Chapter One

To Bastok

Although the storms had receded and we were far from the battle, nay, massacre at Windurst, we were still very much at danger. Through the red canyon walls could be found the multitudes of beastmen camps strung out in careless order. I had almost hoped that we would run into a few goblins, simply so that I could have the chance at slaughtering them. However I would not gain my wish, as Allilrin and Chrystie were extremely alert in every step that they took. We continued through the barren Tahrongi, and did not encounter a single beastman. No, of course not…what was I thinking. All of the beastmen were still attacking Windurst. I looked up at the red moon, as we ran across the empty and cold canyon. The red moon signified one thing in the land of Windurst…the blood of innocents had been spilled that night. The image of my mother falling so slowly to the ground was still playing in the back of my mind. I could still see my father lying so helplessly in his own pool of tears and blood, still seeing the look in his eyes. To see your parents be degraded down to nothing, and seeing naught but fear in their eyes, brings a sense of vengeance and hatred that fills up your soul.

I looked toward Gehn, and noticed the look in his eyes. He had lost his parents in an earlier struggle before I had even been born. Now the damned beastmen had taken away his home, one of his friends as far as we knew and now he was off to an unknown land with near complete strangers. We were only associated with Allilrin and Chrystie through my father's connections when he traveled the world. Aye…it was a grim situation, which only seemed to be compounded by hunger and fatigue. We had been running nonstop for around a day, with no sign of slowing down. After a few more hours of running we began to see the Buburimu Peninsula. Still a bit of a barren place, but with more patches of green, and much more dangerous than the once secure Windurst. Allirin took to the front of the pack and gazed around.

"Let's slow our pace and hope to find a safe place to rest." He said holding his opened hand out beside him. I simply nodded and began to search for the closest cave or overhanging cliff…maybe even a space between two rocks. I, speaking not only for myself but the entire group, could have slept anywhere at that time. Nothing however…there was nothing but barren canyon as the Tahrongi faded out from behind us.

"We shall never find a place to rest." Gehn said despaired and broken down. Chrystie turned around slowly and gave him a subtle wink as if to tell him to keep pushing further. There was something mother-like about her. It seemed as if she could calm the world with a smile…if only at least Gehn. So Allirin continued trotting along in the usual Taru fashion as we stayed diligent behind him, always aware of the possibility of a goblin attack. I looked toward the sky and felt almost swept away by the red sun rising slowly behind the canyon. Colors of all sorts were displayed on the walls of the Buburimu and for the first time I saw the beauty of the world when all seemed dead to me. I felt a new kind of peace within me as the sun rose into view and the sky turned to a rich yellow and orange. It was quite a sight, one that I prayed I would get to see at least once more in my lifetime. Then, at my greatest moment of peace when I felt I could not be frightened or harmed by anything I heard voices coming from behind the canyon wall.

"No, no, no…I wants the shiny for me, Oblicks." Allilrin froze in his tracks and we followed suit. We slowly moved up against the canyon wall and I placed my ear to it." I heard more voices.

"It's my shiny, I found it on the wench meself. Argue with me not Kleex." The voice was high pitched and dry. It felt like the words of a snake infesting my ear. The names that were said were not that of a Hume…certainly not that of Taru…nor of a Mithra. Those were Goblins.

"Oblicks, Kleex, I says yous give me shiny or I shoulds rip your throats out like raw meat from the bone." The conversation disgusted me. They must have killed some poor traveler and were arguing over who should get the valuable object. The goblins made me sick and I tore my ear away from the wall.

"There are three voices, all goblin." I whispered as quietly as I could. Allilrin nodded to me and pulled out his sword. Chrystie tossed her sheathe away as she took up my father's pole arm. Chrystie leaned down to Allilrin as he began speaking in a different tongue to her. She nodded slowly and they rushed off behind the walls end. Gehn and I put our ears close to the wall to hear what was going on. The goblins were still arguing with each other over who would get the "shiny" when suddenly one of them let out a scream of surprise. We heard metal clanking which could only be assumed as the goblins drawing their swords. For a moment I could hear nothing but muffled yelling and blades clashing. Then a blood curdling scream echoed from behind the wall.

