DISCLAIMER:
I do *not* own Final Fantasy, any locations, characters, concepts, herewith. I do, however own a few of the characters that I invented, as well as a few concepts from the pre-game world that are purely fictional and not verified by anything except my own warped sense of logic. Muahaha.
I understand that I've taken a bit of license as far as a quick recovery from shark-bite is concerned.. but Angharad is a Madain, after all, and he was being tended by white mages. ;)
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The sleeping compulsion placed on him had caused Angharad to sleep for quite some time. Two days, in fact. His arm was looking quite a bit better now, although the scaring could easily last his lifetime. When he woke again, Taury was there, and gave him some more food to eat, and some mild fruit juice to drink.
"You can most likely be out of this tent fairly soon, you know. And you probably won't be needing those special lessons any more, not with the display you pulled off down at the beach."
Elder Taury was not above careful bribery and deception to achieve his aims.
"Really, sir?" Angharad, showing careful relief. The Elder might not be too pleased to learn just how boring the 'special lessons' really were.
The old man nodded, slightly distracted by whatever thoughts crossed his mind.
"Well, your mother should be coming to see you sometime today. We won't put you back to sleep again now, so if you can think of something you can do to relieve boredom, that doesn't put any stress on that arm, then we would be glad to provide anything you need." he said in a brisk tone, rising to leave.
"Thank you, sir." Angharad replied, already considering and dismissing various ways to spend time. What he really wanted to do was find out more about those creatures that Leviathan and Shiva were two of. But to do that, he would like to be away from the camp, so that nobody else knew.
The Elder ducked out of the tent, and then looked back in a moment later.
"Oh, and your normal lessons will still continue." he said, with a slight grin, before he left.
Angharad didn't mind that. The normal lessons were alright. It had been those 'special' ones that left him groaning in agony. The next person to enter was his mother, who sat down and looked over his arm, gave him a quick hug, and left. A few minutes later, his tutor came in.
"Now, I understand that we can't really go outside to do anything today." he said with a quick glance at the bite marks on Angharad's upper arm, "But we can discuss the many different known sea creatures. The other children are getting the same lesson, so don't worry that we're doing anything especially for you."
And so he spent the next few days as the bite healed.
A week or so later, Elder Taury came to see Angharad, now living back in his tent, beside that of his parents and siblings, while he ate breakfast.
"Good morning, Elder." he said through a mouthful of cooked oats. These were something special, as the Madain while the traveled, did not often find such things growing wild. The area they were camped in now seemed to have lots of them, so many of the men and women turned out to help harvest and store it up for when food was not so abundant.
"Good morning, Angharad. I thought I would come this morning to ask about the creature that helped you escape from the seafeeder when you were attacked."
Angharad almost choked. He thought that if the Elders had noticed the creature he had called, then they would have asked sooner. He thought that he might talk about Leviathan, but not Shiva's visit.
"I was wondering if you knew something about where it came from."
Angharad thought for a moment, before carefully producing the answer, "I think that when I yelled out for help, it heard me. How it got here.. I don't know."
Taury nodded, mulling this over. "Is there anything else about it that you know?"
Angharad hmmed for a moment, then said, "Yes.. I think its name is Leviathan, and it lives somewhere with a lot of other creatures like it."
"Interesting. Do you think that it would come if you asked it now?"
"It might.. I'm not sure."
"Would you come down to the sea with me, so you can try?"
"Yes, I suppose so.."
"Then whenever you're ready." Taury said, and then walked outside the tent. Angharad quickly finished off the remainder of his breakfast, and followed the Elder. They up the slight hill before the sand dunes, and then down towards the beach. When they reached the water's edge, the Elder stopped and looked at Angharad expectantly.
Taking a deep breath, Angharad stretched out his mind. It was harder to do this consciously, he noted, as he searched for Leviathan's mind somewhere in the distance. Finally, he felt his link connect, but Leviathan refused to come. He was not needed, there was no reason for him to be there.
"He won't come, sir." Angharad said to the Elder. "He says that we have no need of his abilities."
"Can I try and merge with you, to see where he is?"
"Merge?"
"Oh.. sorry, you weren't taught how to merge minds, were you?"
"No, I don't believe I was.." replied Angharad, feeling slightly puzzled.
"Hmm.. I want you to relax, alright? Just relax everything."
Angharad did so, and felt the Elder's mind reach out and absorb his.
Alright. Now, show me where Leviathan is.
