Chapter 4: The Airship and the Resolution
All through town, Rosa could hear the townsfolk murmuring about the giant flying ship that had passed over them in the sky. She decided that the best way to get to the palace was the shortcut that Cecil and Kain had shown her before. After making her way through the alley that led to the waterway, Rosa stopped when she realized she would have a hard time getting across. The water looked even more threatening now than it did this morning.
"Hmm..." Rosa said to herself, and crossed her arms in thought as she recalled one of her first White Magic lessons ever. "When facing an obstacle, a white mage must always remember that the resourceful and most moderate solution is the best answer to reaching one's goal." Rosa looked up at the sky and rolled her eyes. "But how the heck does that help me now when I can't cast a spell to save my life!??!?!"
"So we meet again, Rosa. Wow, that 14 years you predicted sure went fast, huh? You don't look a day older!" Rosa gasped and turned around, only to see Kain standing behind her and smiling.
"Kain!" Rosa exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I wanted to get back to the palace quickly." Kain explained. "Did you see that airship??"
"Air-ship?" Rosa pronounced slowly.
"Yeah, that's what they call those new flying machines." Kain explained. "Pretty cool, huh? They are the latest in engineering technology, I mean...seriously ahead of our time. Cid has been designing them for years, and Baron has been producing them in secret. It's only been recently that they have been voyaging around the world, so not many people have seen one. It's simply amazing, if you ask me."
"You're right they are simply amazing...!" Rosa cried. "I've been living in Baron and I haven't seen one until now! How did you know about all that?"
"Well, parts of the military were briefed about them a long time ago." Kain said. "Of course, there are still a lot of details I don't know myself. But what I really want right now is to get to the palace so I can ride on that bad boy!"
"You can ride on it?" Rosa questioned, still rather stunned.
"Sure, that's what they're there for." Kain said. "Cid promised me a ride! You want to come with me? It will be awesome!"
"Well...I don't know..." Rosa said. "I really just actually wanted to see it..."
"Are you scared?" Kain smirked a little. "I'll make sure nothing happens to you. Besides, you're a white wizard, so nothing will happen to us anyway, right?" Rosa blinked.
"How did you know I was a white wizard?"
"I remembered how you told Cid you were taking lessons at the palace." Kain smiled. Rosa smiled more anda clapped her hands together. Well at least he paid some attention!
"You're right, I won't let anything happen to us!" Rosa exclaimed with fake confidence. "Lets go already!"
"Ok, hold on tight then." Kain said, and suddenly grabbed Rosa, hoisting her over his shoulder.
"Eeep!" Rosa cried in surprise.
"Eeep is right, you're heavy!" Kain joked, and Rosa playfully hit him on the back before he took only a few steps and leap flying into the air, sailing gracefully over the water. Rosa widened her eyes. They were so high, she almost felt as if she were on an airship at that very moment! Kain was amazing! Before she knew it though, they had landed softly back on the ground, and Kain had set her down gently on her own two feet.
"Well, now that we crossed that bridge...!" Kain smiled and waved for Rosa to follow him. The two took off running through the fields to Baron Palace. Instead of going through the front gates though, Kain led her around the side of the palace to where Rosa knew a lot of travel equipment was held, like hovercrafts and small tanks. Only this time, all of those were gone, and had been replaced by the giant airship, which looked even bigger on the ground then it did in the sky. Swarming all about the airship were red-uniformed soldiers going back and forth from the palace and the ship, and on the deck of the ship was Cid himself, looking over everything that was happening around him. And beside him was...
"Oh, it's Cecil!" Rosa exclaimed. "You didn't tell me he was going to be here too, Kain!"
"Oh, I didn't...?" Kain asked slowly, and crossed his arms over his chest, frowning slightly. "Must of slipped my mind..." Rosa looked at him, her eyes shining, and he couldn't help but soften his gaze.
"Well, come on, lets go!" Rosa exclaimed.
"Right." Kain said, and gestured for her to follow him. He led her up a small gangplank to the deck of the airship, and waved to Cid top get his attention. At that moment, Cecil looked up from the floor and looked over to his friend, only to see Rosa by his side. Kain elbowed her and said something that made her laugh, and Cecil could feel his cheeks getting slightly hot. He pushed his hair out of his eyes and approached them slowly, hands in his pockets.
"Tell Kain I'll be with him in a minute Cecil!" Cid exclaimed, and ran off to yell at one of his mechanics.
