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Seeing Beyond, Chap. 1
I am Blank.
"Just give it another turn, Dell!"
The fifteen year-old Dell snorted. On one hand, the propeller hadn't started after ten straight preps and was unlikely to start this time. On the other hand.he was already about as greased up as he could be, his normally white shirt sported interesting hues of murky blues and grays, and the old coot deserved to be humored. He'd been a genius..once.
Dell went ahead and spun the propeller. What the hell. To his amazement, the engine put-puttered, coughed twice, and roared to life, the single propeller blurring into invisibility. The tiny airship, dubbed the Serendipity, shuddered in its clamps, anxious to be off for its first trip in twenty years.
"Well, I'll be damned." Dell stepped back, an incredulous grin cutting through a blackened face. He cast a glance upwards, where the old man was doing a ridiculous victory dance up on the "bridge" of the "airship." Both terms were used loosely, as the entire craft spanned maybe thirty yards from bow to stern. The tiny Skipper-class airboat, designed by Cid VI, saw barely any use anymore.but the old man had acquired this one second-hand somewhere, and had somehow got it to run.
The old man waved wildly. "Come ye, come ye, from far and wide! Geddup here, Dell, she's rarin' to go!" A toothy cackle.
Dell heaved himself over the railing, climbing up the extended ramp that led onto the Serendipity. Squeezing between tightly-packed machinery and the tiny Mist engine, he finally got onto the boat's version of a bridge, a tiny bubble cockpit with two seats.
As he pulled himself into his seat, he couldn't help but grumble fondly at the old man. "She'll never hold together, yaknow.I don't give us three hundred yards before we spiral down into the Cleyra desert."
The old man hardly heard him. Euphoria had set in. Aged fingers dancing over the primitive controls, he retracted the clamps and gunned the engine, and the tiny airship catapulted off into the air above their little home in the Gizamaluke Mountains, separating Burmecia from Lindblum. This was flying for the sheer joy of it, flying for the sake of laughing at the ground and dancing through the clouds.
They drifted about for a while, hugging the mountains, clouds above, Mist below. Dell had always thought the Mist looked so much prettier when viewed from the air. He was in the process of reshuffling his seat when the old man slanted a glance across.
"Care to drive, sonny?" the old man asked slyly, fingers rubbing the control stick.
"Hell yes, old man!" Dell responded. Drive? DRIVE?! Dell lived to fly these things. The old man grinned, and flipped a switch, flipping control over to Dell's side. Immediately, Dell sent the Serendipity into a steep starboard dive, spiraling down into the upper layers of the Mist.
"Whaddya say we buzz Lindblum, eh? S'been years since I've seen the Grand Castle and all those cool ships they're building." Dell had always been fascinated by Lindblum.its technology, it's long succession of innovative regents, and its air-oriented lifestyle. He suspected he had to be from Lindblum.there was no other way to explain the sky in his blood.
Not even waiting for an answer, Dell kicked the airship into high gear and sent them hurtling forward. He was excited as hell. It'd been too damn long since he'd gotten to fly.ever since that "accident" with the Ifrit-class.but that really hadn't been his fault! The damn elevators had jammed, and he'd been in a little bit of a steep dive.he'd managed to save the airship, actually. Well.let's just leave it at he managed to survive.
The Serendipity soared towards Lindblum.
"Sir!"
"What is it, private!"
"Airship, incoming! Coming straight for us! No clearance!" the Lindblum private's voice soared up into the upper registers. War was not his cup of tea, and the recently-ignited war between Lindblum and Alexandria played hell with his peaceful demeanor.
The Lindblum sergeant was a hard-nosed, scarred man. This was not the first war he'd seen. He moved up behind the private, coolly focusing on the small blip aimed right at them.
He took a deep breath, and turned his back.
"Take it out."
The private jolted. "But, sir! What if.."
"TAKE IT OUT!" the sergeant bellowed. "If it doesn't have clearance, it's an enemy! You understand that, private? We are at WAR! Blow it out of the sky!"
The private swallowed. War really wasn't his cup of tea.
"Y-yes sir."
"Look, you old fool! The Castle is just ahead!" Dell would've hopped up and down in excitement, but logistics prevented that. Instead, he turned to beam excitedly at his co-pilot, who hadn't spoken much recently.
The old man stirred. "Where are all the airships?"
Dell shook his head in impatience. The airships? Who cared? "They're probably just in for maintenance, or maybe there's a regatta going on over the ocean. How the hell would I know? But lookit! Ain't that castle a beaut? There's the Falcon's Gate!"
The old man started, quite suddenly. He turned to regard Dell, and the boy was startled to see that the old man's eyes held no small measure of fear."
