ORANGE Sunsets
When Terra awoke, Shadow was not in his bed, and the bed covers lay on the ground, as if he had dragged himself out of bed. She panicked, thinking that he had gone to look for the missing children by himself. "Damn you, Shadow..." Terra muttered under her breath. She quickly fixed her ragged, wrinkled clothing and rushed out the door, prepared to call for Duane. As she half ran through the door, she ran into something solid. She nearly tumbled, but was caught by strong arms, though he almost fell with her in the effort, grunting in pain as he grabbed her arm reflexively.
"You never look where you're going, do you?" A deep voice scolded.
"Shadow...I..." Terra stuttered. "I thought that you'd..."
"That I'd what?" He towered over her and raised his eyebrow. "Run off to play hero? I don't think so. My mind may be ready, but as I discovered this morning, I could barely make it out of bed." Terra looked down and saw a tray with food on the ground, neatly placed, not spilled or disturbed in any way. He saw what she was looking at and picked up the tray, grunting slightly. "It might be a little cold now, but it's breakfast." He handed it to her and walked past her. She was a little steamed at this as he turned his back to her and walked back into the guesthouse.
"I'm not your maid." She said ominously.
"I know that," Shadow didn't even turn his head. "That's your breakfast. I already ate." He continued to walk, or rather, limp, into the room full of beds and sat down on the one he had used the night before. Terra was dumbfounded, and felt incredibly stupid for assuming such a thing.
"I'm sorry." She said as she followed him into the room.
"You have nothing to be sorry about." He said plaintively. "Duane and Katarin are both good people." He decided to change the subject.
"Yes, they've helped me through it all," Terra said furtively. "They were the only friends I thought I had when the world's end came about." She smiled a little at the memory. "Everyone else thought that they were the only ones left, too."
"I knew of at least a few that were still alive, but the one that surprised me the most was Setzer." Shadow said.
"Setzer?"
"Yeah, I thought that as much as he loved his airship, he would've hung himself when it was destroyed." Terra giggled at his thought. "I'm serious."
"And what did you do during the time after the world's end?"
"Nothing really..." Shadow started fixing his bed, placing the sheets in their rightful place and then tucking them in. Terra joined in, and as soon as his bed was finished, she worked on hers. "The only productive thing I did was a small attack on Fanatic's Tower." Terra shivered.
"What were you doing there?"
"Well, I still had some magicite, and there was this guy offering one million gold pieces for the retrieval of some treasure. I took the job, only I ended up just slaughtering countless fanatics...they took a long time to recover from the blow."
"What else did you do?" Terra finished making her bed and sat down on it. She patted beside her, offering Shadow a seat, but he sat across from her.
"Everything else that I did was for my own sake, and I don't want to talk about it." He said bluntly. Terra nodded.
"Shadow, how did you escape from the Tower after we defeated Kefka?" Terra inquired.
Shadow looked at her, his eyes darker than usual. "Well, I wasn't planning on escaping, to tell you the truth." Shadow said.
Flash
The Tower was rumbling, things were falling and crashing apart around Shadow as he followed the group through the winding paths to the exit. He stopped suddenly, and knelt down in a corner, waiting for the others to go out of sight. Interceptor saw this, and, being faithful as ever, sat next to Shadow. "Go on! Get out of here! You have to take care of the girl!" Shadow yelled at him. The big dog hesitated, but he finally left, running after the group. "You hear me, Baram? I'm finished with running! From now on I'm going to face up to everything I've done..."
Flash
"I had a vision...Sort of. I figured out that I had a lot to atone for, many sins. Still do. When I saw the airship take off, I knew it was almost time, so I went as high as I could go, so I could see everything one last time."
Flash
Shadow was climbing to the top of the tallest spire. He stopped and looked out over the world, seeing in it's fullest what it had become after the Collapse. He'd never seen the world like this, and he realized he had so much to do. "I have to make up for all the mistakes I made, Elly...You have to help me this one last time..." An explosion rocked the Tower, and Shadow was sent flying into the air, over the edge and into the abyss...
