Headed to see the Returners again, bro?" came Sabin's deep voice.
Edgar nodded as he looked back at Locke swiping at air with his knife. "My seclusion is now over. The world's sanity is diminishing. Take a look at Vargas. He was so obsessed with being my rival that he lost his path. He went ahead and killed his own father...my master. Now, what of all these trainees that roam here?! They're nothing better than
monsters now that they've fallen!" Sabin declared.
Locke shook his head. "There's not much in terms of these
'monsters'. Just some renegade parrots and some woolly mammoths
that REALLY shouldn't exist nowadays," he murmured.
Terra glanced at the fair-haired treasure hunter for a moment, and then disregarded his observation as she had with his candle discovery.
Edgar was pacing back and forth, shaking his arms and hands. "Revenge will be our's, then, my sibling! The Empire will pay for what they've done!" he cried.
Sabin stared at him dumbly. "Bro...what does the Empire have to do with Vargas?"
Edgar glared at Sabin for a moment before Sabin broke his stare with comment.
"Well...ah...heheh...how about I tag along? I mean, surely you can find a use for a 'bear' like me!!" confirmed Sabin with crescendoing
confidence. Emphatically, he flexed his bulging biceps.
Edgar, Terra, and Locke stopped what they were doing. Each one of them glanced at him, and then at each other. They all clearly wanted to say something, but nothing was said at all.
Sabin took this as a cue to put away his effort. "You don't know
when to shut up, do you, brother?" Edgar managed.
Sabin smiled uneasily at the zombielike gazes. "I....think that's a 'yes' to me comin'?" he said shamelessly.
Locke let out a hearty laugh as Terra held her gaze on Sabin.
"Yeah, why not? We could use a blitzer, after all!" Locke exclaimed.
Sabin blinked as he turned to Locke. "I don't like alcohol, though."
Locke stopped laughing. "Uh...what the hell are you talking about?"
"Master Duncan would rest easier if I helped bring the peace
about!" Sabin said simply.
Edgar covered his face with his right hand. "(Let me do the
talking, Sabin)".
Edgar's minor looked down at him. "What was that, bro? I didn't hear ya!" Sabin said, straining to listen to him.
Locke twitched as he listened to Sabin make himself more and
more well-known. "Let's get going! I can't take this anymore! It's like it's
twenty questions, but he doesn't even know how to count that high!" he
cried.
Sabin frowned at him. "Hey, I'm not stupid! I can too count that high! One...two....three...uh....four..." he began.
Terra lurched forward through the cave, past Locke. Edgar and Locke followed suit after her. "....seven....eight....ni...nine? Yeah, that was it...ten....huh?" Sabin looked around. "Wait up for me, you guys!!" he cried, running heavily after the travelers.
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Through the valley, the clouds parted to expound upon the
passing time. The flaming sunset warred with the fog and clouds of Mt.
Kolts, and the reddish hue manifested itself on the tallgrass fields. Locke led the group, stepping lightly and merrily, as the green blades barely bent under his weight. Terra was taken aback by the scenery, and marveled at each autumn tree. Edgar took it upon himself to watch out for Sabin, who was running all over the paths, tearing flowers
roots-and-all out of the earth, and picking the petals off of the layered
plants.
She hadn't even noticed that Locke was beside her, and she leapt at his murmured tone. "So, upset that this dream hunk Sabin turned out to be missing a couple of things upstairs?"
Terra hit him in the arm. "I never thought Sabin was handsome!"
Locke pointed at the lollygagging fighter behind Edgar. "He looks damn odd with those flowers, that's for sure."
Terra nodded, without even looking back. "Sure does," she
responded.
Locke shook his head. "Did I do something to upset ya, Terra?" he asked, taking on a concerned tone.
Terra looked him straight in the azure eyes. "You're just a
womanizer. Why should I trust you for a second?" she demanded of him.
Locke sighed. "You really think so? Nahh. I just have a soft spot for lovely ladies. Especially soft ones," he punned.
Terra groaned and spurred herself on. "I had heard Edgar was the same way. He doesn't seem to be too interested, though," she said.
Locke looked her over keenly. "You like Edgar then?!" he inquired.