"Turn back, Dell! NOW!" he shouted, apparently forgetting that all he had to do was switch control back to his side.
Dell blinked. "What? What're you talking about? Turn back? We just got here! Look, man, there's the ca-OH, SHIT!!!!!!!"
For Dell had indeed turned to look at the castle, and what he saw was the potent barrage of a MK II Lindblum Magicannon, firing deadly Fire blasts and monsters. Dell flung the ship into a steep turn, just as the first blazes of energy shot past them.
"Goddamn! Why the hell're they shooting? What're they thinking? You wanna take over, old man?" But the old man was frozen, hands trembling, eyes riveted on the incoming projectiles. Dell swore loudly, and flung the old boat into a sickening loop of evasive maneuvering. All around them, cannon fire rattled the little boat from a series of near misses.
"Don't worry, old man, they could hit a Theatre Ship with the kind of flak they're putting up." Dell said, trying very hard to decide who he was reassuring. But, indeed, the intensity seemed to be lessening as they rocketed away from Lindblum. Mere seconds later, the barrage suddenly stopped.
Dell turned to eye the old man, with a cocky grin. "Y'see, old man? No problem. Why, I could outmaneuver those guys in my sle-"
And then the Homing Bomb hit.
And so the airship plummeted downwards.
And so it hit.
He awoke, and immediately regretted it. Pain lanced through every nerve he owned. His body, quailing in indignation, decided to flop back to unconsciousness.
He awoke again, the pain significantly reduced. He was in some kind of makeshift hammock, it felt like, and the searing pains were reduced to dull throbbings.. Suddenly, he was hit with a multitude of mental questions.
"Who am I?"
"Where am I?"
"Why can't I see?"
His brain, unable to deal with the combined physical and mental agony, promptly stepped out again, and he lapsed into merciful nothingness.
He awoke, a third time. None of the questions were answered.he still didn't know who he was, he still didn't know where he was, and he still couldn't see.
He flinched in his hammock when he heard a voice. A middle-aged man, it sounded like. "We found ye, 'alf dead, out in th' forest. S'a miracle ye're alive a' all. Wha's yer name, boy?"
The boy closed unseeing eyes, searching for answers. "I.I dunno.everything's a total blank."
Yeah, review it if you like, read it if you like, eat tofu if you like! Just be real, okay?
All words by me are copyrighted by me, and if you use them, I'll be very, very displeased.
Seeing Beyond, Chap. 1
I am Blank.
"Just give it another turn, Dell!"
The fifteen year-old Dell snorted. On one hand, the propeller hadn't started after ten straight preps and was unlikely to start this time. On the other hand.he was already about as greased up as he could be, his normally white shirt sported interesting hues of murky blues and grays, and the old coot deserved to be humored. He'd been a genius..once.
Dell went ahead and spun the propeller. What the hell. To his amazement, the engine put-puttered, coughed twice, and roared to life, the single propeller blurring into invisibility. The tiny airship, dubbed the Serendipity, shuddered in its clamps, anxious to be off for its first trip in twenty years.
"Well, I'll be damned." Dell stepped back, an incredulous grin cutting through a blackened face. He cast a glance upwards, where the old man was doing a ridiculous victory dance up on the "bridge" of the "airship." Both terms were used loosely, as the entire craft spanned maybe thirty yards from bow to stern. The tiny Skipper-class airboat, designed by Cid VI, saw barely any use anymore.but the old man had acquired this one second-hand somewhere, and had somehow got it to run.
The old man waved wildly. "Come ye, come ye, from far and wide! Geddup here, Dell, she's rarin' to go!" A toothy cackle.
Dell heaved himself over the railing, climbing up the extended ramp that led onto the Serendipity. Squeezing between tightly-packed machinery and the tiny Mist engine, he finally got onto the boat's version of a bridge, a tiny bubble cockpit with two seats.
As he pulled himself into his seat, he couldn't help but grumble fondly at the old man. "She'll never hold together, yaknow.I don't give us three hundred yards before we spiral down into the Cleyra desert."
The old man hardly heard him. Euphoria had set in. Aged fingers dancing over the primitive controls, he retracted the clamps and gunned the engine, and the tiny airship catapulted off into the air above their little home in the Gizamaluke Mountains, separating Burmecia from Lindblum. This was flying for the sheer joy of it, flying for the sake of laughing at the ground and dancing through the clouds.
They drifted about for a while, hugging the mountains, clouds above, Mist below. Dell had always thought the Mist looked so much prettier when viewed from the air. He was in the process of reshuffling his seat when the old man slanted a glance across.
"Care to drive, sonny?" the old man asked slyly, fingers rubbing the control stick.
