A/N: For the purposes of the story, I'm assuming that Sailor's Island is much bigger than it actually was in the game. For being the main hub of sailors in the game, it was awfully small, wasn't it? Oh, and thanks for the enthusiastic reviews VyseFina4eVa! Thanks to everyone else who reviewed me as well!

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Chapter 3: First Encounter

Vyse walked back into Polly's bar after an unsuccessful day of information gathering with the lovely Fina following close behind him. They spotted Gilder sitting at the bar, eating a plate of Polly's "Sardis Surprise" and sipping some blue loqua. They proceeded to sit next to him.

Polly turned to them and flashed a friendly smile at them. "Hey kids, no luck today?"

They both sadly shook their heads. It was only the end of the first day, but they were still disappointed with the fact that they didn't learn anything the entire day. Perhaps their anxiety was getting the best of them.

Polly kept her smile, despite the sad looks on Vyse and Fina's faces. "Don't worry kids. It's only your first day. In the meantime, how about if I cook you up a little dinner?"

Fina nodded. "Yes, please. We'd greatly appreciate it."

Polly nodded back. "Great! What'll ya have?"

Vyse thought for a moment. "A couple of broiled Gruel and a bottle of silver loqua, please."

Fina pondered the same question. "Umm… just a Sky Moss salad and a glass of milk please."

Polly turned around towards her backroom kitchen. "Robinson! Broil up a couple of Gruel!"

Robinson could be heard in the back yelling, "Gotcha Polly! 2 Gruel, coming right up!"

Vyse began to reach into his pocket when Polly waved her hand.

"No hon. This one's on us. It's the least we can do to help." Having said that, Polly turned around and began preparing Fina's Sky Moss salad.

Vyse turned to Gilder who was just finishing up his meal. "Find anything today?"

Gilder took one last bite of his food. "Nothing. Either everyone here on the island is afraid of the guys we're after, or they really don't know anything about them. Either way, we have no leads." He took a sip from his bottle.

Fina looked around for a moment and turned back to Gilder. "Where's Clara?"

Gilder set down the bottle once more. "Not sure. Last time I saw her was about 2 hours ago. Haven't heard from her since."

Vyse thought for a moment. "Shouldn't we go look for her?"

Gilder shrugged. "I wouldn't worry about it. Clara can take care of herself. She's a little tougher than you think."

No sooner did he say that than they heard a woman outside yelling, "Get your hands off my purse you filthy pirate!"

A loud CRACK! was heard outside and, a split-second later, a burly pirate wearing a strange outfit came crashing through the door of the bar and hit the ground with a loud THUD! Not longer afterward, Clara came walking in, dusting off her hands.

"Hmph! That'll teach you a lesson to not mess with ladies!" She walked over to the fallen pirate and kicked him once in the side. "Try to take my purse, will ya?"

Vyse and Fina could only stare, wide-mouthed, as they witnessed the total butt-kicking Clara gave the big pirate. Gilder kept drinking as if nothing happened and didn't even bother to turn around.

"See?" Gilder started. "Told ya." He took another sip from his bottle as he finally turned around.

Clara looked up long enough to see her friends sitting at the bar. "Oh hi guys! I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" She looked a bit sheepish as she folded her arms behind her back.

Despite a loss of words, Fina did the best she could to respond. "N-nothing. Just getting ready to eat some dinner."

Clara's eyes lit up. "Dinner? That's a great idea! I haven't eaten all day!" She rubbed her small stomach and sat down next to Gilder.

Vyse didn't take his eyes off the pirate who was trying his best to stand back up, obviously embarrassed that he was beat-up by such a small woman. The outfit he was wearing caught his eye and he studied it for a moment. Suddenly, his eyes shot open.

"Guys! That's a Valuan Armada uniform! He must be one of the pirates Juan was talking about!" Everyone turned back around as he said this and watched the pirate.

The man looked up with a look of fear in his eyes. He tried to make a break for the door, but Vyse rushed from his seat and tackled him from behind before he could get too far. Fina rose from her seat as well and walked slowly over to the fallen pirate and Vyse while Gilder and Clara watched from their seats.

Vyse flipped the pirate face-up and once he saw the Valuan logo on the man's chest plate, he immediately began to swell with uncontrollable rage. The pirate looked as if he was going to say something but was stopped when Vyse started throwing punches at his face mercilessly. To everyone in the room, he appeared to be nothing more than a brutal savage.

A look of shock crossed Fina's face as she rushed to Vyse's side. She could understand Vyse's pain and sadness, but she didn't want Vyse to lose himself. She immediately grew afraid that this incident may change his personality forever. She couldn't stand to lose the Vyse she had come to know and care so much for.

She kneeled down beside Vyse and put both of her hands on his left shoulder and began to sob. "Vyse, please stop! Don't do this! Don't let this man get the best of you!"

Vyse didn't hear her but he did feel someone grab his shoulder. In his fit of rage, he drew his Lunarian Cutlass and whirled around with a hate-stricken look on his face. His arm was cocked back, ready to strike, but when he saw that it was only Fina, his expression softened immediately to that of a small, hurt child. He dropped the cutlass on the wooden floor of the bar as tears began to form in his eyes. He threw his arms around Fina and held her close as he sobbed uncontrollably. In response, Fina wrapped her arms around Vyse and sobbed with him.

