I don't own Golden Sun, or any of it's
characters/locations/related material. I do, however, own this story, and all
original concepts/plot/characters etc.
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A dull thump woke him up. Opening his eyes, Isaac was greeted with a view of the ceiling in his little room. He didn't get up; just lay there listening to the sounds around him.
Another thump, and judging from its softness, Isaac knew it must have come from Ivan's room. His was the room closer to the front of ship, whilst Isaac's room was near the hold. Because the Lemurian ship was so large, there had been multiple rooms to choose from, and no one had needed to bunk up. He was privately relieved by this, having slept near Garet in the past. The snoring had been unbelievable.
He twisted his head to look out the small porthole near the top of the wall. Muted pink light was filtering through. Beyond it, the clouds were stained red with the promise of sunrise. There was no other moment quite like sunrise, Isaac thought.
Sighing, he kicked the blankets from around his legs and dropped them to the unadorned floor. Swinging his legs around, Isaac stood and stretched out. It was difficult to do, seeing as the room was so small. He could almost touch both walls if he threw his arms out.
Squatting down, Isaac pulled open the small trunk next to his bed. He took out almost everything in there, which wasn't an awful lot. Besides his clothes and weapons, he had only a small book and gilded amulet with him. The book had been a gift from his mother on his seventeenth birthday. It was quite unremarkable, a brown leather bound book, but Isaac was attached to it. Besides the fact that it was the only thing he had from his mother, the book detailed various sword techniques. Before he'd come on this journey, he'd had an interest in sword fighting, and had mock-battles with Garet.
Isaac idly flipped through the pages. He'd memorised the whole book from start to finish. It had become all the more important to him since he'd needed to fight people who actually intended to kill him. He dropped the book into his bag, then picked up the amulet.
He'd found it in the woods a few years ago, sitting upon a rock. Like it was waiting for the next person to come along and claim it as their own. Isaac remembered how the sunlight had shined on it, sparkling with silver light. He'd snatched it up, and never went anywhere without it from that day forward. Few people knew he had it, besides his mother and Garet.
The amulet itself didn't appear to be anything special. It was round, and fit easily into the palm of his hand. There was a raised edge around it, encircling the middle design: a vine twisted around a sword. The whole thing was covered in hammered silver leaf, which Isaac polished quite often, seeing as he got bored on the road.
Isaac didn't know why he kept the amulet; it was just a trinket he'd found. But he guessed it was the same as the book. They were his only things from home, his only reminder of the way he had been long ago.
He stuffed the amulet in his pocket, and grabbed his sword and scabbard from the bottom of the chest. He clipped it around his shoulder, then swung it around to his back. Falling back onto the bed, he pulled on his worn leather travel boots. He reached over the side to grab his armoured vest off the end of the bed. While he tied it together, he gazed around the room again. It couldn't really even be called a room: it was more of a storage cupboard with a bed thrown in as an afterthought. His friends had been a little perturbed when he'd chosen this room, seeing as it was so small. Isaac wondered if they hated the fact he didn't explain why. He hadn't felt comfortable with explaining his choice. He never did.
Hauling his travel pack up, Isaac had almost gotten out the door before he remembered his scarf. He turned back and snatched up the long yellow material, tying it around his neck in his usual fashion. Ivan had once said it could almost be a cloak. Almost.
Finally ready, Isaac pulled the door shut. He set off down the narrow corridor, his footsteps echoing around the walls. His room was down a much-unused corridor, presumedly for extra rooms if there were too many people in the main residential areas. There were a couple of small rooms much like his own, a pantry and sitting room, but little else. It was deep in the bowels of the vessel, so it took a while to get down there, once you could find it through the mazes of passages up above. Isaac could understand why his friends may find it odd that he wanted to be so far away from the rest of the ship. They probably thought he was introverted. That wasn't the case.
They wouldn't understand.
Isaac jumped up the stairs two at a time, to collide with Garet at the top. Garet snorted with annoyance as the heap of things in his arms fell to the ground. He raked his hands through his rust-coloured hair.