"Hey Cecil, you beat me here by a longshot!" Kain exclaimed, and Cecil smirked. "Did you finish your business with that rib--." Suddenly Cecil held up his hand as if to quiet Kain, and Rosa widened her eyes.
"Cid said he'll be with you guys in a minute." Cecil said cooly. He looked to Rosa. "Welcome back."
"Uhh...good afternoon." Rosa said in a voice barely audible to anyone around her. What was Kain going to say before?
"So, when will she be ready to fly again?" Kain asked, slapping his hand on a railing.
"Pretty soon, we just gotta wait for the engine to cool down a bit." Cecil replied. "I can't wait to ride..."
"Kain! Kain Highwind!" Kain blinked at the sound of his name, and leaned over the edge of the ship. Down on the ground below was none other than the snot-nosed captain of the guards, Baigan. Kain wrinkled his nose in disgust. Baigan thought he was hot stuff just because he was a few years older then both him and Cecil and already had a high rank in the military.
"What do you want?" Kain shouted down at him.
"King Baron requests your presence immediately!" Baigan called up to him between cupped hands.
"But we're about to lift off!" Kain called back.
"Well, I rather think he doesn't care about that." Baigan said delighted. "But if you wish for me to deliver the message..."
"Arg, no, I'm coming." Kain snapped, and turned to Rosa and Cecil. "I'm going to have to skip out on this ride you guys, sorry."
"Oh, it's alright." Rosa said, and waved her hand. "You had best not get into trouble."
"I wonder what is up with Baigan today..." Cecil murmured to himself. "Actually, he hasn't seemed like himself lately..."
"I'll find out, and when I do, I'll....grrr..." Kain growled, and retreated back down the gangplank to the waiting Baigan. When they had walked off together, Cid joined the two teens that were left.
"What a shame he'll miss out." Cid said. "I immagine it just gives us an excuse to take another ride together again later on, huh? Har har har!!!"
"Is it ok for me to be here?" Rosa asked. "I mean, I did sort of just barge in with Kain..."
"Of course it's ok girly!" Cid exclaimed, and gave her a pat on the back that nearly made her tumble over. "I'd like to get to know ya better myself! You come by my ship whenever you'd like a ride! This beauty is all mine!"
"Oh, thank you Mister Cid!" Rosa exclaimed.
"Just Cid will work, of course." Cid said, and smiled with his huge, gleaming teeth. "Now you two just relax and enjoy. It's time for liftoff!" Cid bounded off to the steering wheel, and Rosa turned to Cecil, who's attention was directed elsewhere. She bit her lip and turned away, walking to the opposite end of the ship. A few moments later, the entire airship began to rumble and shake violently, and Rosa had to hold onto the railings for dear life. The propellers above her began to purr and rotate, at first slow enough for her to watch, but quickly became so dizzying she had to look away. She cried out in excitement when she saw the ship slowly hovering off the ground, and then lifting up higher and higher until all of a sudden, Baron was nothing more but a blur of distant housetops and trees! She was flying!
"Oh my goodness..." Rosa murmured, wishing she had about 20 more pairs of eyes to view everything around her. Her hat blew back from her head, but luckliy, since it was tied on tightly, it rested comfortably on her back , allowing her hair to blow back from her face. Oh, her mother wouldn't believe her when she told her at dinner tonight that she had actually been on an airship...!
"Looks pretty nice, huh? Almost like another world up here..." Rosa turned and saw Cecil standing by her side, his blue eyes focused on her this time.
"I do think it's beautiful!" Rosa smiled. But she didn't want any of this petty talk. She wanted to get her burning curiosity off her back.
"Cecil, thank you for returning my ribbon."
"Huh?" Cecil asked blankly, but his eyes gave it away so easily. Rosa reached down and pulled out the ribbon, holding it up for him to see.
"You gave it back, didn't you?" Rosa asked.
"Uh, well, I found it and figured you might want it." Cecil admitted, and turned slightly red.
"You could have just handed it to me." Rosa smiled. "You don't know how much this means to me, really...! My father gave me this for my birthday and...."
"Well, I didn't want you to get all cute and appreciative on me and make me late for my airship ride like you are now." Cecil said, and smiled slightly. Rosa smiled more and blushed.
"Cute, huh?"
"Cute... like a little kid!" Cecil added quickly, and crossed his arms over his chest. "But I am glad...that you're happy. Oh yeah...uhh..." Cecil sighed. "I'm sorry for being so cold this morning. I mean, I guess I could just say it's cause I'm not exactly a morning person, but that would be the coward's way out. I really have no excuses, other then the fact that I'm not usually used to being friendly with girls...they usually slap you or kick you or do something if you do one thing wrong...But it doesn't seem like you're like most girls...."
