Author Notes: I hope I don't stuff the characters up too much. I feel so inspired, but I have a big fat headache blocking my thought processes. Hmm...not really sure what the characters 'usually' wear, there are so many different versions as well as the whole jazz with the job classes. --;; 'Crystals of the Elements' is a working title. If someone can come up with a more fitting name, please tell me.
Reviewer Responses
Lady Savage – Oops, sorry! Good to hear you're gonna continue writing it though. When do you think you'll be able to have it online? I think you'd probably do a much better job than me. I edited the prologue a little more after posting it initially (sleep is good), but when I received your review, the edited version hadn't been updated yet. I'll be more descriptive with the characters later on, when they join up together. (makes mental note) Thanks for the encouragement and critique!
Final Fantasy V – Elementus Crystalis
Part 1 - First World
Chapter 1 – Stealing from a Buccaneer
Holes in pockets,
Holes in plots.
Holes in the sky,
Holes in time.
Is there anything,
That can't have a hole?
Thin tendrils of smoke from the small campfire wrapped themselves around Bartz's calloused fingers before floating away up into the sky. His loose, sleeveless blue tunic in particular was well worn from his travels (and mishaps). Underneath, he wore a long sleeved white shirt, dirty and stitched up in the places he had torn it. Bartz made a mental note to get new boots at the next town he visited; he could feel the ground through the ones he was wearing.
His faithful chocobo companion warked softly and nuzzled his beak into Bartz's mop of brown hair. Bartz laughed and tried to fend off his feathery friend. The bird warked in excitement, fluffing his feathers until he was a huge fluff ball that was bigger than his master. The bird cocked his head to the side, as if he'd heard something, then looked up and warked in alarm.
"What is it, Boko?" Bartz asked his chocobo, tilting his head up so he could see what was wrong. "Holy-!" he gasped.
A pockmarked meteor sailed past and smashed into a valley nearby. Bartz and Boko looked at each other in bewilderment. What in the world? thought Bartz in wonder.
He pinched himself hard on his arm and looked back at the crash-landed meteor in the distance. Boko gave him the chocobo version of raising an eyebrow. "It's not a dream!" Bartz widened his eyes, "What the heck?" Gesturing to Boko, he said, "C'mon, Boko, let's go!"
The bird warked softly in agreement and patiently waited for Bartz to put out their little campfire and gather up his things. Swiping the last of the food from the dead campfire, the young man saddled up Boko and rode towards the meteor. As the pair drew nearer, Bartz swore he could see someone lying in the long grass. Curious, he pulled up and hopped off Boko.
A beautiful young woman lay out cold, her short pink hair framing her small petite face. Her clothing looked too rich to be entirely practical, but in terms of rich clothing, that was about as good as it got. A golden neck band with a ruby or garnet encircled her neck, a matching one around her waist. She wore smaller, less decorative bands around her narrow wrists.
Boko squawked out a warning as a pair of goblins leaped out from their hiding place. Bartz instinctively took a dive forward over the woman as they leaped onto where he was before. Rolling onto his feet, he turned and drew his broad sword, all too willing to fight the goblins.
"The girl is ours!" screeched a goblin, pointing a bony finger at Bartz.
"Not if I can help it!" he said, leaping towards them, sword in hand. Boko bounced up and down as he watched Bartz duck under the goblin's swipes. Bartz dodged to the side and swung his blade in a downward arc, cleaving the goblin's skull cleanly in two. The other quickly moved in to take advantage of Bartz's turned back. Jabbering in triumph, the goblin reached out with its claws, only to find its legs cut out from underneath. It screeched horribly as it fell backwards, blood spurting from the stumpy remains of its legs. It rolled over and crawled slowly in a futile attempt to escape. Bartz, not liking to let even goblins suffer for long, put it out of its misery by plunging his sword through the creature's heart.
Wiping his blade clean on the goblin's body before sheathing it, Bartz checked up on the woman. Her eyes fluttered open, revealing emerald orbs. She sat up, looking slightly confused and extremely grossed out by the dead bodies of the goblins, especially the one leaking brains. Extending a hand to help her up, Bartz asked, "Are you alright?"
Taking his hand, the woman said, uncertain, "Yes. At least, I think so." She brushed herself down before smiling at Bartz. "Thank you for helping me. My name is Reina."
