Terra,
I hope this letter finds you well.
I wish I could write that I had better news for you. I came to South Figaro to give Locke and Celes their cut of the 'prize' money and found that Celes had fallen gravely ill. From what Locke has told me, she was ill for several months and her health only recently took a sudden turn for the worse. I am sorry to say that she passed away the day I arrived.
As you can imagine, Locke is devastated. He asked if he could travel with me, and I agreed. I am sending this letter to you from South Figaro, and if you would like to contact me, send word on to Maranda and I will receive it when our ship arrives there. From there, we go on through Albrook, and board a second ship that will take us to Thamasa. I will continue to correspond with you and I will try and convince Locke to write you as well.
Love,
Clyde
"Wait!" He had second thoughts, dashing to the window of the mail office as he saw the carrier pigeon flying off towards Mobliz. Narrowing his eyes, he considered just picking off the bird with a shuriken and stopping the letter entirely, but with so many onlookers, he just shook his head and let it go.
Interceptor seemed amused; thick pink tongue lolling out of his maw and the canine was laughing, if not out loud, in his partner's mind. "Interesting… 'Love Clyde', huh? Why didn't you write her a little poem?"
"Shut up."
"I didn't say anything…" Locke was holding Kodi under one arm like a fuzzy ball with teeth that kept on squirming, far more interested in the cages of carrier pigeons than was healthy. He looked up and blinked at Clyde, furrowing his brow.
Shaking his head, he stepped out of the message service after tossing the clerk a few coins, pointedly ignoring his stoic dog that padded along after him. "I wasn't talking to you. We're leaving now."
Locke nodded; traveling light as always, he had a bag with some bare necessities in it slung over one shoulder. Filing out of the mailing office with a thoughtful glance over his shoulder to the birds being dispatched over the world. "I've always wondered… in a world where we can have flying ships and magick of ever conceivable kind… why don't we have a more efficient way to deliver letters?"
"What would you suggest?" From behind the cloth that obscured his features, the master assassin's voice was softer than it had been the past couple days, but he never failed to make himself understood.
"Well… why not use magick? I've seen teleportation spells. Why not set something like that up in each mailing office in every town? Just…zap the letters here and there. More efficient, and less likely that important correspondence is going to be lost. And, it would cut down on the cost of care for the birds."
The younger man did seem to be faring better today, but Clyde knew from experience that it was mostly a show. He was trying too hard to be chipper, but this ninja-assassin sure as fuck was not going to try and stop him. Of course, that did not mean he had to smile and nod, or indulge stupid ideas, either.
"Maintaining spells like that would require an incredible amount of energy and time. Each office would need to employ a horde of wizards and sorceresses just to keep them operating for more than a few hours in a day. And, it is much cheaper to care for the birds –which are rather effective- than it would be to pay couriers to carry the mail by say…chocobo, ship, or train. Right?"
Locke Cole's mouth hung open for a moment, he had been about to refute that, but Shadow was making perfect sense. He just nodded as they headed through the streets of South Figaro. "Yeah…that's right, I guess. I didn't think about it."
"Learn to think before you speak, it's a good habit to have."
"Think before you speak… or, think before you write… things like 'Love Clyde'." Interceptor could not help but throw that in once again, it never hurt to take Clyde down a notch or two, all in the name of good fun, of course.
Shadow did flick a glance in his partner's direction before he addressed Locke, seemingly ignoring the comment about the letter. "Are you training your dog? What's her name again?"
The rogue actually grinned, though it was brief. "I don't know much about training dogs, and I hear this breed isn't really easy to train anyhow. I think she's just along to keep me company. I call her Kodi, but her name is Kodachi."
"Kodachi, huh?" Clyde actually sounded semi-interested in the conversation. He was used to carrying on for long stretches without exchanging even thoughts with his partner, he surprised himself by striking up talk with the other man. He supposed that it was his way of keeping Locke from slipping into brooding and depression. Not that he cared, of course.
"Mmhm. I was thinking: Nokodi, though."
Clyde thought on that for a moment, just nodding. It did bother him after a few moments and he had to ask: "I can't say I've ever heard of a 'nokodi' before."
