Lunar Cry: The Journey Begins
Chapter 3
by Mariye
======
Disclaimer: This was inspired by the FF8 series. Is it a prequel?
Or a sequel... hmmm... could Hyne have come to our dimension 2? Or
is our world really the world of FF8, only in the future?
======
[The plains between the woodland Haven and the St. Louis Haven]
"I thought you said it wasn't that far." Terentia said while leaning
against a huge elm tree. She exhaled and caused a strand of hair that
had fallen in her face to move aside. Hasani sat down on a grassy
patch and pulled out an old map.
"Well, aparently this map that Wedge gave me is a bit... outdated.
It doesn't even show that railroad track we passed..." He smoothed
a corner, and it ripped off. He stared at it, then crumpled it and
tossed it aside.
"If we had followed the tracks like I had wanted..." Terentia looked
up and grabbed for the lowest tree branch. She pulled herself up on
top of it and sat on it.
"Then we would have been out in the open and attacked by beasts and
monsters every five seconds. Plus we might have run into that Baign
guy." Hasani took out a pen and traced a small line from where they
just were, then smiled and placed it back in his pocket. He turned to
look at Terentia, only to find she was halfway up the tree.
"What are you doing?" He asked, picking up the map and refolding it
according to the creases. He tried repeatedly, but it would not refold.
He looked at the front and silently cursed the man named Rand McNally
who had drawn that particular map.
"Gonna see if I can see any Haven flags." Terentia said without
pausing as she continued her climb.
"Yeah, that WOULD work, except this Haven is in the dead center of
this forest, and is probably surrounded by trees. You wouldn't see
any sign of it."
Terentia sighed, slid down a few branches and looked in his direction
with an exhasperated look. "Fine. Then I'm climbing to avoid those
overgrown mosquitos that are heading this way."
"Overgrown mosquitos?" Hasani turned around. Flying toward him
were a squadron of blue bugs that were each about three feet long and
wide.
"Bite Bugs? But what are they doing here?" Hasani asked. It was then
that the bugs' leader saw him and started right for him. It started
to try to attack Hasani. He darted forward and slashed with his
sword, as he hit the bug, a shot went out, and the bug fell.
Terentia leaped from the tree and ran up to him.
"What is that? And what was that noise?"
"I'll tell you later. Let's get rid of these nuisances first."
They quickly dispatched the five bugs, and after collecting the two
potions they had left behind, Terentia immediately stood in front of
Hasani.
"Well?"
"Well what?" He asked as he slowly cleaned the blade of his weapon.
"What is that?" Terentia pushed the rag he was using away. She
inspected the weapon he held.
"This from the woman who barely speaks the entire journey and is
always so formal? Actual curiosity?" She gave him a look.
"Okay. I'm sorry. I'm not used to co-operating and co-existing with
people for extended periods of time. I'll work on it. Now what is
that?"
"Its my own design. I call it a gunblade."
"Gunblade?" Terentia backed up as Hasani lifted the blade and
swiped and attacked air.
"Yeah. I liked swords and guns, and when I was trying to decide on
a weapon, I decided to make my decision easier and combined the two.
It's hard to master at first, but once you're used to it, its the
best weapon you can use. Very handy." Hasani stopped and looked at
Terentia.
"Must have been expensive though..."
"A little. My dad was a cop though, so I just used his old gun. The
sword was expensive though, and it was hard to find a way to combine
them..." Hasani sheathed his gunblade and looked at her. "It looks
like if we keep heading that way we'll be at the other Haven soon."
She nodded and they started walking.
"You must have been proud of him." Terentia said as she kicked a
rock that dared be in her path.
"Who?"
"Your dad." The two walked in silence for a while.
"Yeah. I guess. I didn't know him that well. He died when I was about
7 during the Lunar Cry. What about you? You proud of your parents?"
"I prefer not to talk about it."
"Fine."
---
[about 1 hour later]
"Finally!" Hasani walked into the town and up to the sign announcing
the Haven. "Timber Haven! That's what I thought it was called.
Wedge kept saying it was something different though. So where should
we start? Store? Restaurant?" Terentia stretched and looked around.
The town looked deserted.
"Let's try the Haven first. See if they want help and where everyone
is."
"Fine"
The two walked to a large building in the back of town made entirely
of black brick. Huge copper doors blocked the entrance, and all the
windows were bricked shut. Hasani and Terentia exchanged a look.
"This is the first Haven I've seen like this, and I've even been to
the Orlando Fisherman's Haven and the Haven on the lower continent.