Angharad reached out again, and felt Leviathan's touch. This time, Leviathan thought words, and not just feelings.
You are merged. Why do you wish to see proof that I am? The question was directed at Elder Taury.
Because you are unknown to us. We only want to see where you come from.
Angharad felt the Elder's mind gain strength, and send a probe at Leviathan, trying to see through its eyes.
Do not do that. It makes me uncomfortable. Leviathan said, in a bored tone. Elder Taury's merge dissolved as a quick shaft of energy from Leviathan seemed to singe the edges of his mind.
Taury was lying on the sand, and his head hurt. It hurt with the pain of a thousand headaches, threatening to burst through his skull. It hurt as if a fire burned inside his skull. Then, just as quickly as it started, it disappeared.
However, in the brief moment that he had touched Leviathan's mind, he had gained much knowledge of its world. It lived in a completely different realm that ran alongside their one, where it lived with many other creatures of its kind, in peace and harmony. They were all so powerful! If the Madain were ever attacked by such as they, then there could be no possibility of survival.
"Elder, are you alright?" Angharad's voice broke through the Elder's thoughts.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine."
"But he attacked you!" the boy said, in an odd tone of voice.
"Not very well, Angharad. If he wanted to kill me, he could have, but he didn't."
After the merge had been broken, Leviathan had bluntly informed Angharad that Elder Taury did not have the best intentions for the Madain people as a whole at heart, as much as for himself. Angharad's conditioning, having being brought up in the Madain culture, prevented him from entirely accepting such a proposal, but it did not prevent him from analyzing it, and seeing that what Elder Taury had done had not seemed like the right thing to do at the time.
They walked back up to the camp, and on the way, the Elder made him swear a vow of secrecy, to not tell anyone else about what had happened that morning. Angharad did so, and then went back into his tent, to get ready for his lessons.
Over the next few weeks, Angharad could not help thinking about why Elder Taury had not wanted anybody to know about the early morning conversation with Leviathan. And why he had tried to see through the creature's eyes, when it was obvious that Leviathan would never let him do so.
Then, one day, Shiva came to see him while he was off hunting rabbits, for the family table. She appeared in front of him, sitting down on the ground in a clearing. It was getting dark, and she had started a small fire in the center of the clearing, but Shiva seemed to stay as far away from it as possible.
"Hello again, Angharad." she said softly when he walked into the clearing.
"Ahh.. hello, Shiva." he said, a bit tentatively.
"Leviathan tells me that one of your people tried to redirect his eyes a little while ago. How did that happen?" Shiva already knew the details, of course, but Angharad was used to interacting with people, who couldn't read minds as easily as Eidolons. She had studied Madain culture, and knew that 'showing off', especially among the young ones, was looked down upon.
"Well... Elder Taury wanted to know if Leviathan would come to me, when I wasn't in trouble. So we went down to the beach, to try it out, and Leviathan said he wasn't needed, so wouldn't come.. then Taury said we should link, so he could see where Leviathan came from.." Shiva made no reaction whatsoever to what Angharad was saying, and it unnerved him slightly, "And then when he tried to steal Leviathan's eyes, he broke the link, and I could feel lots of pain in his mind."
Shiva nodded. "Yes, Leviathan burned him for a second or two." she said offhandedly, as if it was a common practice. "He's grumpy at the best of times, but generally has a fairly dismissive attitude toward humans. Your merge was not very good, Leviathan said. Would I be right in assuming that you haven't had much experience merging in the past?"
"No, not really.."
"Would you like to learn how to do it properly?"
"Y-yes.."
"Alright then. I'll show you." Shiva said, then proceeded to teach him the dos and don'ts of mind-merges. When Angharad left the clearing a few hours later, he began to wonder why Shiva had done that. Was she getting him ready for something; preparing him?
The next few days were spent packing up; the Madain were on the move again, this time back toward the east, along the north coast; and so Angharad had no spare time in which to mull over the puzzle.
When the Madain next stopped, on the coast again, but this time to the east, Angharad met with Shiva again, and she taught him various mind tricks that even the Elders did not know. However, the most interesting piece of information that Shiva imparted upon her young apprentice was that he and his people had been chosen from all the races of the world, to represent the Eidolons in the human world. When he had called Leviathan that day, the Eidolons had together reached a decision. The Madain would forever be the race of summoners.
