~*~Interlude Three: A Game of Marbles~*~
Ruby's trip back to Mysidia was rather boring and uneventful. It had finally stopped raining, although it was still cool and overcast. The wild creatures that attacked him were easily toasted, their Gil collected. Ruby wondered idly why the monsters carried money, since they didn't have the intelligence to use it. Maybe because it was shiny..?
Mysidia was just as Ruby had remembered it-- wizards bustling everywhere, vendors busy selling magical supplies. The 'Wizard's City' was a busy port town, second only to Fabul, as well as being the magical capital of the world. Ships came and went almost daily. For Ruby, that was a good thing. Ruby found a ship-- the Falcon-- that looked as if it might accept a passenger. Climbing the ramp to board it, he quickly found the captain.
"Take a passenger?" he inquired.
The captain looked at him gruffly. "To where?"
"I'm heading for Toroia, but anywhere closer to there than here would be good," Ruby said.
"I'm headed for Baron. I'll take you on for six hundred Gil."
"Alas, for I've but four hundred to spare. Will that suffice?" Ruby asked.
"Four-fifty and you've got your ride."
"Done." Ruby took the requested amount out of his money-pouch and handed it over. The captain counted the money, and then turned to the Red Mage.
"We cast off at the tide. If you're not here, we leave... with yer money. So be back in an hour."
Ruby bowed slightly. "I'm ready now, could you have someone show me to my quarters?"
"Aye, I will. Milon!"
The captain looked around the deck. "Where is that boy?" he scowled. "Must'a wandered off.... And 'e has the worst sort of time-sense, too. And no-one to go after 'im..."
Ruby looked at the captain thoughtfully. "I could.... for a small discount."
The captain glared. "All right, here's 25 Gil. 'E's got brown hair and is wearing an outfit of sackcloth. He's prob'ly playin' marbles-- that's 'bout all 'e ever does in port. 'E's never tried ta run away before, so 'e should be somewhere close."
"All right. I'll try my best, and be back within an hour," Ruby said. He then turned and walked off the ship.
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It took Ruby twenty minutes to find a large group of kids playing marbles in an alley of the fish market. He managed to crowd close enough to see that a boy matching the captain's description playing against a red-haired boy wearing the shirt of a fisherman. The brown-haired boy-- Milon? -- shot a large brown-and-green marble into the circle. It knocked five of the small balls out of the circle, and he grabbed them and put them in a (large) pouch tied to a rope-belt around his waist.
He seems good, Ruby thought. The game continued for several minutes more, and Milon won most of the marbles. After the last marble was shot out, the boy stood. "Sorry, but I gotta leave now. See you 'round!" The other kids glowered at him-- apparently, he'd won most of their marbles as well. Ruby stopped him as he walked off.
"You're Milon, right? From the Falcon?"
The boy glared at him. "What's it to you?"
"The captain asked me to find him and make sure he made it back on time. And he said that he was good at marbles, like you are."
"Eh... well, that's me. And I ain't gonna miss the boat. I know what I'm doin'."
"All right." Ruby then followed the boy back to the ship.
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The trip to Baron went smoothly. Ruby found himself in a small but adequate room below the galley. It rained on the second and third days of the trip, so Ruby spent most of his time in his room, reading a book on magic theory he'd picked up right before he left Mysidia. He did not dare to practice his magic on the ship, knowing that he could easily catch it on fire or do something equally disastrous.
Ruby ate separately from the crew, knowing that he would-- most likely-- not be welcomed by them. He simply took his food back to his room and ate it , alone.
On the third night of the journey, Ruby had just gone to bed when loud shouts from the deck woke him. "Pirates! We're under attack! Everyone on deck!" someone shouted. Ruby decided that it might be a good idea to assist in fighting. Pulling on his armor and grabbing his sword and orb, he went onto the deck with the other sailors.
It's time to fight...