Chuckling, Locke shrugged. "Well, just hang around her for a little longer. It kind of goes like this: 'No, Kodi! Put that down! Bad puppy! Kodi…Kodi...no! Nokodi!'… you get the idea."
Through this, the fat puppy had turned her head to look up at her master, wagging that little curl of a white-tipped tail and her blue eyes nearly bugged out of her head, those little triangle ears at attention. Clyde caught himself laughing at the mental imagery.
"Oh… how cute is that?" Interceptor lowered his head, trying not to look at the puppy. He had never seemed to like dogs too much, even though he chose to be one, and offered no real explanation.
"Why are we going to Thamasa?" Locke was aware that they were headed for Thamasa, but the details of why were not clear. A part of him was suddenly concerned that he was interfering with Shadow's work.
"I knew this was coming." Clyde slid his thumb under the shoulder strap of his sheathed sword, picking his words carefully. "We are going to see Relm and Strago."
The thief nodded slowly, even smiling a bit as he looked to Kodi. "Heh… I kinda miss that foul-mouthed little brat. Did you have some business with Strago?"
"Something like that. I had some questions for him." Which was not entirely untrue. He imagined that the old blue mage would have a few choice words for him, not to mention a whole lot of questions. Strago had held his tongue the last time Clyde had seen him, but that did not mean he would be spared this time.
*****
"Love Clyde?" Katarin smiled slyly over her tea, waggling her brows at Terra.
Leaning back in the chair at her kitchen table, the half-Esper laughed softly at her friend's teasing, shrugging and folding the letter carefully, and Kat quickly snatched it up for her perusal. "Just a formality, don't read too deeply into it."
Clucking her tongue, the dark-haired girl sighed and shook her head sadly. "I am so sorry to hear about your friend. She sounded like an incredible woman… it was awfully nice of Clyde to look after Locke."
Yes, it was indeed very nice. It made Terra smile softly to herself, her fingertips stroking over the glass of her mug. Poor Celes… she could only imagine how awful it must have been for Locke to watch her become so ill. It made her feel guilty for the jealousy she had felt for the couple initially, there was much more between them than she could have guessed.
The odd part was knowing that Clyde had no affection –in fact, he seemed to hate- Locke, yet he was offering to let the young man travel with him to Maranda and Thamasa. Would they both come to Mobliz afterward?
"You know what we should do with some of that gold, Terra?" Kat set down her mug and tapped a fingertip on the table to emphasize what she believed to be a good idea. "We should have a memorial built for your friend, Celes, and something to honor the rest of you as well. I mean, you guys are heroes! None of you have gotten the recognition and thanks you deserve."
"There are plenty of those at Figaro castle…" Terra blushed a little at the thought of being hailed as a hero. She had never thought of it that way. "Though a memorial for Celes would be a nice gesture."
"What about this Clyde fellow?" Standing from her chair and sweeping off her apron, Katarin went to the kitchen window to make sure that the children were still playing in sight. "You seem to like him."
If she thought about Celes, she was going to start crying again, so Terra welcomed the slight change of topic. "Yes… I do. He keeps on surprising me… though, you don't seem to care much for him."
Deciding that all of the youngest were accounted for and playing nicely –albeit messily- near Terra's garden, Kat turned and leaned back up against the counter to face her friend, shrugging. "We got off on the wrong foot, I didn't get the best first impression… but if you say he's a good guy, I'll take your word for it."
"I think I am going to write a letter and send it to Maranda, to make sure that it gets there on time." Terra announced, walking to a drawer for some paper and a writing utensil.
*****
Dear Clyde,
I am so sorry to hear about Celes, please give Locke my love and condolences. Your letter found me well and happy to be home. I have nothing terribly exciting to report except that my garden is flourishing and Reiji's front teeth are growing in!
With this letter I am sending my favorite ribbon. Relm admired it some time ago, and I had promised to give it to her, but I completely forgot about it until I saw it in my drawer yesterday. Please give it to her for me, and my best wishes.
I am sorry this letter is not longer, I have too much to say and my pen cannot keep up with me. I will end it saying that I miss you and I look forward to hearing from you soon.
