You have no idea how much that one review I got inspired me, as a beginner
writer. Spiritsnare Flux, I love you. Unfortunately this chapter may not
live up to your expectations
Disclaimer: *checks* Nope, still don't own it.
-
"Who are you?" was the second thing to pass her lips.
He regarded her silently for a long moment. "My name is Liam," he answered her curtly, taking a step backwards and pulling her farther out into the faintly buzzing electric light. The other fighters enclosed her in a semicircle, all appraising her with their stares.
A million questions whirled through her mind, too many to voice. She settled for just one. "Where are we? I. . .I can't remember anything, anything at all. . .I don't even know who I am."
Liam blinked, something stirring behind his eyes. "Bervenia Palace, Ivalice. How long have you been here?" Glancing down, he began tapping the screen of his armband computer in rapid succession.
"I have no idea. . .a long time, is all I know."
"Can you fight? Well, never mind that; if you can't, you'll learn quickly. Choose a name for yourself. You'll join us, Clan Tjavo, as a white mage. It's probably the safest job for a beginner." Looking up from the faintly glowing screen, he nodded briefly to a slender woman with long, velvety ears atop her head. "Suit her up, Ladrei."
Ladrei offered her a small smile and slipped her arms out of the pouch she carried slung across her back. A bewildered look crossed the former prisoner's face. Everything was going too fast.her brain whirled dizzyingly and she felt weak with hunger and exhaustion. "Then I choose. . .Ayame," she murmured, leaning against the unforgiving metal wall for support. Ladrei handed her a sleek white suit and her own armband computer. Ayame stepped into the suit and fastened the magnetic clasps, feeling the material instantly conform to fit her shape, and tightened the band around her left forearm. When she raised her head again, Liam was staring at her stomach with eyebrows raised. She glanced down and immediately felt her ghostly pale cheeks flush scarlet, because her ribs could be seen clearly through the skintight material.
"First thing you need is a good meal." It was the archer who spoke, flicking her chestnut braid over her left shoulder. "Then we'll get you outfitted with some weapons and do a little training, hopefully before we end up in another engagement."
Liam nodded. "Let's get out of here." The defeated guards were stirring with little moans of pain. "I don't envy them their headache when they come to." His partners chuckled as they began the long trek down an immeasurably long hallway that twisted and doubled back on itself illogically. Liam was constantly forced to check the three-dimensional map that was projected above a small disc he carried. Ayame was soon too disconcerted to have any sense of direction, and couldn't have made it back to her cell if she'd wanted to.
The clan looked particularly uneasy, and she finally got up the nerve to ask why. "It's too easy," a Bangaa explained. "Normally this place is so well guarded that you can't even blink outside with at least one of their guards noticing. But today, the only group we've encountered so far was those guards." Ayame unconsciously gave their surroundings an uneasy look, as if expecting some spectral being to leap out at them at any given moment.
She wasn't looking ahead as they rounded yet another corner and only turned her head again at the collective gasp from the clan. When she did, her own gasp drew all the breath from her lungs. Two enormous beasts loomed in front of them, hissing and snarling with drool dripping from their incisors. They resembled some sort of hybrid cross between lions and dogs, with leathery red skin riddled with scars, powerfully muscled limbs, and a line of deadly yellow spines running down their backs. Both were at least twice as big as Liam, but as they appeared to have very primitively developed minds, there was a slight chance of victory, in Ayame's eyes.
Liam gave a brief nod. "We can defeat them. Lucky for you that your first fight is an easy one." Tossing her a long titanium rod, which she assumed to be her weapon, he announced in a firm voice, "Engage."
Disclaimer: *checks* Nope, still don't own it.
-
"Who are you?" was the second thing to pass her lips.
He regarded her silently for a long moment. "My name is Liam," he answered her curtly, taking a step backwards and pulling her farther out into the faintly buzzing electric light. The other fighters enclosed her in a semicircle, all appraising her with their stares.
A million questions whirled through her mind, too many to voice. She settled for just one. "Where are we? I. . .I can't remember anything, anything at all. . .I don't even know who I am."
Liam blinked, something stirring behind his eyes. "Bervenia Palace, Ivalice. How long have you been here?" Glancing down, he began tapping the screen of his armband computer in rapid succession.
"I have no idea. . .a long time, is all I know."
"Can you fight? Well, never mind that; if you can't, you'll learn quickly. Choose a name for yourself. You'll join us, Clan Tjavo, as a white mage. It's probably the safest job for a beginner." Looking up from the faintly glowing screen, he nodded briefly to a slender woman with long, velvety ears atop her head. "Suit her up, Ladrei."
Ladrei offered her a small smile and slipped her arms out of the pouch she carried slung across her back. A bewildered look crossed the former prisoner's face. Everything was going too fast.her brain whirled dizzyingly and she felt weak with hunger and exhaustion. "Then I choose. . .Ayame," she murmured, leaning against the unforgiving metal wall for support. Ladrei handed her a sleek white suit and her own armband computer. Ayame stepped into the suit and fastened the magnetic clasps, feeling the material instantly conform to fit her shape, and tightened the band around her left forearm. When she raised her head again, Liam was staring at her stomach with eyebrows raised. She glanced down and immediately felt her ghostly pale cheeks flush scarlet, because her ribs could be seen clearly through the skintight material.
"First thing you need is a good meal." It was the archer who spoke, flicking her chestnut braid over her left shoulder. "Then we'll get you outfitted with some weapons and do a little training, hopefully before we end up in another engagement."
Liam nodded. "Let's get out of here." The defeated guards were stirring with little moans of pain. "I don't envy them their headache when they come to." His partners chuckled as they began the long trek down an immeasurably long hallway that twisted and doubled back on itself illogically. Liam was constantly forced to check the three-dimensional map that was projected above a small disc he carried. Ayame was soon too disconcerted to have any sense of direction, and couldn't have made it back to her cell if she'd wanted to.
The clan looked particularly uneasy, and she finally got up the nerve to ask why. "It's too easy," a Bangaa explained. "Normally this place is so well guarded that you can't even blink outside with at least one of their guards noticing. But today, the only group we've encountered so far was those guards." Ayame unconsciously gave their surroundings an uneasy look, as if expecting some spectral being to leap out at them at any given moment.
She wasn't looking ahead as they rounded yet another corner and only turned her head again at the collective gasp from the clan. When she did, her own gasp drew all the breath from her lungs. Two enormous beasts loomed in front of them, hissing and snarling with drool dripping from their incisors. They resembled some sort of hybrid cross between lions and dogs, with leathery red skin riddled with scars, powerfully muscled limbs, and a line of deadly yellow spines running down their backs. Both were at least twice as big as Liam, but as they appeared to have very primitively developed minds, there was a slight chance of victory, in Ayame's eyes.
Liam gave a brief nod. "We can defeat them. Lucky for you that your first fight is an easy one." Tossing her a long titanium rod, which she assumed to be her weapon, he announced in a firm voice, "Engage."