"Oh, it's ok...!" Rosa exclaimed, her heart beating frantically. "So, how did you find me before?"
"I saw you on the streets." Cecil explained. "I recognized you right away, even with all THAT on." He tugged on one of Rosa's long sleeves, and she made a face.
"That is amazing." She said, and placed her hands on her hips. Suddenly the ship lurched a bit, startling Rosa and making her fall forward. With one quick motion, Cecil reached out and grabbed hold of her, preventing her from hitting the deck. Rosa looked up and smiled greatfully at him, and found him staring at her intently. She suddenly felt nervous and fidgety, so she casually reached up to push her hair out of her eyes. Cecil reached up also, with the hand with the silver ring, and beat her to it, softly tucking the loose strands behind her ears. Cecil took in a short breath, his mind racing. What was this feeling he had? It was as if every one of his senses had suddenly awoken, and yet they could only focus on her soft brown eyes...her silky blonde hair...her delicate features....
Rosa opened her mouth to say something, but found that she couldn't. Instead, she just sort of parted her lips as if in mid-word. She could tell Cecil was about to speak for her when...
"Hey, are you two ok back there? Sorry about the lurches, but I think we're gonna hafta turn her around and go home!!" Cid's very loud voice boomed and reached them all the way across the airship, causing them both to snap out of their own worlds.
"Yeah, we're ok!" Cecil yelled so loudly, Rosa cringed and had to cover her ears. He looked at her quickly and wrapped an arm around her waist to hoist her up along with him. When they were both steady on their feet again, Rosa embarassedly brushed off her dress.
"Are you alright?" Cecil asked quickly.
"Uhh, yeah... just a bit flustered." Rosa said, her voice regaining its more regal tone. When she looked up from her dress, she saw Cecil walking away, and she felt her heart drop to her stomach. But he suddenly turned around, and held up a hand.
"I'm going to make sure Cid doesn't need help." He said. "But when we land....I'll walk you home. It may be dark once we actually get down on the ground..."
"Thank you." Rosa said, and smiled. Right then, she felt as if she could spread her own pair of wings and fly home herself.
All through town, Rosa could hear the townsfolk murmuring about the giant flying ship that had passed over them in the sky. She decided that the best way to get to the palace was the shortcut that Cecil and Kain had shown her before. After making her way through the alley that led to the waterway, Rosa stopped when she realized she would have a hard time getting across. The water looked even more threatening now than it did this morning.
"Hmm..." Rosa said to herself, and crossed her arms in thought as she recalled one of her first White Magic lessons ever. "When facing an obstacle, a white mage must always remember that the resourceful and most moderate solution is the best answer to reaching one's goal." Rosa looked up at the sky and rolled her eyes. "But how the heck does that help me now when I can't cast a spell to save my life!??!?!"
"So we meet again, Rosa. Wow, that 14 years you predicted sure went fast, huh? You don't look a day older!" Rosa gasped and turned around, only to see Kain standing behind her and smiling.
"Kain!" Rosa exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I wanted to get back to the palace quickly." Kain explained. "Did you see that airship??"
"Air-ship?" Rosa pronounced slowly.
"Yeah, that's what they call those new flying machines." Kain explained. "Pretty cool, huh? They are the latest in engineering technology, I mean...seriously ahead of our time. Cid has been designing them for years, and Baron has been producing them in secret. It's only been recently that they have been voyaging around the world, so not many people have seen one. It's simply amazing, if you ask me."
"You're right they are simply amazing...!" Rosa cried. "I've been living in Baron and I haven't seen one until now! How did you know about all that?"
"Well, parts of the military were briefed about them a long time ago." Kain said. "Of course, there are still a lot of details I don't know myself. But what I really want right now is to get to the palace so I can ride on that bad boy!"
"You can ride on it?" Rosa questioned, still rather stunned.
"Sure, that's what they're there for." Kain said. "Cid promised me a ride! You want to come with me? It will be awesome!"
"Well...I don't know..." Rosa said. "I really just actually wanted to see it..."
"Are you scared?" Kain smirked a little. "I'll make sure nothing happens to you. Besides, you're a white wizard, so nothing will happen to us anyway, right?" Rosa blinked.
"How did you know I was a white wizard?"
"I remembered how you told Cid you were taking lessons at the palace." Kain smiled. Rosa smiled more anda clapped her hands together. Well at least he paid some attention!