"Kleex!" was all that could be heard from the chaos. Then suddenly it ended…there was silence. Nothing but dead silence.

"Oblicks…I thinks they run away!" My eyes widened as I heard this. Why would they run away after seeming to win the battle?

"Yes, theys be afraid of-" All that could be discerned from there was a distinct cry of pain. There was gurgling and what sounded like a think liquid hitting something. Then the dead quiet again. I heard metal scraping along the floor, echoing. Then there was silence again. I leaned closer and closer as if I could somehow become ethereal and flow through the wall. I bit my lip in anticipation and a bit of worry.

"It's okay, you two can come in now." Allilrin's distinct Taru voice broke the silence as Gehn and I rushed into the cavern, grabbing Chrystie's sword along the way.

It was very dark, and an ill wind blew from the opening. I could make out a shadow leaning to the ground then an instant burst of flame. It was Chrystie simply lighting the conveniently placed Goblin fire-pit. Surprisingly the floor was spotless…well…enough for a cave. I had expected to see a pile of Goblin bodies and blood strung across the floor but it was not the case. Chrystie began to speak very softly,

"Even though it's daylight we may yet still be able to rest. The days in the Buburimu can get extremely hot so we will set out again at nightfall." That sounded great to me as I was drop dead tired. We all took a seat by the fire-side and began to relax. It was peaceful. We were not fighting, we were not running in fear, we were not watching our loved ones die, we were not feeling helpless, it was pure and simple peace. Through this for the first time I was able to truly see these companions of my father that he had made so long ago.

Allilrin bobbled around the fireplace in the typical Taru fashion beginning to tell us the tales of times long passed. He was merely a third of the size of a typical Hume male. His brown hair was strung loosely beneath his coned out hat. His eyes were rounded like small marbles and glowed with a certain fire with each word that he spoke. His face was flushed and looked thin as paper. To a Hume's eyes he would look like nothing more than a child but the adventures he told us seemed to merit something more about this Taru than met the eye. He was indeed very powerful but seemed inclined to keep the secret to himself. He was very energetic, almost seeming to bounce off the walls as he acted out some of the more exciting parts of the story.

As he came to the end of the story I looked over to Chrystie. She was sitting quietly next to the cavern wall studying over a scroll. She had a hood over her head covering many of her features. I could only see her cat-like tail waving back and forth from beneath her velvet, dark red cloak. She glanced over to me quickly and took off her hood. She let out a smile toward me and from the fire I could finally take a good look at her. She had hair white as snow and dark tanned skin. Her cat ears twitched back and forth almost synonymously with the gleam in her blue eyes from the fire. She had a golden brooch with a deep blue jewel fitted in the middle. She closed up the scroll and put it in her pack as she laid down her head upon it. She closed her deep blue eyes and drifted slowly into sleep.

I turned towards Gehn who was already fast asleep. He look much like Allilrin except much younger (if there is such a thing for a Taru). He had brown shaggy hair and from memory I knew his eyes were deep black. He seemed so peaceful there although his past had been filled with so much pain. His parents were killed by rouge Yagudo (savage bird-like beastmen) and he was spared thanks to a "strange leaping warrior" who carried with him "a stranger creature". I do not know the details of his rescue but it is simple to see that it scarred him for life. I felt sorry for him…and I now shared his deep pain and hatred of the beastmen.