Flash
"I was thrown from the Tower by an explosion, and somehow I lived to tell about it." Shadow finished his not-so-detailed explanation of his escape.
"I'm glad that you survived, Shadow, everyone was worried about you." Terra looked down at her feet. "Well, I have to get some work done around here," Terra stood up. "Lots of people are moving here, and we need to finish some houses..."
"I'll help." When he saw her about to protest, he intervened. "I have to do something to get myself back into shape, and I promise I won't overdo it, okay?" He stood up and walked away from her before she could say no.
It was time for the merchants to travel through the Naga Forest, and the preparations were almost complete. Because of the people that were now living in Mobliz, there were many different things for the merchants to wheel and deal. The hand made silks, quilts, food, paper, and parts for machines were some of the rarities. Terra knew that they would sell for decent amounts of money, resulting in more funds for the town. She also knew that because they would sell so well, the bandits would be keeping an eye out for such a prize.
Shadow knew that they would be attacked; it was only a matter of when and where. He could also tell that the vendors were nervous. They did not want to go through the forest after the massacre the day before. Stories were already flying about the small town and becoming more outrageous with each tale. Shadow's most recent account of the horrific event was that the bandits were seven feet tall, with humongous swords that could cleave a man in half without hardly any effort at all. In truth, the bandits were all the same as the men in the village, although they were trained to kill.
Kill, steal, and get money. That had been Shadow's motto for so long, it had been hard for him to change, but he did it because he knew there was a time and place for everything, and he believed that when he met Sabin outside of the mad hermit's house. It was fate. A signal that he needed to change and stop being selfish.
It was an hour before the merchants departed, and they were putting together a team with which to defend the merchants and the goods. Shadow was watching through his mask from afar.
"All right everybody," Terra stood in the middle of a crowd of people. "I need ten to fifteen men to help transport and protect this cargo and these people to the town of Tzen, then to Nikeah, and finally to South Figaro, where the items will be sold. You all know what happened in Naga Forest, and I'm sure you've heard the fantastic stories about the bandits, but according to...an eyewitness account, they are just like anybody else. They're not invincible. They are mortal, just like you and me. I think that once you are past the forest, the journey will be easy. Who will go?" She scanned the crowd, and a couple of hands went up. "Alright, Duane will supply you with weapons in the town hall." The men left the crowd and walked towards the town hall. "Anybody else?" Terra asked.
Just as a few hands went up, Terra heard three shrill whistles coming from the watchers, who were just children, all around the village. Something was wrong. She saw one little boy running towards her yelling her name. She ran to him and caught him in her arms. "There are men, bandits, they're..." The boy was breathing so hard he couldn't speak. Terra knew what was happening.
"Katarin, get all the children inside! Take some men with you to protect them!" Terra yelled at the top of her lungs. "Grab weapons, we have to protect the wagons!" She ran into the town hall and yelled at Duane to get the weapons outside to anyone who could fight. Terra ran to the secret basement where the children were. "Katarin! Are they all here?" Katarin looked panicked. "I can't find Cloud or Squall...Or Tasha!" Katarin said with fear in her eyes. Terra gasped; Cloud and Squall were two of the older boys who were two of the four watchers. Tasha was Katarin's little girl.
"I'll find them, Katarin, just look after these children!" Terra said. Katarin nodded, and grabbed a knife. Terra turned, grabbed the Atma Weapon and left the room, going outside to find the children. Some of the bandits were already attacking the caravan, but Duane and some men were able to defend it decently. Terra was glad that Duane's training was finally paying off. By now, the chaos was everywhere, people running in different directions, screams, battle cries...it was hard for Terra to discern the ally from the enemy. She frantically looked about, searching the sea of clashing steel for the missing children.
"Cloud! Squall! Tasha!" She yelled at the top of her lungs. Off in the distance she heard the shrill whistle, but just barely. She ran in the direction of where the sound had originated. She slashed her way through the crowd, making her way out with only a few minor cuts. She recognized a few of the men that had volunteered earlier and realized they had been wounded. She cast a Cure3 spell on them to help, but continued to look for the children. She arrived finally at the base of the lookout cliff and called their names again. This time the whistle came back much louder. Terra slung the sheathed Atma Weapon over her shoulder and scaled the small cliff face.