"You're right, I won't let anything happen to us!" Rosa exclaimed with fake confidence. "Lets go already!"
"Ok, hold on tight then." Kain said, and suddenly grabbed Rosa, hoisting her over his shoulder.
"Eeep!" Rosa cried in surprise.
"Eeep is right, you're heavy!" Kain joked, and Rosa playfully hit him on the back before he took only a few steps and leap flying into the air, sailing gracefully over the water. Rosa widened her eyes. They were so high, she almost felt as if she were on an airship at that very moment! Kain was amazing! Before she knew it though, they had landed softly back on the ground, and Kain had set her down gently on her own two feet.
"Well, now that we crossed that bridge...!" Kain smiled and waved for Rosa to follow him. The two took off running through the fields to Baron Palace. Instead of going through the front gates though, Kain led her around the side of the palace to where Rosa knew a lot of travel equipment was held, like hovercrafts and small tanks. Only this time, all of those were gone, and had been replaced by the giant airship, which looked even bigger on the ground then it did in the sky. Swarming all about the airship were red-uniformed soldiers going back and forth from the palace and the ship, and on the deck of the ship was Cid himself, looking over everything that was happening around him. And beside him was...
"Oh, it's Cecil!" Rosa exclaimed. "You didn't tell me he was going to be here too, Kain!"
"Oh, I didn't...?" Kain asked slowly, and crossed his arms over his chest, frowning slightly. "Must of slipped my mind..." Rosa looked at him, her eyes shining, and he couldn't help but soften his gaze.
"Well, come on, lets go!" Rosa exclaimed.
"Right." Kain said, and gestured for her to follow him. He led her up a small gangplank to the deck of the airship, and waved to Cid top get his attention. At that moment, Cecil looked up from the floor and looked over to his friend, only to see Rosa by his side. Kain elbowed her and said something that made her laugh, and Cecil could feel his cheeks getting slightly hot. He pushed his hair out of his eyes and approached them slowly, hands in his pockets.
"Tell Kain I'll be with him in a minute Cecil!" Cid exclaimed, and ran off to yell at one of his mechanics.
"Hey Cecil, you beat me here by a longshot!" Kain exclaimed, and Cecil smirked. "Did you finish your business with that rib--." Suddenly Cecil held up his hand as if to quiet Kain, and Rosa widened her eyes.
"Cid said he'll be with you guys in a minute." Cecil said cooly. He looked to Rosa. "Welcome back."
"Uhh...good afternoon." Rosa said in a voice barely audible to anyone around her. What was Kain going to say before?
"So, when will she be ready to fly again?" Kain asked, slapping his hand on a railing.
"Pretty soon, we just gotta wait for the engine to cool down a bit." Cecil replied. "I can't wait to ride..."
"Kain! Kain Highwind!" Kain blinked at the sound of his name, and leaned over the edge of the ship. Down on the ground below was none other than the snot-nosed captain of the guards, Baigan. Kain wrinkled his nose in disgust. Baigan thought he was hot stuff just because he was a few years older then both him and Cecil and already had a high rank in the military.
"What do you want?" Kain shouted down at him.
"King Baron requests your presence immediately!" Baigan called up to him between cupped hands.
"But we're about to lift off!" Kain called back.
"Well, I rather think he doesn't care about that." Baigan said delighted. "But if you wish for me to deliver the message..."
"Arg, no, I'm coming." Kain snapped, and turned to Rosa and Cecil. "I'm going to have to skip out on this ride you guys, sorry."
"Oh, it's alright." Rosa said, and waved her hand. "You had best not get into trouble."
"I wonder what is up with Baigan today..." Cecil murmured to himself. "Actually, he hasn't seemed like himself lately..."
"I'll find out, and when I do, I'll....grrr..." Kain growled, and retreated back down the gangplank to the waiting Baigan. When they had walked off together, Cid joined the two teens that were left.
"What a shame he'll miss out." Cid said. "I immagine it just gives us an excuse to take another ride together again later on, huh? Har har har!!!"
"Is it ok for me to be here?" Rosa asked. "I mean, I did sort of just barge in with Kain..."
"Of course it's ok girly!" Cid exclaimed, and gave her a pat on the back that nearly made her tumble over. "I'd like to get to know ya better myself! You come by my ship whenever you'd like a ride! This beauty is all mine!"
"Oh, thank you Mister Cid!" Rosa exclaimed.