P.S. Give Interceptor a kiss for me and tell him 'hello'.
Love,
Terra Branford
*****
Clyde sat on the edge of his bed reading the letter he had received from the message office in Maranda, smiling faintly and pulling the ribbon from the envelope, twining it through his fingers as he inspected it.
He remembered the satin ribbon. It was disgusting then, and it was disgusting now. It was a very bright pink with delicate stars and moons embroidered into the soft, rich material, and it had tassels on the ends. The tassels were fine and nearly invisible, with tiny glass beads dangling from the ends that were cut to catch the light and glitter like diamonds.
The color was all wrong for Terra, it was loud and childish, in his opinion, but he could see why Relm had admired it and it suited his daughter much more than it did Terra. "That was thoughtful of her… none of us got gifts, except for you." He glanced over to Interceptor who was occupying Locke's bed, pretending not to like snuggling with the adorable-but-evil puppy, 'Nokodi'.
"Me? What did I get? If you try tying that ribbon on me I swear I'll hurt you, Clyde." Opening one eye, the dog-fae peered over at his partner with a soft sniff of amusement.
"Terra says here," Holding up the letter, Clyde pointed to the 'P.S.' written in the half-Esper's surprisingly choppy and blocky script. "…that I am to give you a kiss for her."
Interceptor promptly closed his eyes and curled back his lip in a low, rumbling growl that failed to wake up the soundly sleeping puppy at his side. "I really am going to hurt you. Why don't you go find where Locke went off to and let me sleep already. This devil-puppy has been keeping me awake… why do I have to pup-sit her anyway?"
"Because you're good at it." Chuckling, the Human of the pair stood from the bed and stretched, taking a look around in their small but comfortable quarters. After the supply ships to and from the Thyzalian islands, this was a luxury cruiser. Well, the Sea Lark was more equipped to carry passengers.
It was early in the evening, and Clyde figured by this time tomorrow they would be at the port in Thamasa. The journey to Maranda had been an oddly pleasant and peaceful one when Locke wasn't keeping him awake trying to show him ridiculous card tricks. The assassin had to admit that some of the card tricks were pretty impressive; he would bet Setzer couldn't pull off half of them.
The young thief's spirits seemed unusually high for someone who had just lost a loved one. Clyde knew it was not true, the boy was miserable, but he was overcompensating. Everyone had his or her own way to handle grief, he supposed. At the moment, Locke had wandered off to get something to eat in the small lounge/cafeteria aboard the ship and Clyde had not expressed interest in going along.
Leaving his sword behind, -though not unarmed, naturally- Clyde did not hide his face and he had abandoned the black garb for the moment. Without Interceptor, there was no one who would really know who he was, anyhow. Avoiding people in the corridors, he ascended from his quarters on a wide staircase, heading for the dining area with Interceptor's voice following in his mind.
"Bring me back something to eat! Bird… no… lamb… no, beef! And nothing spicy! Get Kodi a bone, too, I think the little bitch is teething."
"Anything to drink with that, Sir?" Sarcasm was thick in his thoughts, and the man dipped his head, smirking a bit to himself.
"A nice dry red, if you please. Oh, how about something with cheese on it? And dessert? If there's any cake, bring me some! Oh! And pie, anything that doesn't have berries or nuts, they get stuck in my teeth."
"I'll try and remember." He knew by now what his partner liked and didn't like, and he supposed a soup bone for the puppy to chew on was not a bad idea… 'Nokodi' usually chewed on Interceptor. That dog was awfully patient with the 'little bitch' as he put it.
As he neared the lounge he heard a commotion, someone was obviously having a shouting match and it sounded like there was glass breaking. People were crowding near the double doors to try and see what was going on. For some reason, Clyde groaned under his breath, knowing that the noise had something to do with Locke.
(Author's note: Well, a little lighter. Those reviews came fast, thanks everyone! Reviews always make me get these chapters up faster, heh. I try and get as much out as I can before I suffer from a mental block again. I'm really surprised with the way the first story went, I have good feelings about this one. I won't have more than one project going at once, that'll help me focus this time.)