Terra scoffed as she sped past him towards the Sabil Mountain Range ahead.
"Man...that can't be good. She has the hots for the king!" Locke
spoke to himself.
"Spit the flower out! You'll get sick!!" came Edgar's voice behind him.
Locke shook his head. "Girls these days have no taste."
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Chapter Three:
The True Path
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Coarse, deeply jade grass lashed out at the trio, attempting to
make them hurtle down the craggy cliffs of Mount Kolts. The mountain
range loomed over them, and mist gathered halfway to the summit.
Luckily, they wouldn't be heading to the summit.
"How much longer do we have to go on? I haven't walked this far in a long time..." Terra muttered.
Locke spoke up. "We just got started, love. Besides, unless we get Magitek units, we're gonna be walkin' an awful lot in this war."
Edgar fixed his ribbon as he trudged on with tenacity. "Do you
really believe that our actions will begin a war with the Empire? I find it
hard to believe that a small resistance faction could do anything other
than blitzkrieg tactics, if even that. It's also bad sport to rely on Lady
Terra quite that much," Edgar pondered.
Locke nodded. "I guess I see where you're going, Highness. It's a little hard to see that a tiny group like us could tear apart a superpower like the Imperials... but just because something is impossible to see doesn't mean that it's impossible."
Terra thought about their words as she walked. She became
enveloped in the conversation as much as the darkness of the cavern
path enveloped the three travelers. The wood creaked and shook under
their steps, and Edgar's steps thudded loudly on the planks. Locke's
steps were barely audible, and her own steps were slight clicks from her
heeled boots. Her feet still hurt.
She climbed crude, stone steps up to a higher cave exit, and the other two followed her. She heard voices outside. "Wait...I hear
something. Someone," she paused.
Locke and Edgar ground to a halt. "Imperial sympathizers. See their uniforms?" Locke said quietly, pointing at the two figures. By the light of the exit, a pair of tall, bulky men stood chatting. They garbed in red gi pants, but were otherwise unhindered by clothing. Their hair,
unsurpisingly, was pulled back in ponytails. Despite being monks, they
still had some semblance of style, Terra mused.
"Come on! They've got their guards down!" Edgar urged, drawing his sabre and rushing forth. Locke drew his dagger and flew towards the brawlers, and Terra belatedly brought up the rear.
"Maaan, I'm so glad Master Duncan bit the big one. He almost killed me the other day during kata!" said one of the brawlers.
Edgar, positioning himself carefully behind the other, brought his blade down hard straight down his skull. The talkative brawler's eyes widened as the left half of his companion's skull spun past his feet. He wiggled his toes slightly as the blood drenched his soles. "What's going on!?" he demanded, whirling on the trio. He feigned backwards to avoid Locke's swipe. Springing back at his assailant, the monk threw a reverse punch straight into Locke's solarplexis. Doubling over, Locke gasped for air and relief from the sudden sharp blow. Following up on the attack, the fighter jammed his knee into Locke's forehead, causing him to soar backwards onto his rear. Locke's leg twitched as blood eked from his face.
Terra put her arms forward and closed her eyes. Chanting an
incantation without truly knowing the words, she sent a blast of flames
at the monk, who screamed in agony, swatting at the air as if
shadowboxing. When the smoke cleared, the charred man stood shakily,
his clothing blackened and torn. He launched towards her with less
speed than he had when clobbering Locke, but it was still formidable to
catch her offguard. Edgar ran towards her, but he was not timely
enough to make it.
She drew her knife, and had it prepared to bat at him. Before he could so much as wind up for a one-two, however, he coughed up blood. His eyes were wide with surprise as he fell to one knee. Locke, bleeding profusely from the wound on his head, held his dirk with a sheath fashioned out of brawler. His eye which was not impaired by blood trails had a look of grim intensity to it as he kicked the fighter off of his dagger. "I told you..." Locke paused to cough, "..that I'd protect you."
Terra dropped her blade and rushed over to the damaged treasure hunter. Locke held up his hand to stop her, and straightened himself out, complaining softly about the pain. He reached into his pocket and pulled the stopper out of a potion vial, drinking the precious lapis liquid. As he pushed back his head to finish off the small vial, the wound on his forehead swiftly closed, and the blood dried and caked his nose and mouth. Throwing down the vial, it shattered into a dozen pieces as he wiped his mouth off on his sleeve and glanced up at the still-surprised Terra and the upset Edgar. Locke glanced sidelong at the regal fellow. "What's wrong?" Locke inquired of him.