She finally reached the top and brought herself to her feet. She looked up and saw the two boys being held at the knifepoint of a very large man with scars all over his face. A smaller man held Tasha. Out of nowhere, more bandits appeared, all holding weapons ranging from dirks to crossbows. Terra knew she was in trouble and outnumbered. She drew the Atma Weapon from its sheath and held herself in a ready position, holding the blazing blade in one hand. Seeing this, the man laughed.
"You really mean to fight us?" The man chuckled. "My dear little girl, we have you outnumbered twenty to one. You can't be serious. Just hand over that lovely sword and give yourself up. If you do, I promise I won't let anyone besides me touch you."
"I don't think so..." Terra growled. She felt herself morphing, but kept it in check. She didn't want to give them the advantage of knowing her power.
"Aunty Terra! Don't let them hurt Cloud and Squall!" Little Tasha cried out after she bit the man who had been holding her and kicked him in the shin. With that distraction, Terra went in swinging.
Shadow had been fending them off for about forty-five minutes, and he wasn't sure he could hold out much longer. His wounds were not fully recovered yet and he was not executing his skills very quickly. What I wouldn't give to have Interceptor here right now. The ninja sighed inwardly as another swarm of bandits surrounded him and a few other men. Duane was in his group. He was a decent fighter though he seemed rather appalled at Shadow's methods of killing. Shadow didn't blame him. He quickly took care of a few bandits and fought one off of another man's back. They finished the swarm off and looked around. Duane and the others ran off to help a smaller group of villagers defend the town hall, but Shadow stayed behind. Something was wrong. He could sense it. Terra...He heard fighting coming from above on a small mesa that served as a watchtower. He hurried to see what was going on up there.
"AAHHGghh..." Terra wrapped her arm around her stomach and fell to her knees, gasping for breath. She only had time to chant a light cure spell before the bandit attacked again. She had killed several of them, but more seemed to appear from thin air to take the place of the dead. She barely had time to raise her sword to block the incoming blow. She tried to get to her feet, but didn't have the strength. I guess I have to... Before she could make up her mind, and sudden blaze of fire swept across the mesa taking out more than half of the remaining bandits. The fire didn't touch her but was all around her, taking the man in front of her and sweeping him into oblivion. Shadow was suddenly at her side, with the two boys.
"Tasha..." Terra moaned. "I know, Terra, don't worry." Shadow reassured her. "You two get her back to the town hall, you hear me?" Shadow said to the boys. They both nodded and helped Terra to her feet. Terra protested, but she couldn't do anything to stop them. Shadow watched them leave, and then went to look for the man that had taken the little girl.
You've crossed the line, asshole. Shadow stepped through the smoke and back into the darkness.
Terra hadn't seen Shadow since the battle at the watchtower, nor had she seen the little girl, Tasha. The merchants had left the next day, managing to save a decent amount of their wares that would fetch enough money to make the trip worth the effort. Duane and Katarin were desperate to know what had happened to Tasha, and were filled with angst and fear. Days passed with no news.
A new caravan of people arrived at Mobliz a couple of days later, filled with many small children without parents. There were quite a few teenagers, which was surprising, because most of the teens had been taken for the Empire's war effort, mostly for the science department.
The man in charge insisted that he speak with Terra immediately. Terra had mostly recovered from her wounds, the worst being a gash across her stomach, so she agreed to meet with him in Duane and Katarin's house, which was the only house that was refurbished and complete.
"What is it that you need, sir?" Terra was used to people being uneasy at the idea of moving so many people from one area to the next.
"There were bandits in the woods." The man said simply. "And I understand that you have an extraordinary power." He waved his hands in the air.
"I have to stay here. All I can do is patrol." She explained calmly. She didn't know how the secret of her power got out, but she figured that it must be a rumor that had spread.