What are they calling that now?"
"Centra. I know. I've never seen anything like this either... its
kind of eerie. Maybe we're too late..." Hasani pulled the handle on
the door. It didn't budge.
"Do you think Baign would possible slaughter a whole village and
board of its Haven? Seems like a lot of work that would take too much
time with very little benefits." Terentia grabbed the handle Hasani
held and they pulled at the same time. Nothing happened.
"You never know. People say he's a mad man. Crazy people do crazy
things." They both gave up on the door. Terentia kicked it in
frustration. They heard a scurrying noise on the other side of the
door, and a small panel opened in front of them. A pair of blue eyes
peered out at them.
"My how the forests of Timber have changed..."
"What?" Terentia looked strangely at the eyes.
"My how the forests of Timber have..."
"We heard you the first time." Hasani said while leaning against the
door. "We just came here from the St. Louis Haven. Heard you were
attacked by Baign and figured you'd wanna hire some extra Rogues for
a while. What do you say?"
"My how the forests of Timber..."
"Is this some kind of test? Listen. We came to help. If you don't
want it, fine." Terentia started to walk away. Hasani watched her
start to go.
"Wedge only told us you were attacked. That's it." Hasani said.
"Wedge sent you?" The voice said. Terentia noticed the change and
walked back over.
"Yeah. He gave us an old defective map too." Hasani said, pulling out
the tattered map that was sloppily folded back into a cube. The
eyes shifted around.
"Fine. Since you know Wedge, I'll try and make it easier for you.
My how the forests of Timber have changed. Now pick one of these
phrases. Is it A: But the Chocobos are still here. B: But the
Moggles are still here. C: But the Owls are still here."
Hasani and Terentia looked at each other.
"What's a moggle?" Terentia asked as she folded her arms across
her chest.
"They're koala cats with an antenna and bat wings. What's a Chocobo?"
"Kinda like a yellow ostrich." Terentia looked at the eyes of
the man behind the door. "How about C, but the Owls are still here?"
"Lucky guess." The eyes vanished. Hasani looked at Terentia.
"Do you even know what owls are?" She whispered to him as the copper
door started to open.
"I think they used to be a kind of bird..."
======
[the end... more coming...]
Chapter 3
by Mariye
======
Disclaimer: This was inspired by the FF8 series. Is it a prequel?
Or a sequel... hmmm... could Hyne have come to our dimension 2? Or
is our world really the world of FF8, only in the future?
======
[The plains between the woodland Haven and the St. Louis Haven]
"I thought you said it wasn't that far." Terentia said while leaning
against a huge elm tree. She exhaled and caused a strand of hair that
had fallen in her face to move aside. Hasani sat down on a grassy
patch and pulled out an old map.
"Well, aparently this map that Wedge gave me is a bit... outdated.
It doesn't even show that railroad track we passed..." He smoothed
a corner, and it ripped off. He stared at it, then crumpled it and
tossed it aside.
"If we had followed the tracks like I had wanted..." Terentia looked
up and grabbed for the lowest tree branch. She pulled herself up on
top of it and sat on it.
"Then we would have been out in the open and attacked by beasts and
monsters every five seconds. Plus we might have run into that Baign
guy." Hasani took out a pen and traced a small line from where they
just were, then smiled and placed it back in his pocket. He turned to
look at Terentia, only to find she was halfway up the tree.
"What are you doing?" He asked, picking up the map and refolding it
according to the creases. He tried repeatedly, but it would not refold.
He looked at the front and silently cursed the man named Rand McNally
who had drawn that particular map.
"Gonna see if I can see any Haven flags." Terentia said without
pausing as she continued her climb.
"Yeah, that WOULD work, except this Haven is in the dead center of
this forest, and is probably surrounded by trees. You wouldn't see
any sign of it."
Terentia sighed, slid down a few branches and looked in his direction
with an exhasperated look. "Fine. Then I'm climbing to avoid those
overgrown mosquitos that are heading this way."
"Overgrown mosquitos?" Hasani turned around. Flying toward him
were a squadron of blue bugs that were each about three feet long and
wide.
"Bite Bugs? But what are they doing here?" Hasani asked. It was then
that the bugs' leader saw him and started right for him. It started
to try to attack Hasani. He darted forward and slashed with his
sword, as he hit the bug, a shot went out, and the bug fell.
Terentia leaped from the tree and ran up to him.
"What is that? And what was that noise?"