Bartz nodded. "I'm Bartz, and my chocobo's name is Boko."
"Pleased to meet you," Reina replied politely.
She looked over her shoulder at the large, ugly meteor. The force of its landing had torn up the grass and pushed the sand into large ridges beside it. "This came falling from the sky," she said, "The blast sent me flying and knocked me out."
She folded her arms, thinking. Does the meteor have something to do with the wind stopping? What could it mean? she wondered. Aloud, she said to Bartz, "Thank you once again for helping me. I wish I could repay your kindness, but I must be going. I have urgent business to attend to."
Reina turned to run off, still a little flustered at recent events. Bartz blinked, before his brain registered that this pink haired woman was leaving. "Hey, wait a sec!" he shouted, running after her.
She suddenly stopped, her attention directed elsewhere, and Bartz, completely unprepared, crashed into her. They fell down together in a tangle of arms and legs. Reina coughed and crawled out from under Bartz. "Did you hear that?" she asked Bartz, feeling a little breathless from being squashed.
Rubbing his sore head, Bartz replied, "Hear what? Ow..."
"Ugh...My head..."
Reina perked up. "That!" she cried, getting to her feet. "Over there!" she said, running over to the side of the meteor.
Bartz slowly got to his feet and followed her. He found the woman kneeling beside an old bearded man, his light, silvery hair attempting to deny his true age. He wore a jerkin over a simple doublet, a sash tied loosely around his waist. The man sat up and held his head in pain.
"Are you alright?" Reina asked, concern evident on her face.
The man looked around in bafflement. "Where am I?" he said, eyes darting around like an animal trapped in a corner, "What happened? I can't remember a thing!"
Bartz tilted his head as he remembered someone else who had acted like that before. What had happened to him again? He hit his head and lost his memory? What was this sort of memory loss called again? Oh yeah...
"Amnesia. You might have amnesia from hitting your head," he pointed out helpfully.
"Galuf!" the old man exclaimed out of nowhere.
"Huh?" Bartz gave the man a strange look, thinking he must have lost a few screws when he hit his head. Okay, Bartz, he has amnesia. He's allowed to be a little...odd.
Reina had a carefully blank look on her face, as she said, "I'm sorry, what?"
The old man turned to face her. "Galuf," he repeated, "I remember now. That's my name."
"Do you remember anything else?" Reina asked kindly.
Galuf hung his head sadly. "No. No...nothing other than my name."
Reina gently patted the Galuf on the back. "Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get your memory back soon," she said with an encouraging smile, "I'm really very sorry, but I must get to the Wind Shrine."
"The Wind Shrine!" Galuf gasped, jumping to his feet, all signs of depression disappearing, "I know I need to go there! I'll go with you!"
"But..."
"Please take me with you!" begged the old man.
Reina paused, then nodded. There couldn't be much harm in letting Galuf tag along, right? Turning to Bartz, she asked, "What about you? Are you going to be coming with us?"
Bartz shook his head. "Nah, I'll be wandering around with Boko."
"...Then it's farewell," Reina said, slightly disappointed, "Thank you for all your help, Bartz. Goodbye."
Galuf waved his farewell, and the pair left. Bartz watched them until they were out of sight and walked over towards Boko. Boko crooned and rubbed his head against Bartz's face. Bartz ruffled his loyal bird's head feathers before taking Boko's reins. He would be walking for a little while today.
"Let's go, Boko."
The beautiful, flaming colours of sunset filled the sky. The sun's rays dipped low, reluctantly relinquishing its hold during the day to the stars of the night. Bartz rode Boko, enjoying the marvellous scenery, trusting Boko to steer himself properly as they rode north east. However, the trust was a little misplaced when Boko stopped his gallop, sending Bartz flying over the bird's head.
"Owowowow! What was that for?" grumbled Bartz, picking himself off the ground.
Boko jumped up and down, pointing a wing towards the valley ahead and flapping his wings. "Wark! Wark wark!"
Bartz shielded his eyes against the light of the sun with his hand and stared off in the direction Boko was indicating. At least, the direction he thought his chocobo wanted him to look at. "Is that...those two from earlier?" he muttered to himself, "Reina and Galuf?" Squinting a little more, he saw several other figures giving chase. "Goblins!"