"But you have friends that can help?" The man persisted.
"They deserve a break from being heroes." She answered. "Why does it matter to you so much? You're here, you don't have to worry about the bandits anymore."
"I have three more caravans coming through, each with about forty people. One caravan was almost completely destroyed the other day, no survivors." Terra knew which one he was talking about.
"I saw that one right after it happened."
"Then you know what these murderers are doing. Your village was even attacked!"
"Yes."
"Why aren't you doing anything about it?"
"I told you! I patrol! I can't do anything else because I have to stay here to protect Mobliz!" Terra was losing her cool. She was tired of dealing with this sort of thing.
"Can't you hire someone?"
"I..."
"She already has." A deep voice cut in. "She hired me the day the bandits destroyed that caravan." Terra whirled around to see Shadow dressed all in black, complete with his mask. The man looked as though he'd seen a ghost, and swallowed hard. "It's been taken care of, so go take care of your own problems." Shadow nodded towards the people trying to set up their makeshift camps among other things.
"I should be getting paid extra for this..." The man muttered as he walked out the door. As soon as the man had left, Shadow nearly collapsed onto the floor. Terra managed to reach him in time and support him enough to keep him from hitting the ground.
"Shadow...what happened?" Terra asked, a little panicked. "Where's Tasha?"
"I...I don't know..." Shadow grunted as Terra helped him into a seat. "They were waiting for me to follow, I was ambushed." Shadow put his head in his hands. "I failed again...I couldn't save her..."
"Shadow, it's alright, we'll get her back." She put her arm around him, trying to comfort him. He shook her off, trying to stand up, only to lose his balance and sit back down. "Who was that guy?" Terra inquired, trying to change the subject. "I've never seen him helping with the other caravans before."
"His name's Pike Goldop." Shadow explained. "He was in charge of the caravan I was hired to protect. He probably thought I was dead."
"Why are you wearing your mask?" Terra turned Shadow to face her.
"Because there are some people who don't need to know who I really am."
"I don't know who you are...Not really anyway."
"I'll tell you everything someday. Now's not the time. First I have to explain to Duane and Katarin what happened to Tasha."
It was ugly. Terra had watched the whole ordeal unfold in front of her. Duane and Katarin were both upset at the news, which was to be expected. They weren't the only ones. Terra had been distressed for some time, though she tried not to show it. She was trying to be strong for the children and Katarin. Shadow told them the whole story, how he had saved Terra and sent her back with the two boys, and the incidents that unfolded afterwards, though in the last part Terra could tell that he left out some details. Duane said that if it had been Terra instead of the 'Dark Stranger,' everything would have been fine. He even went so far as to accuse Shadow of helping in the kidnap of Tasha and actually being a member of the bandits that had attacked Mobliz. Terra was ready to fight Duane over that one, but Shadow raised his hand to stop her. He told them that it most likely was his fault, but he certainly had not helped with the kidnapping. He told them that he would get Tasha back, no matter what. Then Shadow left, saying he would leave first thing in the morning.
It was evening, and the sun was starting to set. Pike Goldop had helped everyone to get situated, and had already departed for wherever he had come from. The people were all tired, and most of them had already gone to sleep, and the rest were building campfires. Katarin had been taking care of the smaller children, while Duane helped the adolescents to get everything organized. Shadow had helped a bunch of men finish up one house, avoiding Duane, and a large family had moved in. Terra was exhausted from cooking meals for all of the new members of the populace, and she was taking a break at her favorite spot on the hill to watch sunsets.
She gathered a few logs and set them together. The sun set lower, and the clouds and the sky turned orange. It was her favorite place to sort things out, and she had been going there a lot lately. Terra settled down to watch the sunset, leaned up against a boulder and folded her hands behind her head.
"I've always loved orange sunsets." That deep voice said from above Terra, though it didn't startle her this time. She was getting used to him sneaking up on her. She looked up at him squatting on top of the boulder. She was happy to see that he had removed his mask.