And so begins the transformation of the Madain race from a group of wandering nomads, to a thriving, and powerful civilization.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-
I do *not* own Final Fantasy, any locations, characters, concepts, herewith. I do, however own a few of the characters that I invented, as well as a few concepts from the pre-game world that are purely fictional and not verified by anything except my own warped sense of logic. Muahaha.
I understand that I've taken a bit of license as far as a quick recovery from shark-bite is concerned.. but Angharad is a Madain, after all, and he was being tended by white mages. ;)
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The sleeping compulsion placed on him had caused Angharad to sleep for quite some time. Two days, in fact. His arm was looking quite a bit better now, although the scaring could easily last his lifetime. When he woke again, Taury was there, and gave him some more food to eat, and some mild fruit juice to drink.
"You can most likely be out of this tent fairly soon, you know. And you probably won't be needing those special lessons any more, not with the display you pulled off down at the beach."
Elder Taury was not above careful bribery and deception to achieve his aims.
"Really, sir?" Angharad, showing careful relief. The Elder might not be too pleased to learn just how boring the 'special lessons' really were.
The old man nodded, slightly distracted by whatever thoughts crossed his mind.
"Well, your mother should be coming to see you sometime today. We won't put you back to sleep again now, so if you can think of something you can do to relieve boredom, that doesn't put any stress on that arm, then we would be glad to provide anything you need." he said in a brisk tone, rising to leave.
"Thank you, sir." Angharad replied, already considering and dismissing various ways to spend time. What he really wanted to do was find out more about those creatures that Leviathan and Shiva were two of. But to do that, he would like to be away from the camp, so that nobody else knew.
The Elder ducked out of the tent, and then looked back in a moment later.
"Oh, and your normal lessons will still continue." he said, with a slight grin, before he left.
Angharad didn't mind that. The normal lessons were alright. It had been those 'special' ones that left him groaning in agony. The next person to enter was his mother, who sat down and looked over his arm, gave him a quick hug, and left. A few minutes later, his tutor came in.
"Now, I understand that we can't really go outside to do anything today." he said with a quick glance at the bite marks on Angharad's upper arm, "But we can discuss the many different known sea creatures. The other children are getting the same lesson, so don't worry that we're doing anything especially for you."
And so he spent the next few days as the bite healed.
A week or so later, Elder Taury came to see Angharad, now living back in his tent, beside that of his parents and siblings, while he ate breakfast.
"Good morning, Elder." he said through a mouthful of cooked oats. These were something special, as the Madain while the traveled, did not often find such things growing wild. The area they were camped in now seemed to have lots of them, so many of the men and women turned out to help harvest and store it up for when food was not so abundant.
"Good morning, Angharad. I thought I would come this morning to ask about the creature that helped you escape from the seafeeder when you were attacked."
Angharad almost choked. He thought that if the Elders had noticed the creature he had called, then they would have asked sooner. He thought that he might talk about Leviathan, but not Shiva's visit.
"I was wondering if you knew something about where it came from."
Angharad thought for a moment, before carefully producing the answer, "I think that when I yelled out for help, it heard me. How it got here.. I don't know."
Taury nodded, mulling this over. "Is there anything else about it that you know?"
Angharad hmmed for a moment, then said, "Yes.. I think its name is Leviathan, and it lives somewhere with a lot of other creatures like it."
"Interesting. Do you think that it would come if you asked it now?"
"It might.. I'm not sure."
"Would you come down to the sea with me, so you can try?"
"Yes, I suppose so.."
"Then whenever you're ready." Taury said, and then walked outside the tent. Angharad quickly finished off the remainder of his breakfast, and followed the Elder. They up the slight hill before the sand dunes, and then down towards the beach. When they reached the water's edge, the Elder stopped and looked at Angharad expectantly.
Taking a deep breath, Angharad stretched out his mind. It was harder to do this consciously, he noted, as he searched for Leviathan's mind somewhere in the distance. Finally, he felt his link connect, but Leviathan refused to come. He was not needed, there was no reason for him to be there.
"He won't come, sir." Angharad said to the Elder. "He says that we have no need of his abilities."
"Can I try and merge with you, to see where he is?"
"Merge?"
"Oh.. sorry, you weren't taught how to merge minds, were you?"
"No, I don't believe I was.." replied Angharad, feeling slightly puzzled.
"Hmm.. I want you to relax, alright? Just relax everything."
Angharad did so, and felt the Elder's mind reach out and absorb his.
Alright. Now, show me where Leviathan is.