"I'll tell you later. Let's get rid of these nuisances first."
They quickly dispatched the five bugs, and after collecting the two
potions they had left behind, Terentia immediately stood in front of
Hasani.
"Well?"
"Well what?" He asked as he slowly cleaned the blade of his weapon.
"What is that?" Terentia pushed the rag he was using away. She
inspected the weapon he held.
"This from the woman who barely speaks the entire journey and is
always so formal? Actual curiosity?" She gave him a look.
"Okay. I'm sorry. I'm not used to co-operating and co-existing with
people for extended periods of time. I'll work on it. Now what is
that?"
"Its my own design. I call it a gunblade."
"Gunblade?" Terentia backed up as Hasani lifted the blade and
swiped and attacked air.
"Yeah. I liked swords and guns, and when I was trying to decide on
a weapon, I decided to make my decision easier and combined the two.
It's hard to master at first, but once you're used to it, its the
best weapon you can use. Very handy." Hasani stopped and looked at
Terentia.
"Must have been expensive though..."
"A little. My dad was a cop though, so I just used his old gun. The
sword was expensive though, and it was hard to find a way to combine
them..." Hasani sheathed his gunblade and looked at her. "It looks
like if we keep heading that way we'll be at the other Haven soon."
She nodded and they started walking.
"You must have been proud of him." Terentia said as she kicked a
rock that dared be in her path.
"Who?"
"Your dad." The two walked in silence for a while.
"Yeah. I guess. I didn't know him that well. He died when I was about
7 during the Lunar Cry. What about you? You proud of your parents?"
"I prefer not to talk about it."
"Fine."
---
[about 1 hour later]
"Finally!" Hasani walked into the town and up to the sign announcing
the Haven. "Timber Haven! That's what I thought it was called.
Wedge kept saying it was something different though. So where should
we start? Store? Restaurant?" Terentia stretched and looked around.
The town looked deserted.
"Let's try the Haven first. See if they want help and where everyone
is."
"Fine"
The two walked to a large building in the back of town made entirely
of black brick. Huge copper doors blocked the entrance, and all the
windows were bricked shut. Hasani and Terentia exchanged a look.
"This is the first Haven I've seen like this, and I've even been to
the Orlando Fisherman's Haven and the Haven on the lower continent.
What are they calling that now?"
"Centra. I know. I've never seen anything like this either... its
kind of eerie. Maybe we're too late..." Hasani pulled the handle on
the door. It didn't budge.
"Do you think Baign would possible slaughter a whole village and
board of its Haven? Seems like a lot of work that would take too much
time with very little benefits." Terentia grabbed the handle Hasani
held and they pulled at the same time. Nothing happened.
"You never know. People say he's a mad man. Crazy people do crazy
things." They both gave up on the door. Terentia kicked it in
frustration. They heard a scurrying noise on the other side of the
door, and a small panel opened in front of them. A pair of blue eyes
peered out at them.
"My how the forests of Timber have changed..."
"What?" Terentia looked strangely at the eyes.
"My how the forests of Timber have..."
"We heard you the first time." Hasani said while leaning against the
door. "We just came here from the St. Louis Haven. Heard you were
attacked by Baign and figured you'd wanna hire some extra Rogues for
a while. What do you say?"
"My how the forests of Timber..."
"Is this some kind of test? Listen. We came to help. If you don't
want it, fine." Terentia started to walk away. Hasani watched her
start to go.
"Wedge only told us you were attacked. That's it." Hasani said.
"Wedge sent you?" The voice said. Terentia noticed the change and
walked back over.
"Yeah. He gave us an old defective map too." Hasani said, pulling out
the tattered map that was sloppily folded back into a cube. The
eyes shifted around.
"Fine. Since you know Wedge, I'll try and make it easier for you.
My how the forests of Timber have changed. Now pick one of these
phrases. Is it A: But the Chocobos are still here. B: But the
Moggles are still here. C: But the Owls are still here."
Hasani and Terentia looked at each other.
"What's a moggle?" Terentia asked as she folded her arms across
her chest.
"They're koala cats with an antenna and bat wings. What's a Chocobo?"
"Kinda like a yellow ostrich." Terentia looked at the eyes of
the man behind the door. "How about C, but the Owls are still here?"
"Lucky guess." The eyes vanished. Hasani looked at Terentia.
"Do you even know what owls are?" She whispered to him as the copper
door started to open.
"I think they used to be a kind of bird..."
======
[the end... more coming...]