From the bar, Clara could nothing but stare in wonder as she covered her mouth with both of her hands, obviously distraught over Vyse's uncommon act of savage assault. Gilder kept a solemn look on his face. It was certainly unusual to see Vyse like this, but he couldn't blame him. It had only been a day since he lost his childhood friend. He looked to Clara and wondered if he would act any differently if the same had happened to her.

Gilder took one last sip from his bottle and stood up. He walked over to the sobbing couple, drawing a pistol as he did so. He knelt down next to Vyse and whispered, "I'll take care of this Vyse. Just calm down. In time, everything will be alright. Be patient."

He stood once more and strolled over to the bloodied ex-Valuan. The man's look of fear grew even more so when Gilder kneeled next to him and put the barrel of the pistol to the man's head.

He spoke in a low tone. "Ok hombre… me and you are gonna have a talk. Tell me what I wanna know and we'll let you live. Do you understand?"

Although no one realized it, the man was so scared that he had wet himself. Doing his best to ignore the pain, the man gave a slight nod.

Gilder gave an approving smile. "Good. Let's begin with a little Q&A session…"

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Vyse barely nibbled on the 2 Gruel he ordered as he watched the kneeling Gilder "chat" with the ex-Valuan. His eyes were red from all the sobbing he had done a few moments earlier. He wouldn't be even eating now if Clara and Fina had not insisted on it so much. He did his best to suppress his anxiety as he waited for Gilder to finish with the pirate.

Fina did a better job of eating, nearly finishing her salad as she too attempted to listen in on Gilder's conversation. She took one last bite of her salad and grabbed her glass of milk as she slowly spun around in her seat so that she could Vyse, whose back was turned to her. She wanted to reach out and hold Vyse's shoulder but, for some reason unknown to her, she decided against it.

Vyse, Fina, and Clara all assumed the conversation was over when Gilder pistol-whipped the pirate in the back of the head, thus knocking him out. They were out. Gilder stood up and walked back to his seat next to Clara.

Clara decided to voice her impatience. "So?! What did you find out?"

Gilder ordered another bottle of blue loqua. "Not too much. Turns out he's just some bottom-of-the-ladder grunt. However, he did give us the opportunity to gather some more information."

Vyse leaned forward in his seat. "What? How?"

Gilder looked at him with a somewhat disappointed look in his eyes. "It's quite simple, really. His crew will be back to pick him up in the early hours of tomorrow morning." He pointed to the out-cold pirate. "An officer of their little organization will be on board. All we have to do is talk to him."

Another bottle was set on the table and Gilder nodded in the direction of the hand that had set it down. He popped the top and took a hearty drink of the delicious juice.

Vyse looked down and folded his arms. "Hmph. Then we'll just have to attack the ship and/or its crew. I doubt they'll go quietly. I say we just stay in the Delphinus overnight and wait 'til they show up. I doubt their ship can match the Delphinus, combatively speaking."

Clara gave him a questioning glare. "What's wrong with you Vyse? Are you suggesting that we just destroy their ship? How are we supposed to get any information that way?"

Vyse remained silent. He was trying his best to keep his usual cool, but it was becoming too hard. He knew Clara was right, but he also wanted to destroy any cur that is/was associated with the heart-less bastards that killed his friend. He stood up and began to walk towards the door to the bar.

"I'm sorry Clara. You're right… I'll have someone from the Delphinus lock up this guy in the ship's brig." He gave the pirate a slight kick in the side. "We have to make sure that we wake up before his friends come back for him. When they enter the town, we'll ambush them. Is that ok with everyone?"

Everyone nodded in unison. The second plan was far better than his first.

Vyse nodded back at them. "Good. After I get some from the Delphinus to lock up this guy, I'm going to get a room at the local inn. Good night everyone. Be ready for tomorrow." With that, he walked outside and out of the view of his friends.

The three did little but look at each other. They were obviously worried about Vyse, but couldn't think of a way to help him.

Fina looked up with a bit of a sad look on her face. "I'm going to try and cheer him up tonight. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can do this?"

Gilder looked like he was about to speak but Clara beat him to the punch. "Just be yourself, honey. He always calms down when you're around and your mere presence seems to make him happy."

Gilder closed his eyes and folded his arms. "I concur. You're a really special person to him Fina. Just do what you always do and he should be ok in no time."

Fina's look of sadness grew into a beautiful, heartfelt smile. "Th-thank you Clara and Gilder. Those were very kind words."

Gilder chuckled. "Think nothing of it. We meant every word of it."
Clara smiled as he said this.

Fina rose from her chair and began to walk out the door when she turned back once more. "I'll talk to him tonight. Wish me luck!" She waved cheerily and walked out.

Clara and Gilder smiled at each other after she left. Gilder took another drink as Clara finally popped the top off of her bottle of Ice Continent water.

Clara giggled. "They seem to be oblivious to each other, don't you think?"

Gilder grinned. "Heh… yeah."

They both clinked their bottles together. "To young love!" they both said at once.

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Awwright! Chapter 3 is done! Chapter 4 will be the first true Vyse and Fina scene. Keep an eye out for Chapter 4: Moonlight. Don't forget to R&R!