"Hell yes, old man!" Dell responded. Drive? DRIVE?! Dell lived to fly these things. The old man grinned, and flipped a switch, flipping control over to Dell's side. Immediately, Dell sent the Serendipity into a steep starboard dive, spiraling down into the upper layers of the Mist.
"Whaddya say we buzz Lindblum, eh? S'been years since I've seen the Grand Castle and all those cool ships they're building." Dell had always been fascinated by Lindblum.its technology, it's long succession of innovative regents, and its air-oriented lifestyle. He suspected he had to be from Lindblum.there was no other way to explain the sky in his blood.
Not even waiting for an answer, Dell kicked the airship into high gear and sent them hurtling forward. He was excited as hell. It'd been too damn long since he'd gotten to fly.ever since that "accident" with the Ifrit-class.but that really hadn't been his fault! The damn elevators had jammed, and he'd been in a little bit of a steep dive.he'd managed to save the airship, actually. Well.let's just leave it at he managed to survive.
The Serendipity soared towards Lindblum.
"Sir!"
"What is it, private!"
"Airship, incoming! Coming straight for us! No clearance!" the Lindblum private's voice soared up into the upper registers. War was not his cup of tea, and the recently-ignited war between Lindblum and Alexandria played hell with his peaceful demeanor.
The Lindblum sergeant was a hard-nosed, scarred man. This was not the first war he'd seen. He moved up behind the private, coolly focusing on the small blip aimed right at them.
He took a deep breath, and turned his back.
"Take it out."
The private jolted. "But, sir! What if.."
"TAKE IT OUT!" the sergeant bellowed. "If it doesn't have clearance, it's an enemy! You understand that, private? We are at WAR! Blow it out of the sky!"
The private swallowed. War really wasn't his cup of tea.
"Y-yes sir."
"Look, you old fool! The Castle is just ahead!" Dell would've hopped up and down in excitement, but logistics prevented that. Instead, he turned to beam excitedly at his co-pilot, who hadn't spoken much recently.
The old man stirred. "Where are all the airships?"
Dell shook his head in impatience. The airships? Who cared? "They're probably just in for maintenance, or maybe there's a regatta going on over the ocean. How the hell would I know? But lookit! Ain't that castle a beaut? There's the Falcon's Gate!"
The old man started, quite suddenly. He turned to regard Dell, and the boy was startled to see that the old man's eyes held no small measure of fear."
"Turn back, Dell! NOW!" he shouted, apparently forgetting that all he had to do was switch control back to his side.
Dell blinked. "What? What're you talking about? Turn back? We just got here! Look, man, there's the ca-OH, SHIT!!!!!!!"
For Dell had indeed turned to look at the castle, and what he saw was the potent barrage of a MK II Lindblum Magicannon, firing deadly Fire blasts and monsters. Dell flung the ship into a steep turn, just as the first blazes of energy shot past them.
"Goddamn! Why the hell're they shooting? What're they thinking? You wanna take over, old man?" But the old man was frozen, hands trembling, eyes riveted on the incoming projectiles. Dell swore loudly, and flung the old boat into a sickening loop of evasive maneuvering. All around them, cannon fire rattled the little boat from a series of near misses.
"Don't worry, old man, they could hit a Theatre Ship with the kind of flak they're putting up." Dell said, trying very hard to decide who he was reassuring. But, indeed, the intensity seemed to be lessening as they rocketed away from Lindblum. Mere seconds later, the barrage suddenly stopped.
Dell turned to eye the old man, with a cocky grin. "Y'see, old man? No problem. Why, I could outmaneuver those guys in my sle-"
And then the Homing Bomb hit.
And so the airship plummeted downwards.
And so it hit.
He awoke, and immediately regretted it. Pain lanced through every nerve he owned. His body, quailing in indignation, decided to flop back to unconsciousness.
He awoke again, the pain significantly reduced. He was in some kind of makeshift hammock, it felt like, and the searing pains were reduced to dull throbbings.. Suddenly, he was hit with a multitude of mental questions.
"Who am I?"
"Where am I?"
"Why can't I see?"
His brain, unable to deal with the combined physical and mental agony, promptly stepped out again, and he lapsed into merciful nothingness.
He awoke, a third time. None of the questions were answered.he still didn't know who he was, he still didn't know where he was, and he still couldn't see.
He flinched in his hammock when he heard a voice. A middle-aged man, it sounded like. "We found ye, 'alf dead, out in th' forest. S'a miracle ye're alive a' all. Wha's yer name, boy?"
The boy closed unseeing eyes, searching for answers. "I.I dunno.everything's a total blank."
Yeah, review it if you like, read it if you like, eat tofu if you like! Just be real, okay?
All words by me are copyrighted by me, and if you use them, I'll be very, very displeased.