"Arius…you must sleep. We have long journey tonight." I turned sharply towards Allilrin as I heard his voice. I nodded and turned over to my side. The fire quickly went out almost by magic….in fact it probably was. I closed my eyes and felt the world go pitch black. I could feel myself drifting off into another world far away from the Vana'diel I had come to know. My pitch black world slowly began to illuminate into a deep white that seemed to surround me. As if by force I arose to my new ethereal surroundings. It seemed like I was stuck in a picture of the afterlife. There was no sound and there was no life…only ivory nothingness for what seemed like miles. Uncontrollably I began to walk forward into the infinite. With each step I left a black footprint. I looked behind me and saw the trail of ebony and wondered what could have caused such an odd occurrence. I looked forward and continued my forced walk. Suddenly my footprints began to spread across floor like spilled ink. Within seconds the white backdrop was consumed by darkness. Then I saw in the distance the gates of Windurst. Peaceful as they should have been. As I came nearer to the city it began to fade from view and change into a blinding bright light.

"Arius!"

I felt myself drawn to it like an insect. It felt warm…even comforting. Then I saw Windurst again. It was a dark version…the beautiful colors had changed into a deep sea blue. The buildings were crumbled…weak…unsupported. The once beautiful city was turned into nothing but a ruin.

"Arius!"

The city faded from view once again. This time there was no light. There was no alternate image. There was nothing but pitch black. Then as if spawning from the depths of hell itself an inferno raced towards me. I felt the white hot flames hit me like a tsunami. Oddly…it didn't hurt. It felt more cleansing than anything. The flame took shape around me in the form of a crest.

"ARIUS! Wake up already!"

I felt the cold chill of ice upon my face as I opened my eyes once again. No flames, no ethereal atmosphere, just my party looking down upon me. I rose quickly and looked out into the moonlight.

"You should have gone to sleep earlier," said Gehn, grinning to me. I agreed with him while rising to my feet. I stretched a bit to get out some cramps from the cold hard cavern floor.

"We need to set out now if we plan to make the cool shores of Mhuara before daybreak." Chrystie explained to me. I gave my typical silent nod and with that we were on the move again. It was an especially chilly night as the green moon hung directly over the horizon. A shrill wind blew through the air. It seemed as if the tides of war from Windurst still hung over the entire countryside. We traveled across the dead plains with increasing speed trying to avoid the Dhamels along the way. The moon seemed to move swiftly across the night sky to hang directly above our heads. After what seemed like an eternity of traveling we stopped for a quick rest.

"We mustn't stay long. We should cover as much as we can in one night." Allilrin was quick to point out that we were wasting time resting. It felt as if it were only seconds before we were up and moving again. We quickened our pace as a strange discomfort went through filled the air. Something was not right. I looked behind us to see if there was anything following us. I thought to myself that it was nothing more than the night's discomfort. As that thought passed through my head I closed my eyes and continued walking at a brisk pace. I then felt Chrystie's arm wrap around mine as she pulled me along, now running. I heard a familiar sort of snorting and high pitched yelling. I opened my eyes, almost painfully and peered behind me. We were being chased once again! A line of Goblins were advancing on us rapidly. I looked forward and saw the sign to Mhuara. It seemed like a beacon of hope in what was a dangerous hour. We continued running down the darkened path as fast as our feet would take us, still hearing the yelling and grunting of the beastmen behind us.

"Keep moving! We're almost there!" yelled Allilrin. I caught another glimpse of the goblin line in all of its horror. There must have been at least two or three dozen of them. They all had blood-stained knives and masks to hide their hideous faces. They came from Windurst…I knew it. I put my head down and continued running long after my legs had given out. In our desperate flee I heard a horrible whizzing noise through the air that seemed so familiar. Pin-point arrows with hair strung about the backs of them flew down upon us. They hit the ground and stuck straight up with an odd popping noise as they hit. Our pace quickened as we were now running for any hope of living that might have existed. Then the air splitting arrows came down upon us again. I turned forward just in time to see Chrystie hit the ground. She fell behind the group with a deep thud as the dirt enveloped her. As went ran back to drag her along with us we noticed that she had been struck in the leg deeply. The blood flowed around the wooden arrow as she screamed out in pain.