Suddenly, the ground began to shake and boulders from the mountains beside the valley rolled down. Bartz heard a high pitched scream. Quickly saddling back up on Boko, Bartz nudged the bird into a gallop towards the faraway figures of Reina and Galuf.
Boko warked in alarm as a whole section of the mountain started sliding down in rumbling mass to bar their path. Bartz gave his chocobo a gentle kick, silently urging Boko to sprint as hard as he could across the trembling ground. Despite the danger, a few goblins diverted their attention from escaping the landslides and quakes to attacking Bartz. He ducked their attacks and rode harder. With a roar of finality, the heap of sand, boulders and pebbles slid down into the valley and buried the goblins under their weight.
Bartz rode determinedly on, thanking the spirits that he and Boko had managed to pass through before the mountain gave way to the landslide. He found Reina and Galuf unconscious on the ground, half buried in loose rocks and pebbles. Hopping off Boko, Bartz pushed away the rocks and unceremoniously loaded them onto the chocobo as quickly as he could.
"Go Boko, hurry!" Bartz whispered in Boko's ear.
The chocobo nibbled on a strand of Bartz's hair before warking softly and took off to the other end of the mountain, taking care not to let his passengers fall. Bartz followed at a slower pace, but with no less urgency. He ran, dodging the still falling boulders and slaying the goblins that tried to follow Boko. He winced as one of the beastly humanoids managed to tear his shirt sleeve and scrape his arm. In retaliation, he swung his broadsword in a deadly arc that left the creature half as tall as it was before.
He ran past the fork in the valley, noting that the path to Tule was completely blocked by the collapse of the mountains beside it, impassable unless you were a mountain cat or something. Finally, after slipping a few times from the heaving earth and loose pebbles, he reached the end of the valley where the landslides stopped. Boko was waiting for him, with an almost smug look on his feathery face. Bartz sighed in defeat. "Alright, you won...again."
He unstrapped Reina and Galuf from Boko, laying them down gently on the ground. Bartz then gathered some dry branches from around the area and made a small campfire as the night completely took over the day's job. He sat down by the fire and pulled his items pouch closer to him. Rummaging around in it, he found a potion and a piece of cloth. Tipping the potion bottle, Bartz dripped a few drops onto the cloth and dabbed it onto his cuts, wincing as the liquid stung the scratches.
Satisfied that his wounds were healed, he replaced the bottle and cloth and fished out a needle and thread. Bartz took off his shirt and began stitching up the tear, muttering a few choice words when the thread flatly refused to go through the needle's eye.
Reina stirred at the sound of his voice, groaning softly. "Hey," Bartz greeted warmly, looking up from his stitching.
"Bartz!" Reina exclaimed, glad the night hid the reddening of her cheeks from her surprise in seeing him shirtless. Pushing away her embarrassment, she said, "Thank you for helping us."
Bartz waved away her thanks. "There's no need for thanks," he said, going back to darning his shirt, "You might be stuck here for a while. The landslide collapsed most of the cliffs and has blocked the path to Tule. You won't be able to climb it unless you've got some climbing gear, and even then, it'd be pretty dangerous."
Reina's eyes widened in panic. "But I must get to the Wind Shrine!"
A soft moan came from where Galuf lay. "Wind Shrine...must...hurry..." they heard him mumble.
Bartz sighed, ending the last stitch needed for his shirt. Packing the needle and thread back where they belonged, he slipped his shirt and tunic back on. "Sheez, this old geezer too," he muttered to himself. To Reina, he said, "You know what? I'll come with you."
Reina's jaw dropped. Quickly shutting it again, she gasped, "Really?"
He scratched the back of his head, wondering if it really was a good idea. "My dad wanted me to travel the world and see it for myself," he explained, "Besides, I wanna know what happened to the wind."
Galuf rolled over with an evil glint in his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, say whatever you want," he said with a grin, "You just want to be with this pretty lady!"
Bartz and Reina's eyes almost popped out of their sockets in shock. Together they both glared daggers at the laughing old man. "You were awake, you old fart!" Bartz said accusingly.
"Course I was!" Suddenly becoming serious, Galuf said, "How are we going to get to the Wind Shrine now?"