Edgar's eyes widened as his gaze shifted to Terra for a moment, and then back at him. "I shall tell you later. Now..it is not important."
Locke shrugged, and walked outside, where the clouds and mist covered the daytime sky. There, not even twenty paces to his left, did he see another orifice. Moving on, he found himself again covered in
darkness. By the light, he could make out a long, turn-laden bridge.
Pausing on the edge, Terra toed off a rock into the abyss. The trio
stopped, counting the seconds. Five...ten...fifteen. Apparently, they didn't want to fall off the edge.
Terra led the way, able to vaguely make out the bridge in the
shadows, and stepped off of the bridge. Locke followed behind,
unconcerned with his steps, yet Edgar looked at his feet almost piously.
The dusky light of day was welcome, and they were not,
thankfully, starved for light as of yet. Terra trodded on, rounding the
large stakes for a rickety suspension bridge. Locke poked at the
algae-dressed stakes, as if he were testing their abilities.
Terra strode across, taking care not to invest power into her
steps, for wariness of the bridge's dilapidation. Halfway through, she
thought she felt something odd. It was not that of physicality, but
more...psychological. She looked off the bridge to the left and the right,
but saw nothing. Was it simply her mixed emotions about joining a
resistance group to challenge the Empire? She stopped a moment in
thought.
She lurched forward with a yelp when two entities crashed into her shortly thereafter. Whirling on the figures, she found a red-faced Edgar and a shocked Locke. "Hahah! Try not to stare at Terra's ass so closely, next time, Edgar!" he chuckled.
Edgar shook a fist at the treasure hunter. "You were looking as well!!" he shouted at him.
Locke shrugged. "What's your point?" he asked.
Terra growled as she grabbed them both by the elbow and forced them in front of her. "Stay up there, you two!" she ordered.
Locke laughed harder. "You want your revenge on us by looking at our asses, now?"
Terra was about to retort unkindly as she heard a noise. Turning, she noticed three Cirpius birds swooping down at them all. "Looks out!" she cried, ducking. Locke and Edgar dashed off of the bridge.
"Terra, over here!!" Edgar exclaimed, motioned to her with a hand.
Terra ran as much as she felt would keep up the bridge, keeping her head bowed low. A Cirpius divebombed her in the back of the head, rendering her unconscious. Locke drew his mythril dagger as he narrowly evaded a swooping avian. Seeing the downed sorceress, he
rushed towards the Cirpius responsible. "Son of a bitch parrot!!" Locke
cried, throwing himself at the bird. As the Cirpius readied a set of talons,
Locke landed on its back, weighing it down to the moist grass. With a
mighty thrust, he pierced the bird's skull with ease.
"Time for some cruel death!!" Edgar yelled triumphantly.
Locke winced. "Nobody enjoys your razor-sharp skill at taunting, my liege," he stated.
Edgar, ignoring Locke, pulled out a large phonograph, and set it upon the ground. Kicking it, the machine belched horrible tunes and
melodies. Fast voices came into place, and the Cirpius spun around
uncontrollably. As they tore each others' flesh apart with screeches and
squawks, Locke shook his head.
"At the very least, you make up for it in some area, alike this one," Locke conceded. Rushing over to Terra, he tickled her with a phoenix down feather, and watched mirthfully as she laughed back to life.
"What...happened?" Terra asked softly.
"Amnesia again?!" Locke asked suddenly, and then smiled at her when she frowned. "We rid the bridge of the parrot population," Locke said simply.
Edgar groaned. "They're called Cirpius, Locke. They're very
territorial, in case you didn't know that," he stated, taking the needle off
of the record and putting the machine into his pack again.
"What the hell where you playing?" Locke asked.
Edgar grinned, and pulled out the recording disc. Across the
glossy black surface read the nonsensical word "Chumbawamba". Locke
arched an eyebrow. "While it might not be so bad for us, it wreaks havoc
on animals," Edgar noted.