"Stop!" yelled Allilrin, "we mustn't drag her along through the dirt. In the name of the Star Sybil I will fight all of them off with one blade if I must!" I took up my father's polearm from Chrystie's side and stood beside Allilrin in front of her facing the goblins.

"….two blades." I said silently. Gehn came running back to us with his small dagger drawn.

"Three blades, my friend." He said smiling to me. Allilrin nodded and took stance toward the line of goblins. They advanced upon us like a wildfire. For one of the first times I felt truly afraid. However I gripped my polearm tightly and gritted my teeth. If I should die then it will be by my friend's side and with my father's blade. The Goblin Archers threw down their bows and drew their crooked and jagged blades with a snarl. I closed my eyes and envisioned the ivory, ethereal realm once again. Maybe I would be living there sooner than later. I opened my eyes and could feel the rumble from the line's progression. This was it. This is where I knew my travels must end.

My vision blurred slowly in and out. I began to wonder where all of this courage that I seemed to have mustered had come from. One day ago I would be crying in terror. I wasn't sure if it was my anger…my lust for vengeance or just the pure and cold trauma of what had happened that was tearing away at my sense of reason. I had no idea how I was still standing there in front of that line, blade drawn.

As I was standing there, wasting away in thought I saw something flying out of the sky. It seemed like a white blur…maybe some sort of strange cloud. No…it couldn't be…it seemed to be descending. I tried to keep up with the blur but all I could see was the outline of what appeared to be…my father. I looked back down toward the goblins once again. They had stopped in confusion and were yelling about. One fell from the left. They turned to stare. Then one fell from the right. They turned again. Then another fell from the middle. They were in a frenzied panic by now running about and screaming like wild chocobos. I could do nothing but stare as a blinding flash hit the ground. The light receded and the goblins stood like stone cold statues. They seemed to be locked in a moment in time. Our group approached them slowly to see what was going on. I then heard a clank from behind me as the goblins fell into neatly cut halves one by one. I jerked myself around to see what had made the sound…but it nothing more than the same white blur, vanishing into the deep sky.

"W-what was that?" I questioned Allilrin, poking at his head.

"I'm not sure…but whatever it was, we may well owe our lives to it." As he made the statement we all turned our attention away from the odd goblin slaughter and to our own wounded Chrystie. Allilrin made quick to make a plan.

"Mhuara isn't far from here," he said "Gehn, get her head, Arius, grab the legs and I'll carry her in the middle." We turned Chrystie over, face up to carry her easier. She didn't moan in pain…she didn't smile at us. Her face was flushed. I tilted my head towards her and shook her. She gave no response. Allilrin gave a sharp and odd look towards her as he went to her head. He leaned his ear down to her mouth and listened closely for a bit. Then, rising without saying a word he walked away a few steps and stopped. He would not face us and he would not speak to us. He just stared off into the infinite sky.

"She can't be…it was just a leg wound" I said, shaking her once again. Allilrin turned slowly with a tear in his eye and walked to her leg. He gave a sharp jerk to the jagged arrow and examined the head as it popped out, leaving a deep open wound. He slowly ran his fingertips across the arrowhead and wiped a purple-black substance off on his shirt.

"Poison…" he said, as if the word itself infected his very being. I leaned my head down on Chrystie and began to cry slowly. I had not known her at all, but there was something comforting about the smile she gave me. It felt like my mother's dear, warming smile. I don't know why…but I broke out into tears laying my head down on her chest. WHY must innocent people pay?! WHY must innocent people suffer?!

"WHY did she have to DIE?!" I yelled out weeping in pain, pounding on the dry dirt. I felt a small comforting arm on my shoulder as my tears kept flowing. I heard Allilrin's voice coming from behind me.

"She is at peace now. At least she will not suffer what is to come." There was truth in what he said. I turned to Gehn who was sitting knees down in the dirt looking helplessly at Chrystie's lifeless body. Allilrin walked up to her and whispered something softly to her ear. Then he began chanting in some unknown, but fearful tongue. Within seconds her corpse vanished into what looked like dove feathers. He began to walk away toward Mhuara slowly.