Bartz remained silent, mentally drawing up a map of the area. There wasn't much to go on. As far as he could remember, all that lay at the end of the path was a dead end. There was no harm in trying though. "Let's get some rest and follow this road tomorrow," he said.
"Ahoy there, Stargazer!" bellowed Faris across the stretch of ocean separating the two ships.
"Ahoy, Ororo, or however ye say yer bloody ship's name!" Stargazer's captain bellowed back.
Faris' smaller and faster schooner, 'ororO', pulled up next to the much larger Stargazer. The pirate crew of the Stargazer welcomed the corsairs from the ororO and moved aside to let them board. Faris turned his head side to side, examining the condition of the Stargazer. "Looks like you've bin drifting fer a while, Dayone," he said while both pirate crews mingled, exchanging hearty greetings.
The captain of the Stargazer laughed. "I dunt have no way to git around, unlike yerself," he said, "The wind chose a damn bad time t' disappear on us. Me precious baby's loaded with loot but not a scrap o' food or a drop o' water's left. Had to start throwing some o' th' jewels overboard and start fishin' would ye believe it?"
Faris gave him a wry smile, watching some of his men head back to the ororO to bring back supplies for the Stargazer's crew. He nodded his assent when they turned to him for permission.
"How're ye getting' around with the wind gone, anyways?" said Dayone, taking out a small bottle of whisky from inside his coat pocket. He took a swig from it before offering it to Faris. All he got was a mysterious smile from the other captain as he accepted the bottle.
"Secret o' th' ship?" Dayone asked, already knowing he wouldn't get a straight answer from his fellow captain.
"You're gonna hafta pay me back double, or you get nothin', Dayone," Faris said, changing the subject. He took a mouthful of the whisky before he passed it back to the Stargazer's captain.
"Ah, ye always drive a hard bargain, scud."
"You're lucky I'm fool enough to trust you to live. I'd drag your sorry excuse of a ship back with me if I could," Faris replied, "But I can't. My ship couldn't take your bunch of logs anywhere, even if I'd tried."
"Ye never told me what yer puny ship's screwed up name meant," Dayone said.
Faris smirked. "And I'll never tell ya, you mangy ol' sea dog. There'll always be somethin' that you'll never know." Faris turned to his crew. "C'mon, men! We're headin' back home!" he yelled.
The group followed the path, Bartz leading Boko by the reins with Reina walking a little ahead. He noted that the path had barely any signs that it had been used by anyone. Perhaps they were the first people to walk this road in years. He had little hope that they would find another way to Tule.
"A cave!" called Reina, pointing ahead.
"Must've been uncovered by the quake earlier," said Bartz. Now that he thought about it, he remembered hearing about this cave. It wasn't populated with as many monsters as most caverns were, but it was a terrible maze of tunnels. Yes, it was possible to get to Tule through here, but the chances of getting through without getting lost and dying was slim, even slimmer if they wanted to get through fast. He didn't share his distressing thoughts with Reina and Galuf; he didn't want to worry them any more than they already were.
"You two go ahead. I'll catch up," Bartz said to Galuf and Reina. They nodded and stepped into the yawning entrance.
Bartz regretfully patted his faithful chocobo. "Stay here, Boko," he murmured to the bird.
Boko stuck out his short tongue and licked Bartz one the cheek. The brunette laughed and gave Boko one last pat before he followed Reina and Galuf into the small cavern.
Darkness called this cave home, the light from the entrance only making the shadows loom, taller and darker than before. "Wait a tick!" Bartz called out to the other two as he rummaged through his bag.
They paused, watching him wrap an oil soaked rag around a small, thick piece of wood. Holding the unlit torch, he fished around in his pockets for his tinderbox with his free hand. Finding it, he struck a match and lit the torch, casting an orange yellow glow around the cave. "Good idea," Reina praised while he hoisted his bag back onto his shoulders. Galuf nodded his approval.
Bats hung upside down from the ceiling, slumbering in relative peace, though a few squeaked a swooped by the group. The odd few scuttling noises were rather disconcerting, but when Bartz lowered the torch to see what was making all the noise, he saw...
"A crab?" he said to no one in particular.
Reina squatted down in front of the white crab and examined it while small crustacean waved its pincers. "These creatures only hang around caves where there's water nearby," she said, picking the crab up by one of its many legs.