"Argh! Nothing is going right today. Watch where you're going Isaac!" he muttered as he dropped to his knees and started grabbing all his things. Isaac frowned at him.
"Garet, I was watching where I was going. Perhaps it may have been you who wasn't?"
"Nonsense," Garet dropped a handful of odd bits of metal back into a case, "I know perfectly well where I'm going."
"Then you know you're going towards the hold?"
"Yes I know I'm going – what?" He stopped stuffing his blanket into his pack and looked up. Isaac shook his head in exasperation, and pointed up the left end of the hall.
"The stairs to the top are that way."
"Hmm. Someone moved the stairs then," Isaac sighed, deciding it wasn't worth it. Garet's mind tended to leave him for short journeys to nowhere. When his mind was home though, it was quite intelligent. You just had to get past the unlimited energy and lack of concentration first.
Picking up a small jar of buttons, Isaac twisted them to look better. Garet saw the inquiring look and stopped packing.
"It's . . . a thing I do. I collect buttons," Isaac noticed Garet was turning red. "When there's nothing to do, I go into whichever clothes shop in town and . . . buy one."
Seeing his look, Garet went on, "Yes, I buy one button. Don't tell Mia . . . she'd just laugh." He cleared his throat and buckled his pack shut. "Well . . . let's go."
The two friends crossed to stairwell, and began their ascent.
~*~
"What a dismal place this is," said Ivan, stomping on a dried plant. Isaac had to agree.
The sun was high in the sky above them, halfway through it's cycle towards daily death. The ground beneath them was scorched colourless from its relentless burn, with nothing to shelter it. Plants, where they actually grew, were saddened brittle things, breaking as easily as icicles beneath their boots.
Perhaps the only encouraging thing about the bare plains was that there was a forest at the end of them. It meant that the land wasn't unliveable; so there may well be people living there. That was their goal, to find some locals and be able to find out where they are. Or at least some sign.
It had occurred to Isaac that they may find either the Jupiter or Mars lighthouse here. The latter troubled him. If they did find the Mars lighthouse, they may also find the Fire Clan of the North. It was logical to assume they might live near the Mars lighthouse, because the Mercury clan had lived near their own lighthouse as well.
Of course, they might find nothing. Just an island full of vegetation but empty of life. Isaac wasn't sure which was preferable. Hopeful as they were that they would find some friendly people, they could always turn out to be hostile. He would almost prefer no people to dangerous people.
He turned his gaze back to the way ahead. It was still quite some distance to the dark belt of forest they were aiming for. The journey would last another three hours yet, at least. It was times like this that his mind wandered aimlessly all over the place.
At the moment, he was contemplating how it might be possible to tell a person's personality by the way they walk. He was judging by his own companions' footfalls.
Mia stepped over the spindly plants, or skirted them if they were too large.
Ivan was taking a direct path, and just crushing the vegetation if it was directly in his way.
Garet, however, went out of his way to stomp the offending plants.
Possibly Isaac was just reading too much into it. After all, he'd known his friends a good many months, so he was probably just equating their walking patterns with what he already knew. Perfectly gentle people might also like to stomp plants, and violent warriors might step over them.
Frowning, he noted his own pattern. Skirting the plants, weaving around them.
Avoidance of all possible trouble?
"What I don't understand," Garet said as he sent another innocent plant to its doom, "Is why you always wear your snow gear, Mia." He gave her a confused look. "Surely it's hot wearing all those clothes made for cold weather?"
"Well, yes, it is," the water adept replied. "But it's more than a matter of clothing to the Mercury clan. It signifies my position and level of training. You see this-" Mia pointed to the circular pattern ringed with other lines at her waist. "These symbols show that I'm a healer. Warriors, mages and scholars all have different symbols. It was meant to give people information about us at a glance, back when there were large numbers of Mercury adepts."
"Ok, but what about those?" Garet pointed to Mia's ponytail, done up with four splayed ribbons. Mia swept her hand past her turquoise hair.