"Come on, we're almost there. We must go now." I looked sharply at him and began to feel anger deep inside of me.

"How could you just walk off like that?! She was YOUR friend and even I weep for her! Are you that heartless of a Taru?" I yelled this to him and it echoed across the canyon wall. Allilrin stopped slowly and looked upwards, wiping his eyes.

"It does hurt me, but we were told to get you to Bastok and I intend to. Chrystie wouldn't want us hanging around weeping uselessly. Now let's go." His words struck me in the soul. I realized that had I died in Windurst, maybe Chrystie would still be alive. Maybe I wasn't supposed to live…maybe it was just a dumb-luck chance.

"Maybe you should just keep moving so we don't get attacked again." said Allilrin with a sly grin on his face. I looked at him, puzzled. Did he know what I was thinking? I shook my head a bit and began to walk slowly towards Mhuara, taking one last look at the feathers in the wind. Wiping a small tear away I turned and put my head down as if to keep myself from crying. The pain was almost too much. I had already lost so many today. To see another innocent die ripped my heart out.

As I looked into the short distance I saw a gleam of light like some sort of reflection. Suddenly I realized it was the rising sun reflecting off the blue sea. As we passed the towering welcome sign I could feel the warm breeze blowing through my dark red hair. Oh, if wind could wash a soul free of pain this would be the one to do so. The air felt crisp, warm. It was as if we had just been transported to another realm, far away from the pain of Vana'diel. I could not describe the feeling to you in simple Hume words.

"Welcome to Mhuara" said Allilrin proudly. "You can consider us to be halfway there already." He said it so lighthearted. I believe that the atmosphere made him forget about the pains of losing his two comrades just as I had nearly forgotten my loss of family. The quiet morning was absolutely breathtaking especially with the eastern sun rising slowly over the peach-colored, stone village of Mhuara. You could hear various noises coming from people's houses as they awoke to the fresh dawn. And one could not forget the full aroma of baked goods that rose slowly from each house. I could have melted away in this wonderful peace. Unfortunately we had an agenda to attend to. In the essence of the Mhuaran morning I had forgotten this was not a pleasurable trip.

So we headed closer to the warm waters of Mhuara and to the ticket gates. It was at this time that I realized I was about to take a ride on none other than the "famous" cargo ship from Mhuara to some location known only by Allilrin. I knew only that we would be closer to this city known as Bastok. As we approached the gate I noticed a different type of being standing before me. He had white hair that faded into a black, short trimmed beard. More so the color of his skin was unlike any I had seen before. It was green! It was too tall to be a Taru….too odd to be a Hume, and HE obviously couldn't have been a Mithra. I couldn't put my mind on what it was, so I merely stood there in an awed state of mind staring blankly at it. He slowly looked down at Allilrin and began to glare.

"You have tickets?" his booming voice overtook me as I fell backwards on my rear. Allilrin looked downward and tilted his hat downward. He began to give a bit a snarl as he looked back up toward the beast. Then he ripped off his hat and began to smile at it.

"Kamorin! Don't you remember me you blubbering fool?" he said as cheerfully as possible. The thing began to glance a bit more at Allilrin and he squinted his eyes slowly. Allilrin began to lose his smile as the thing would not crack a smile.

"Hur…hur hur…." The thing began to shake as if he were holding back laughter.

Then in suddenly in an outburst of joy;

"Allilrin! Of course I remember you! Who could forget such a likable Taru as yourself?" With one quick swoop the green-skin snatched Allilrin and began to…hug him. I got up and dusted myself off, now realizing that the "beast" was not a threat. Allilrin began to gasp for air and struggle against the giant as he tried to speak out. Gehn simply turned around and began to laugh to himself. I tried my hardest not to do the same. It was very comical to see something so large…hugging the small (even to me!) Taru. After the green-skin let Allilrin go they began to strike up chat that seemed to last for days. The green-skin pointed at us a couple of times, seeming a bit confused, shortly before nodding his head in approval. After they had caught up, the green-skin moved out of the way to let us pass. As I walked by him he leaned down slowly to me.