Locke, shaking his head, glanced around. It was so peaceful now that the enemies were gone from sight.
Rustle. Locke's ears perked up, and he looked around more
carefully.
Rustle, rustle. Locke looked above him, where a black figure was standing. As he pointed up at the figure, the man found that he, too, was being watched. He launched himself off of where he stood to a further point on the mountain, where he was no longer visible.
"Who was that? He really needs to learn how to hide better," Terra said.
"That...would be a visitor, it seems," Edgar said, with a hesitation on yielding the response.
"He needs to have less baggy clothing...those pants make noise like crazy," Locke admonished the stranger, and walked on into the next cavern.
After a short jaunt in the dark, the three arrived at a long grassy path. "This could take a while to walk through..." Edgar told Terra.
"A while, nothing! We can cross this in mere minutes! Here, just jump over this rock like so..." Locke showed off by sailing over a large rock in the path. "Come on!" he called from the other side.
"I...can't jump that high," Terra muttered.
"I'll mess up my clothes," Edgar called.
"Mess up your clothes?! Dammit, Edgar...fine! I'll be here when you guys get here!" Locke fumed.
The light-haired adventurer was indeed there fifteen minutes
later, his bandanna pulled over his eyes, and his left foot placed on the
rock which he had leapt over before. "Ready?" He asked them, pulling
back up his bandanna.
The band of rebels trudged onwards, through the path.
Rustle, rustle.
Locke halted in his tracks. "Show your face, you miserable excuse for a ninja!" demanded Locke.
The one who was following them previously came into view before them. His long silver hair was tied back, as seemed was customary to most people in the world. His massive form blocked the next cave quite nicely. His baggy gi pants were all that the man wore, for his sinewy tan body shone darkly in the dusky evening sky. He wore a cruel smile as he spoke. "Sabin sent you, right?" he asked, not expecting an answer. He turned his back on the group, and jumped into the cave wall. Springing off of the stone, he ricocheted towards the three with a wide roundhouse kick. The three fell to their knees, looking up at the man.
"Vargas, where is Sabin?!" Edgar demanded, rising to his feet.
Vargas laughed loudly. "I was about to ask you the very same
thing! Seeing that you don't know either, you will die here and now!"
Vargas declared.
"One thing to remember in your next life, pal! Take some sneaking lessons, because you couldn't hide if your life depended on it!" taunted Locke.
Vargas bellowed ferociously, and stepped away from the cavern entrance. Two answering roars came from behind him, and then their owners flanked Vargas. A pair of Ipooh bears stood on their hind legs, their dirty claws swinging in midair.
Terra held her arms out at one of the approaching bears, sending a blaze throughout the beast's coarse fur. Enraged by the flames, the Ipooh slashed at Edgar. With a cry, he slumped to the ground, blood oozing from his cuts.
Locke responded to the fall by lunging at the Ipooh. Piercing its chest with his blade repeatedly, the bear fell to the grass below with a
lamentatious cry. The Ipooh's twin swung at Locke, who leapt hastily out
of the way, dirk in tow.
Vargas threw an uppercut at Locke, and caught him square in the chin. Tearing from the pain, he backpedaled to avoid further damage for the duration of the blurriness. Terra held up her hands once again, and sent a fire spell on Vargas. He cursed a little, and turned towards her.
"Thanks, Locke," said Edgar's voice. While Vargas was distracted, Locke had applied a phoenix's down feather on Edgar, whose wounds still oozed a little. Edgar woozily picked up his regal-looking sword and chopped at the rushing Ipooh. With a thud, the bear fell in place with its severed bestial head.
Vargas looked at all of them, and smiled grimly. "That's IT! Time to die!!" he cried at them, as he assumed a martial arts stance.
"No! It's your time, Vargas!" came a shout.
Terra glanced over at the interfering stranger. He had golden hair drawn back into a ponytail and spiked backwards in front. His massive physique protruded from his tight sleeveless shirt, and his baggy white gi slacks flowed like plumes of white smoke blowing in the wind. "You've really crossed the line this time!" the man cried again.
"Sabin?!" said Edgar and Vargas simultaneously.