"You mean these?" Garet nodded. "These are for ranking. Four ribbons means I'm of the fourth level. There are seven levels for each type of adept, seven levels of training that is. So I was about halfway through my training when you met me." She smiled self-consciously. "I doubt I'm still at level four anymore though."
"It all sounds so well planned out. But what happens when you reach the seventh level?" Ivan turned to ask her. Mia frowned.
"You know, I'm not quite sure. I think Alex may have said once that it means you become privy to some special Mercury techniques. Of course, I wouldn't go on that alone, being Alex's opinion . . ." she trailed off. Then she looked up, and smiled. "I think myself that you become enlightened. You fully understand the Mercury element, and yourself."
Ivan gave her a comforting smile. "I'm sure you'll do it someday, Mia." Garet snorted, still crushing the brittle plants.
"Sounds a bit airy to me," Being in the lead, he didn't see the hurt look on the girls' face. But it was fleeting, and she continued to pick her path through the weeds.
Isaac's spirits lowered a bit. He wished Garet weren't so unthinking all the time. If he'd only consider his words before he voiced them, he may have a better relationship with Mia. Sometimes, your opinion should be kept to yourself. He smiled a little at the irony of that thought, because he himself rarely let anyone know what he thought.
Such was his way.
Passing by some tired, stunted trees, Isaac began to feel uneasy. He couldn't see or hear anything odd. It was more of an instinct felt by his powers. He'd had this feeling before, this tangible whiff of danger somewhere near. He didn't like it.
Isaac halted. Beside him, Ivan came to a stop too, with a look of confusion on his face. Mia and Garet had continued on for a few paces, arguing about the wisdom of defence before offence. Then they seemed to realise the others had stopped, and turned back to face them. Garet put his fists on his hips.
"Why have we stopped? The forest is a good distance away, we need to get there before dark." Isaac wasn't listening to him though. He was looking around; trying to place the feeling, figure out where it was coming from.
Ivan's voice came out uneasy. "Can't you feel it?"
"Feel what?" asked Mia. Ivan didn't respond. He was staring at the sky towards the mountains in the distance.
Garet shifted his weight to another foot. "Now that you mention it . . . I feel something a little bit strange. I wasn't paying attention before . . ."
Before he could say another word, the sky exploded with light. The sheer brightness of it was tremendous. They threw up their arms to shield their eyes from blindness. But it didn't help much; the light burned through their eyelids. Accompanying the light was an ominous booming rumble, which seemed to shake the very ground beneath their feet. Had they been able to, they would have heard birds screeching in fright as they flew haphazardly through the air, seeking a way out of this alarming situation.
The light coalesced through Isaac's mind; shifting its colour so frequently it made him nauseous. Blue, red, yellow, mixtures of all, in a whirling display unlike any ever seen.
Just when it seemed to him that he couldn't take anymore, and he would be knocked unconscious from the phenomenon, the intensity of the shining display weakened somewhat. Whatever it was, it was losing power. Forcing himself to open an eye the barest amount, Isaac saw an incredible sight.
Huge cords of writhing lightning flashed across the sky, in violent shades of purple and yellow. They filled the air, snapping and cracking like a thousand whips. Trees and grasses were flattened to the ground from the ferocity of the electric lights. It seemed like a destruction wrought from heaven's fury.
Abruptly, the lightning grew thin, and died. The ground had stopped shaking, the rumble receding into silence. Far off, behind the mountains, the last of the celestial brightness faded into nothingness.
And all was still for a moment.
Timidly, Garet lowered his arms from his face. He looked around, bewildered. Fragile shrubs that he had mercilessly crushed were either destroyed, or blown flat on the ground. Birds flew in disarray overhead, calling and crying in confusion.
Ivan was gasping, apparently shocked into breathlessness by the lights. Mia still had her face buried in her hands. But slowly, she withdrew them, to stare with frightened eyes at the mountains to the southwest.
None of them looked at each other, neither did they speak. They did not need to; they all knew what the other was thinking.
What had just happened?
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24/04/03 – Fixed some errors.