"Want to join me?" She patted the ground next to her. He jumped down, landed silently next to her, and sat down. They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, both enjoying the sunset, but finally Terra asked a question. "So who does Pike work for, anyway?"
"He actually works for the Figaros."
"So Edgar's heading it up, then?"
"Yeah, he said that Mobliz is the top priority town to rebuild, and he said it would be a good idea if it was repopulated." Shadow shrugged. "I think he just wanted to help you out, but not only that, he would be the legit ruler of this area."
"Yes, but where are all of these people coming from?"
"They're people that were taking refuge at Figaro Castle. Everyone heard that it was a safe haven because Kefka couldn't touch it...what with the whole submersible thing."
"I see. How'd you get involved?"
"I'd heard about the relocation project, and I had a feeling that there would be someone that could make a profit off of the deaths of these people, so I volunteered to help. Edgar was a little surprised to see me, but Sabin said that he knew I was alive." Shadow shrugged. "I guess I really didn't help all that much anyway."
"That's not true, I'm sure you made it tough for those bandits." She elbowed him lightly in the ribs, making him grimace. "I know they made it tough for you." She looked at him sideways smiling, and then realized what she had said as he flinched a little at her jest. "I didn't mean..."
"I know...It's okay...Spilt milk. The only thing I can do now is find the bastards. Then it's payback time." He clenched his fists.
"Shadow..."
"I know, I know..." Shadow look towards the forest. "I should be trying to get past this vengeance thing. But I've seen too many things to just walk away from this." Terra saw that his fists were still clenched, and she covered his fist with her hand, unfolding it and interlacing her fingers in his. He looked down at her hand and squeezed it with his own. She laid her head on his shoulder and the scent of her hair drowned Shadows senses. He stood up suddenly, realizing what was happening, letting her almost fall over before she caught herself. "Terra, you don't know...anything about me..."
"Then tell me!" She stood up and grabbed his hand again, forcing him to look at her. His brown eyes were black in the fading light, and he was looking at her intensely, accepting her challenge.
"I'm a murderer, an assassin, a thief, and a coward! You still want to know more?!" He kept going before she could answer. "I'm also a pirate, a rapist, a deserter, an overlord of the black market, a slaver..."
"But you are also a hero!" Terra cut in. At this he yanked his hand away and started stalking his way down the hill. She followed. "It's true, Shadow! You are one of the greatest men I know! You have courage, you see something that has to be done and you do it with no qualms about yourself at all! You have friends that care about you, and you care about them, even though you won't admit it!"
"Dammit, Terra! Don't!" He stopped abruptly and whirled around to face her in a menacing glare. "Don't!"
"Don't what, Shadow? Don't care? Well, I'm sorry, but I do care, and you're just gonna have to live with that!" Shadow turned away again, but she grabbed him by the arm, stopping him. "I know you care! But you're just too stubborn to admit it!" She stomped past him with tears welling in her eyes, but he grabbed her shirt and pulled her to him, holding her there against her struggles.
"That's just it, Terra, I care. That's why I need you to stop being you." He said softly. She stopped fighting him and a tear slid down her cheek, and he brought his hand up and wiped it away. "I'll only make you cry...and dammit, you're so much more beautiful when you smile." He smiled a little, trying to get her to smile.
"You think I'm beautiful?" She looked up at him with tears in her sea green eyes, and it took his breath away. The sun was falling behind the black mountains, and there was just enough light left to catch in her eyes, making them sparkle a little bit.
"Of course." He said practically as he stroked her green hair. He felt his heart skip a beat and stopped himself, pushing her away. "Almost every man who has ever seen you thinks that."
"Well..."
"It's late...Go to bed." He ordered.
"I'm not taking orders...this is my town." She said defiantly.
"If you don't go voluntarily, I'll make you...and things could get ugly." He threatened in a husky voice. She caught his suggestion and mumbled a response. She walked down the hill, not looking at him.
"I'm going with you tomorrow, Shadow," Terra called over her shoulder. "And there's nothing you can do about it!" He stared after her, then walked up the hill to where she had made a fire pit. He lit it, and stayed the night on the hill.