"How did you know that?" asked Galuf, watching in mild interest as Reina set the wriggling crab back onto the floor. Relieved to have its legs back on solid ground, the creature scurried back into the shadows.
Reina thought about all those 'useful' lessons in the past. From what spells did what to the percentage of people who slept on their side (she was one of them), they tried to shove every bit of knowledge available to Tycoon into her head. There was only so much she could learn before she started forgetting information from previous lessons, though.
"Oh...It was just something I'd learnt when I was little," she replied, thoughts a million miles away. How many times had she wished she could have someone to talk to during those long, boring classes? She vaguely remembered someone else who had once been there. But then she had disappeared a long, long time ago...
They kept going through the cavern. A little further in, a large pool of water gave off a soft blue light. Bartz and Reina were hesitant about drinking water that glowed. However, after watching Galuf slurp it up without falling over and twitching, they joined him. The water was cool and marvellously refreshing, washing away all their aches and pains.
The trio continued onwards, Galuf and Reina wondering how long it would take to reach Tule by these tunnels. "Hold it!" Galuf sniffed. "Fresh air!" he cried joyously, taking off with a spring in his step that belied his age.
Strange, Bartz thought to himself, We shouldn't be anywhere near Tule yet. Nevertheless, he and Reina went after Galuf, eager to be out of the stuffy caves.
The sun greeted them brightly with its blinding rays. After waiting a few moments for their eyes to adjust to the change in light, they found themselves standing together on a cliff looking over a small plain of grass. Tall, vicious looking mountains surrounded the plain, forming a natural barrier. And there was no breeze to brush away their weariness.
"You're kidding!" Galuf exclaimed while Reina sat down, exhausted, on the cliff, "This is a dead end?"
"At least there's a nice view of the ocean," Reina commented, always wanting to look on the cheerful side.
They dallied for a while, loath to go back into the cave. Then something appeared out on the horizon. Bartz shielded his eyes from the sun and stared at the tiny speck far, far away. "Is that...a ship?"
Reina got back onto her aching feet, squinting at the ship as it gradually became larger as it drew closer. "How does it sail without wind?" she wondered aloud.
Galuf scratched his beard thoughtfully. Several theories flapped around his head, from several little birds tugging at the sails to the strange notion of having long wooden poles with flat ends pulling through the water. He dismissed the idea, instead reluctantly saying, "Let's go back. We have to hurry."
Faris stood upon the prow of his ship, enjoying the 'wind' from the movement of the schooner as she sailed towards what he and his crew called home. It was quite the life, living on the high seas with the scenery changing every day. You could go anywhere. Worus? Kerwin? Sure thing, though Karlboss was making it far too dangerous to go there these days. The Ancient Library? Sure thing, though why someone'd want to go there was beyond Faris' comprehension. Besides, it was a big pain in the behind getting there, having to go by the underwater passages and all.
A roar seemed to come from underneath the schooner. Faris grinned and leaned forward on the bow. "You can see it too, can't ya, Syldra?" he said with an unusually large smile. "We're home!"
Bartz, Reina and Galuf continued down through the tunnels, occasionally pausing at splits in the passages before marking the walls and going down one. Reina's mind was occupied with worry for her father. She wished they would hurry, but she quickly discovered that the network of tunnels were difficult to navigate through without getting lost and ending up where you were before. Reina was so engrossed in her thoughts, she barely heard Bartz's whispered warning.
"Everyone! Down!" hissed Bartz as he spotted a pirate looking around. Reina and Galuf ducked behind the ledge with Bartz as he hurriedly put out the torch.
The pirate peered into the darkness, unsure whether the light he saw was just his imagination. Shrugging, the pirate muttered to himself as he fumbled around with something by the far corner. There was a small "shick" sound and a relatively soft scraping sound as a door slid open in the wall. The pirate looked over his shoulder one last time before walking through. The rocky door moved back to its original position. If it wasn't for the fact they had seen it with their own eyes and knew it was there, Bartz, Reina and Galuf would've walked right past the secret door and continued through the maze of tunnels.
Galuf climbed onto the ledge and walked to the corner, feeling around for the switch to open the door. "Are you two going to help or not?" he called, calloused fingers running over stone.