"You killed Master Duncan, didn't you?! Why, Vargas? Why did you kill your own father!?" demanded the Sabin, the newcomer.
"Naive fool! He chose you to be the successor of the dojo! You, over his own son! His ONLY SON!!" screamed Vargas.
Sabin turned on the high rock he stood on, facing away from the group. His pants fluttered and flapped with the breeze's helpful hands. His eyes were downcast, and his voice came rather quiet in comparison to Vargas' furiful tonality. "No...he chose you, Vargas."
"Lies! All lies!" retorted Vargas powerfully.
"Master wanted you as his heir, not me. He knew of your fine
spirit, old friend!" Sabin reaffirmed, leaping off of the rock he stood
upon.
"LIAR!! Your time has come! Taste my Blizzard Fist!" shouted
Vargas again. His left heel slid back into the dirt, and a small mound
collected at his foot's base. Twisting back his torso, he spun around with
his right fist leading. A black wave of energy slowly moved towards
them, and then flew at them with the subitolike speed. Ice crystals and
snow thrashed at the four, and they all tried to hold their ground against
the snowstorm. Edgar lost his footing and tumbled backwards onto the
grass. Locke, too, lost his footing, and followed Edgar's forced direction.
Terra finally was flung away from the immediate battleground as well.
Sabin stood tall as the attack subsided. Ice frosted the grass
blades, and Sabin's own clothes were a slightly lighter shade of blue. He
hadn't, however, moved even an inch from his place where he stood
pre-blizzard.
"You've grown strong, Sabin. It will be a great pleasure to kill two of my greatest adversaries in such a short span of time!" Vargas cackled.
Vargas closed the gap between the two martial artists, and threw a roundhouse at Sabin swiftly. Blocking the onslaught with his forearm, Sabin threw a left hook, catching Vargas on the cheek with surprise. As he stumbled away, Sabin lunged with a straightline punch, putting all of his weight into it. Vargas sailed clear over Sabin's attack, kicking him in the back of the head as he did so. Sabin whirled on Vargas and clenched his fists tightly. "You'll never escape your fate, Sabin! Time is growing short for you!" Vargas exclaimed as he scowled at his rival.
Sabin launched himself at Vargas, planting both of his feet on the large man's chest in an exploder. As they both fell to the ground and
rhythmatically sprung up to their feet, Sabin took a step away from
Vargas. "There's no chance at me beating him at this rate...dammit,
there's no choice left!" Sabin battled with himself.
Just then, Vargas performed a crescent kick which made contact with Sabin's gut. Wincing in pain, Sabin bared his teeth. His fists flew rapidly, seeming to be a hundred fists at once with unbelievable speed.
His fists' afterimages confused the wounded trio, and his fists launched outward before they even recoiled. Vargas felt the last blow before the first, but they all hit at the same time. Crashing to the ground, Vargas took in his last breath.
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The three sat up as Sabin walked towards them. "Brother!" Edgar called. Sabin smiled as he hugged his brother.
Locke leaned towards Terra. "Just between you and me, but I
think that our king isn't, well, as appreciative of the fairer sex than you
or me," he whispered to her.
Terra turned to him. "What do you mean by MY appreciation on the fairer sex?!" she whispered back fiercely.
Locke winced. "Well, it was worth trying to ask," he spoke aloud.
A furrowed-browed Terra took her leave of the rambunctious
youth and approached the two brothers. "Um...aren't you a little bit far
from your gym?" she asked of Sabin.
Sabin turned to her, his blue eyes scanning her. "Well....ah, I guess that's a complement. Big brother, who is this?"
Edgar looked at the malachite-tressed woman and smiled. "This is Terra. Terra, Locke, this is Sabin."
Locke wiped off his dagger as he leaned against the cave arch. He grinned to himself as he heard his name.
"We're headed to the Sabil Mountains," announced Edgar.
"No more mountains, please!" wailed Locke, complete with a sour face.
Sabin shifted his weight onto his left leg as he crossed his arms dominantly. "Headed to see the Returners again, bro?" came Sabin's deep voice.
Edgar nodded as he looked back at Locke swiping at air with his knife. "My seclusion is now over. The world's sanity is diminishing. Take a look at Vargas. He was so obsessed with being my rival that he lost his path. He went ahead and killed his own father...my master. Now, what of all these trainees that roam here?! They're nothing better than
monsters now that they've fallen!" Sabin declared.