Angharad reached out again, and felt Leviathan's touch. This time, Leviathan thought words, and not just feelings.
You are merged. Why do you wish to see proof that I am? The question was directed at Elder Taury.
Because you are unknown to us. We only want to see where you come from.
Angharad felt the Elder's mind gain strength, and send a probe at Leviathan, trying to see through its eyes.
Do not do that. It makes me uncomfortable. Leviathan said, in a bored tone. Elder Taury's merge dissolved as a quick shaft of energy from Leviathan seemed to singe the edges of his mind.
Taury was lying on the sand, and his head hurt. It hurt with the pain of a thousand headaches, threatening to burst through his skull. It hurt as if a fire burned inside his skull. Then, just as quickly as it started, it disappeared.
However, in the brief moment that he had touched Leviathan's mind, he had gained much knowledge of its world. It lived in a completely different realm that ran alongside their one, where it lived with many other creatures of its kind, in peace and harmony. They were all so powerful! If the Madain were ever attacked by such as they, then there could be no possibility of survival.
"Elder, are you alright?" Angharad's voice broke through the Elder's thoughts.
"Yes, yes, I'm fine."
"But he attacked you!" the boy said, in an odd tone of voice.
"Not very well, Angharad. If he wanted to kill me, he could have, but he didn't."
After the merge had been broken, Leviathan had bluntly informed Angharad that Elder Taury did not have the best intentions for the Madain people as a whole at heart, as much as for himself. Angharad's conditioning, having being brought up in the Madain culture, prevented him from entirely accepting such a proposal, but it did not prevent him from analyzing it, and seeing that what Elder Taury had done had not seemed like the right thing to do at the time.
They walked back up to the camp, and on the way, the Elder made him swear a vow of secrecy, to not tell anyone else about what had happened that morning. Angharad did so, and then went back into his tent, to get ready for his lessons.
Over the next few weeks, Angharad could not help thinking about why Elder Taury had not wanted anybody to know about the early morning conversation with Leviathan. And why he had tried to see through the creature's eyes, when it was obvious that Leviathan would never let him do so.
Then, one day, Shiva came to see him while he was off hunting rabbits, for the family table. She appeared in front of him, sitting down on the ground in a clearing. It was getting dark, and she had started a small fire in the center of the clearing, but Shiva seemed to stay as far away from it as possible.
"Hello again, Angharad." she said softly when he walked into the clearing.
"Ahh.. hello, Shiva." he said, a bit tentatively.
"Leviathan tells me that one of your people tried to redirect his eyes a little while ago. How did that happen?" Shiva already knew the details, of course, but Angharad was used to interacting with people, who couldn't read minds as easily as Eidolons. She had studied Madain culture, and knew that 'showing off', especially among the young ones, was looked down upon.
"Well... Elder Taury wanted to know if Leviathan would come to me, when I wasn't in trouble. So we went down to the beach, to try it out, and Leviathan said he wasn't needed, so wouldn't come.. then Taury said we should link, so he could see where Leviathan came from.." Shiva made no reaction whatsoever to what Angharad was saying, and it unnerved him slightly, "And then when he tried to steal Leviathan's eyes, he broke the link, and I could feel lots of pain in his mind."
Shiva nodded. "Yes, Leviathan burned him for a second or two." she said offhandedly, as if it was a common practice. "He's grumpy at the best of times, but generally has a fairly dismissive attitude toward humans. Your merge was not very good, Leviathan said. Would I be right in assuming that you haven't had much experience merging in the past?"
"No, not really.."
"Would you like to learn how to do it properly?"
"Y-yes.."
"Alright then. I'll show you." Shiva said, then proceeded to teach him the dos and don'ts of mind-merges. When Angharad left the clearing a few hours later, he began to wonder why Shiva had done that. Was she getting him ready for something; preparing him?
The next few days were spent packing up; the Madain were on the move again, this time back toward the east, along the north coast; and so Angharad had no spare time in which to mull over the puzzle.
When the Madain next stopped, on the coast again, but this time to the east, Angharad met with Shiva again, and she taught him various mind tricks that even the Elders did not know. However, the most interesting piece of information that Shiva imparted upon her young apprentice was that he and his people had been chosen from all the races of the world, to represent the Eidolons in the human world. When he had called Leviathan that day, the Eidolons had together reached a decision. The Madain would forever be the race of summoners.
And so begins the transformation of the Madain race from a group of wandering nomads, to a thriving, and powerful civilization.
~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-