Bartz nodded. Maybe they'd find something that would help them on their journey through the tunnels. He had his doubts about whether Reina or Galuf, or even he himself, would have the survival skills to make it through. Reina seemed a little unused to travelling around to say the least and Galuf, after all, was an old man.
Both Bartz and Reina clambered up onto the ledge and helped Galuf look for the button. After a few moments, Reina said, "Hey, I found it!" She pushed the switch.
The stone door scraped back laboriously to reveal the open doorway once more, as if it didn't appreciate being moved around so much. The trio stepped through and hid around the corner as a pirate walked past. "Must be a pirate hideout," Bartz murmured, "The ship earlier might've been theirs."
"Do you think they'll let us borrow their ship?" Reina innocently asked.
Galuf and Bartz turned and stared at Reina incredulously. "What?" she said, tilting her head to the side. "There's nothing wrong with that, right?"
Bartz waved a hand in front of Reina's face. "Um, hello? Is there anybody in there? We're talking about pirates here."
Galuf peered cautiously around the corner. "Why don't we just steal their ship?" he suggested with a mischievous grin much like the Cheshire Cat's broad smile.
Bartz turned to face Galuf, surprise etched into his features. "Heh, I didn't know you were so daring, old man," he said with a grin to match Galuf's.
Galuf laughed. "I do my best!" he replied, "Let's go!"
The two men quietly crept around the corner. Reina hesitated before she followed the pair. This...robbery...was going against the principles of honesty she had been taught. And yet, here she was, following these two to steal a ship! From pirates no less. Despite the fact her brain was telling her this was wrong, a part of her couldn't care less what her brain thought, and urged her to join Bartz and Galuf.
It's for an important cause, Reina reasoned, All that matters is that I get to the Wind Shrine as quickly as possible. Nodding to herself, she strengthened her resolve and scurried after Bartz and Galuf.
The trio kept low, thanking the stars that the resident pirates were snoozing on the job. They tried to make as little noise as possible, freezing when a pirate napping in front of the door next to them rolled over and mumbled something along the lines of, "C'mon capt'n! Give us a song..."
They managed to slip onto the ship unnoticed without any mishaps. Bartz hurried up to the wheel and turned to face the other two, a broad grin on his face at their success. "Alright! Let's go!" he said excitedly, punching a fist in the air.
Nothing happened. Reina and Galuf waited patiently. After a few minutes of listening to the small squeaks of the resident bats, Galuf called, "Hey, Bartz! Why aren't we going anywhere?"
"I don't know," growled Bartz, slapping a hand against the wheel in frustration, "It just won't move."
"There ain't much point tryin' to steal a ship you can't sail, is there?"
The trio looked up to find themselves trapped by the pirate crew. The corsairs silently parted to let their captain through. His long purple hair danced a small waltz behind him as he approached, a green headband keeping a large portion of it from covering his emerald eyes. Dressed in a regal blue overcoat with a dark green cloak billowing out behind him, he was quite a dashing figure. His boots made a heavy 'thunk' sound as the captain stepped forwards and drew his cutlass from its fancy sheath by his hip. He pointed it directly at the would-be thieves.
"Now, why don't you tell me why you're trying to steal my ship," he said coolly, "And mebbe I'll change my mind about killing you, hmm?"
Author Notes: Oh crap, I deleted my old author notes. Right. Omg, this's the most I've ever typed in one chapter. I feel proud. XP
The names are spelt they way I reckon I look better on the page. So that may mean both the Japanese names and the American names will appear. If you're not sure who's who, ask me. I've been playing the American one, but have gotten used to the Japanese names when I was searching around for references. I had to change some minor things so that it would seem more realistic. Well, at least in my eyes. ;;
Urgh, and heavy description isn't my thing. I usually let people imagine their own image. When I do heavy description, it never...flows right. --;; I'm not sure whether the clothing names are right either. What exactly is Reina wearing anyway? oO
Hehe, I'm back into writing battle scenes. I feel like I've improved since the last one I wrote, now that I've done a little research on weaponry (drools at the websites she found). And I like my blood and gore in fights. After all, it's to be expected.
Comments and critique are welcome. Feel free to tell me there's something wrong with what I've written, and I'll do my best to correct my mistakes.