Locke shook his head. "There's not much in terms of these
'monsters'. Just some renegade parrots and some woolly mammoths
that REALLY shouldn't exist nowadays," he murmured.
Terra glanced at the fair-haired treasure hunter for a moment, and then disregarded his observation as she had with his candle discovery.
Edgar was pacing back and forth, shaking his arms and hands. "Revenge will be our's, then, my sibling! The Empire will pay for what they've done!" he cried.
Sabin stared at him dumbly. "Bro...what does the Empire have to do with Vargas?"
Edgar glared at Sabin for a moment before Sabin broke his stare with comment.
"Well...ah...heheh...how about I tag along? I mean, surely you can find a use for a 'bear' like me!!" confirmed Sabin with crescendoing
confidence. Emphatically, he flexed his bulging biceps.
Edgar, Terra, and Locke stopped what they were doing. Each one of them glanced at him, and then at each other. They all clearly wanted to say something, but nothing was said at all.
Sabin took this as a cue to put away his effort. "You don't know
when to shut up, do you, brother?" Edgar managed.
Sabin smiled uneasily at the zombielike gazes. "I....think that's a 'yes' to me comin'?" he said shamelessly.
Locke let out a hearty laugh as Terra held her gaze on Sabin.
"Yeah, why not? We could use a blitzer, after all!" Locke exclaimed.
Sabin blinked as he turned to Locke. "I don't like alcohol, though."
Locke stopped laughing. "Uh...what the hell are you talking about?"
"Master Duncan would rest easier if I helped bring the peace
about!" Sabin said simply.
Edgar covered his face with his right hand. "(Let me do the
talking, Sabin)".
Edgar's minor looked down at him. "What was that, bro? I didn't hear ya!" Sabin said, straining to listen to him.
Locke twitched as he listened to Sabin make himself more and
more well-known. "Let's get going! I can't take this anymore! It's like it's
twenty questions, but he doesn't even know how to count that high!" he
cried.
Sabin frowned at him. "Hey, I'm not stupid! I can too count that high! One...two....three...uh....four..." he began.
Terra lurched forward through the cave, past Locke. Edgar and Locke followed suit after her. "....seven....eight....ni...nine? Yeah, that was it...ten....huh?" Sabin looked around. "Wait up for me, you guys!!" he cried, running heavily after the travelers.
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Through the valley, the clouds parted to expound upon the
passing time. The flaming sunset warred with the fog and clouds of Mt.
Kolts, and the reddish hue manifested itself on the tallgrass fields. Locke led the group, stepping lightly and merrily, as the green blades barely bent under his weight. Terra was taken aback by the scenery, and marveled at each autumn tree. Edgar took it upon himself to watch out for Sabin, who was running all over the paths, tearing flowers
roots-and-all out of the earth, and picking the petals off of the layered
plants.
She hadn't even noticed that Locke was beside her, and she leapt at his murmured tone. "So, upset that this dream hunk Sabin turned out to be missing a couple of things upstairs?"
Terra hit him in the arm. "I never thought Sabin was handsome!"
Locke pointed at the lollygagging fighter behind Edgar. "He looks damn odd with those flowers, that's for sure."
Terra nodded, without even looking back. "Sure does," she
responded.
Locke shook his head. "Did I do something to upset ya, Terra?" he asked, taking on a concerned tone.
Terra looked him straight in the azure eyes. "You're just a
womanizer. Why should I trust you for a second?" she demanded of him.
Locke sighed. "You really think so? Nahh. I just have a soft spot for lovely ladies. Especially soft ones," he punned.
Terra groaned and spurred herself on. "I had heard Edgar was the same way. He doesn't seem to be too interested, though," she said.
Locke looked her over keenly. "You like Edgar then?!" he inquired.
Terra scoffed as she sped past him towards the Sabil Mountain Range ahead.
"Man...that can't be good. She has the hots for the king!" Locke
spoke to himself.
"Spit the flower out! You'll get sick!!" came Edgar's voice behind him.
Locke shook his head. "Girls these days have no taste."
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