"Just Cid will work, of course." Cid said, and smiled with his huge, gleaming teeth. "Now you two just relax and enjoy. It's time for liftoff!" Cid bounded off to the steering wheel, and Rosa turned to Cecil, who's attention was directed elsewhere. She bit her lip and turned away, walking to the opposite end of the ship. A few moments later, the entire airship began to rumble and shake violently, and Rosa had to hold onto the railings for dear life. The propellers above her began to purr and rotate, at first slow enough for her to watch, but quickly became so dizzying she had to look away. She cried out in excitement when she saw the ship slowly hovering off the ground, and then lifting up higher and higher until all of a sudden, Baron was nothing more but a blur of distant housetops and trees! She was flying!
"Oh my goodness..." Rosa murmured, wishing she had about 20 more pairs of eyes to view everything around her. Her hat blew back from her head, but luckliy, since it was tied on tightly, it rested comfortably on her back , allowing her hair to blow back from her face. Oh, her mother wouldn't believe her when she told her at dinner tonight that she had actually been on an airship...!
"Looks pretty nice, huh? Almost like another world up here..." Rosa turned and saw Cecil standing by her side, his blue eyes focused on her this time.
"I do think it's beautiful!" Rosa smiled. But she didn't want any of this petty talk. She wanted to get her burning curiosity off her back.
"Cecil, thank you for returning my ribbon."
"Huh?" Cecil asked blankly, but his eyes gave it away so easily. Rosa reached down and pulled out the ribbon, holding it up for him to see.
"You gave it back, didn't you?" Rosa asked.
"Uh, well, I found it and figured you might want it." Cecil admitted, and turned slightly red.
"You could have just handed it to me." Rosa smiled. "You don't know how much this means to me, really...! My father gave me this for my birthday and...."
"Well, I didn't want you to get all cute and appreciative on me and make me late for my airship ride like you are now." Cecil said, and smiled slightly. Rosa smiled more and blushed.
"Cute, huh?"
"Cute... like a little kid!" Cecil added quickly, and crossed his arms over his chest. "But I am glad...that you're happy. Oh yeah...uhh..." Cecil sighed. "I'm sorry for being so cold this morning. I mean, I guess I could just say it's cause I'm not exactly a morning person, but that would be the coward's way out. I really have no excuses, other then the fact that I'm not usually used to being friendly with girls...they usually slap you or kick you or do something if you do one thing wrong...But it doesn't seem like you're like most girls...."
"Oh, it's ok...!" Rosa exclaimed, her heart beating frantically. "So, how did you find me before?"
"I saw you on the streets." Cecil explained. "I recognized you right away, even with all THAT on." He tugged on one of Rosa's long sleeves, and she made a face.
"That is amazing." She said, and placed her hands on her hips. Suddenly the ship lurched a bit, startling Rosa and making her fall forward. With one quick motion, Cecil reached out and grabbed hold of her, preventing her from hitting the deck. Rosa looked up and smiled greatfully at him, and found him staring at her intently. She suddenly felt nervous and fidgety, so she casually reached up to push her hair out of her eyes. Cecil reached up also, with the hand with the silver ring, and beat her to it, softly tucking the loose strands behind her ears. Cecil took in a short breath, his mind racing. What was this feeling he had? It was as if every one of his senses had suddenly awoken, and yet they could only focus on her soft brown eyes...her silky blonde hair...her delicate features....
Rosa opened her mouth to say something, but found that she couldn't. Instead, she just sort of parted her lips as if in mid-word. She could tell Cecil was about to speak for her when...
"Hey, are you two ok back there? Sorry about the lurches, but I think we're gonna hafta turn her around and go home!!" Cid's very loud voice boomed and reached them all the way across the airship, causing them both to snap out of their own worlds.
"Yeah, we're ok!" Cecil yelled so loudly, Rosa cringed and had to cover her ears. He looked at her quickly and wrapped an arm around her waist to hoist her up along with him. When they were both steady on their feet again, Rosa embarassedly brushed off her dress.
"Are you alright?" Cecil asked quickly.
"Uhh, yeah... just a bit flustered." Rosa said, her voice regaining its more regal tone. When she looked up from her dress, she saw Cecil walking away, and she felt her heart drop to her stomach. But he suddenly turned around, and held up a hand.
"I'm going to make sure Cid doesn't need help." He said. "But when we land....I'll walk you home. It may be dark once we actually get down on the ground..."
"Thank you." Rosa said, and smiled. Right then, she felt as if she could spread her own pair of wings and fly home herself.