"I'm sorry to hear about your father. He was one of the greats," he said to me in that booming voice. I looked up at him and shed a bit of a tear. He wiped it away and gave me a quick nod.

"Keep his legacy true, Arius"

I could hear his words ringing through my head as I walked closer to the docks. What kind of legacy did my father have? I knew he was a Dragon Knight…and that he was very strong, but other than what Allilrin had told us in the cave, I knew nothing of his exploits. I wiped yet another tear from my eye, thinking not only of his "legacy" that he left behind for me to fill…but the image of my mother falling was still fresh in my mind. I shook my head and just continued onward to the edge of the dock…ah…the warm sea breeze felt like my mothers arms.

I closed my eyes and tried to recall all of the memories of the past. The meals that I had with my family next to the fireplace, the stories of the old wars my father told me as we laid underneath the starry sky, even the grain cookies my mother used to bake that were so good. I could wish nothing more than to be by the fireplace again with my family eating a comforting meal once again.

"The ship will be here very soon. We got lucky and don't have to wait that long." Allilrin snapped me out of my trance very quickly. I shook my head and realized I was now sitting with my legs dangling off the dock. Gehn was next me with a small fishing rod. I turned to him and smiled a bit as to wish him luck in catching something.

"I can't believe were actually going to get to ride on a ship." He said to me, still staring off into the crystal blue waters. Neither could I. I couldn't believe that I was actually outside of the comfort of Windurst, about to embark on some sort of strange adventure to some strange place. I simply gave a nod to him as laid backwards to stare into the now orange, morning sky. Clouds dotted it and I tried to make out various pictures from them. It was to no avail of course, they were a bit too small to make anything of. Before I knew it I heard bells ringing in the distance. I shot myself up and looked off to the west sharply. I could faintly make out the some sort of vessel approaching. Gehn put away his fishing rod a bit sadly and rose to his feet. I grabbed my spear and dusted my back off. The ship came closer into view and I realized this was much more luxurious than many of the other cargo ships. I suppose it was being used more for commercial travel than for just goods now.

The ship came to a slow stop as the bell rang clear through the town. I looked around me and realized that Allilrin, Gehn and I were the only ones to be riding this trip. A few travelers walked slowly off from the cargo bay and gave Gehn and me a quick smile as if to assure us the trip was good. As the former passengers cleared out I followed Gehn who was following the cheerful Allilrin onboard. I could feel the ship moving up and down through the tide. I didn't feel sick at all…just a bit misplaced as tide began to increase. As the warm smell of Mhuara faded and the dry air of the cargo ship began to fill my lungs I suddenly felt bitter and cold again.

We opened the rusty doors to the cabin and saw various empty shelves that had no other purpose than storage. What really caught my eye were certainly not the shelves however. I looked into the corner and noticed a lone adventurer suited in full, glimmering white plate armor. He had an odd crest of a cross with a sword attached to it suited in the middle of his chest armor. He had almost flowing blonde hair that was shoulder length with a distinct bold look on his face that was characterized by his deep azure eyes. There was something very familiar about this Hume…but I could think of where I had seen him before. As Gehn and Allilrin went up to the deck I stopped in front of him and looked at him, trying to realize where I had seen him before. He slowly rose to his feet and towered over me. I looked up to him, very lost and confused. He looked down to me with those eyes that could pierce the soul and smiled warmly.

"Arius." he said with a certain confidence. I shook my head in disbelief, not knowing how this strange man knew me. I looked toward the ground in confusion and noticed Allilrin coming back down from the deck. As he did he looked to the man in white armor and jumped back, shocked. He began to speak to the man in a trembling voice.

"O-oh my….i-it's you…."

I simply stared back into the strange man's eyes…

(To be continued…)