PART II
Long forgotten feelings were awoken in Vivli as she tried to get to sleep that night. She was laying in the team's tent, one they had erected in the canyon on the path to Jeuno. This was the first night she had slept under the stars in her life without the stress and worry of responsibility. This time they were out purely for themselves. But she couldn't help feeling as if some weight was on her shoulders. As if there was something they had to do. She rolled over, trying to sleep. She knew it was a simple case of conditioning, every time she had slept in a tent something had been happening, they had been working towards something, so now she felt like she still was.
At some point, she dropped into sleep, because Voldos woke her up with a gentle rocking.
"Get up!" Voldos told her.
"Definitely back to normal." She sighed, sitting up slowly. "What's the rush?" She asked with a slight smile. Voldos paused.
"Usually, nothing, but this time there's something we want to check out." Voldos told her. Vivli bolted up right, as if having something urgent fed energy into her. She ran outside the tent.
"Look." Voldos dropped down to her level, pointing over her shoulder so she could follow his arm. "Over there." There was a cloud of smoke rising from down the canyon.
"Yes, thank you." Vivli sighed. "I can see. Let's go check it out."
"Actually, Viv." Zinkata spoke slowly, as if he was trying to be tactful. "We need someone to put away the tents."
"Why the hell should that be me?" Vivli asked, slightly surprised by this.
"Simple. We figure its either some petty group of bandits, which we can deal with, a campfire, which we can deal with, or some monster, which we can probably deal with. You however, probably couldn't." Bootus explained.
"I could deal with the campfire." Vivli muttered sadly.
"So it's safer for you, and faster for us, if you pack up the tent and equipment and we go check that out." Zinkata told her. "Come on, you keep saying how you don't like violence, so you get it your way."
"I don't like packing up tents either." Vivli pointed out as the three adventurers ran towards the source of the smoke.
Stupid warriors, Vivli thought to herself, thinking I can't take care of myself. She grunted as she tried to pull one of the tent pegs out of the ground. Not like I'm that weak or anything, sadly this thought occurred just as she failed to remove the tent peg. She tried to move pull it out again, but couldn't. Okay, so maybe I am, but that's not the point. Vivli had a habit of arguing with herself in her thoughts. She bent down on the ground, managed to pull the rope away from the tent peg, and then stomped the tent peg into the ground so nobody would see it. She decided she'd just pretend she had lost it when she packed the tent away. She didn't need to give Bootus anymore fuel to make fun of her with. The point is I'm a white mage, I'm not supposed to fight. I'm supposed to heal. But to them, that means I'm useless.
Of course, this wasn't the case. Zinkata actually felt a little guilty about leaving Vivli behind.
"Do you think we should have left her back there?" The warrior inquired.
"I'm not sure." For a moment Bootus sounded genuine. "That tent might prove challenging for her. Not convinced she can handle it." But then it turned out he wasn't.
"You know what I mean. She is a white mage after all, not a fighter." Zinkata explained.
"Since when were you the master of morals Mr Thief?" Voldos asked.
"I dunno. Just felt a little guilty." Zinkata sighed.
"Sheesh, you only left her behind because you were worried she'd get hurt." Voldos pointed out. "Now you're worried about leaving her behind because she might feel hurt. You just can't win with some people."
"Vivli being one of them." Bootus interjected.
"You win all the time!" Voldos told the galka.
"Yeah, but only because she has a short temper." Bootus paused. "And she's not very intelligent."
"So, in fact, because she loses the arguments?" Voldos figured.
"Pretty much, yeah." Bootus confirmed.
"I think we lost the point." Zinkata muttered.
Vivli finished stuffing every last pot and pan into the large bag in which they kept their camping equipment. She then stopped, and let out a loud sigh as she realised she hadn't eaten anything and just packed away all the cooking equipment (and the food). There was a moment of consideration, and she decided she'd rather go hungry than unpack everything again. The smoke in the distance was fading now. She had no idea what the others were up to, but she was sure it was more fun than she was having. Whoa, when did I start thinking about fighting and adventuring as fun? She was surprised by her own thoughts. She sighed and decided to go and find the others. She bent over the huge bag and attempted to lift it. Damn, this thing is heavy she thought as she failed to move it. How does Bootus carry it around all the time? Bootus had a habit of being their pack mule, hauling anything they needed around due to his size and strength. Apparently they had forgotten Vivli was about a quarter of the size of him. She sighed and sat down on the bag, waiting for the others to return. Somebody grabbed her violently from behind.
"Well," Zinkata began as he surveyed the campsite. "Looks like another smash and grab." There were the burnt remains of a tent, and a few random pieces of junk scattered around. The rest had clearly been stolen.
"How did somebody manage to pull off that off here?" Bootus asked. "I mean, the only people who camp out here are adventurers."
"Occasionally somebody camps on their own. Can't defend against the whole group." Zinkata explained. "It happens."
"Why do I doubt you know that out of general knowledge?" Voldos asked. Zinkata ignored him.
"Well, if an adventurer is sitting out here on their own, they deserve to get in trouble." Bootus decided. Voldos and Zinkata exchanged a glance.
"Uh oh."
Vivli struggled uselessly. Someone had come up behind her, and grabbed her, literally pinning her arms to her body and holding her so she couldn't move. She tried to run away, but she was held back. A familiar looking bandit group emerged. She counted three, before promptly remembering there was a fourth holding her.
"Heh. She looks familiar." One commented. All four bandits were human (well three, and one had humanish hands), fairly largely built, and pretty ugly.
"Oh, she was with those adventurers that shot you!" A second laughed to the one holding her. She looked up over her neck to see an angry bald man scowling down on her.
"I-i-it wasn't me." She muttered, shaking. The bald man held her tight, so she couldn't move.
"She doesn't look right." The third said, checking over Vivli carefully. "Hair's too short. Eye's are blue, not green. Can't be here."
"And she's on her own. Where's the male?" The second pointed out.
"Yeah, yeah." The first sighed. "Dammit, how many mithra are there?"
"In the world, boss?" The second said with a smirk. "Quite a few."
"She's quite cute though." The first decided, taking a closer look at Vivli. Vivli trembled. Those were not words you wanted to hear while being captured by a band of bandits. "Might keep her around anyway."
"She's a nice prisoner." The fourth said suddenly. "Doesn't struggle like the others. Most of the mithra we find are irritatingly strong warriors, or ridiculously fast thieves. This one's easy to keep down." Vivli struggled desperately to move.
"Don't think she's an adventurer." The first was now worryingly close to Vivli. He put his hand on her cheek and ran it down her face. Vivli squirmed. "Her skin's too smooth. Not weathered at all. She hasn't seen any real action, that's for sure." Vivli was too scared to make a witty remark about Chaos. Suddenly the bandit leapt forward and kissed her. Not only did this catch her off guard, but she was unable to break away. She squirmed furiously until the rogue broke it off. Vivli trembled in fear.
"Wow, we leave you alone for five minutes and you're already hitting on some guy." Bootus remarked. "Or four."
The three rogues quickly split off to face the heroes. The fourth, nice and thoughtfully, stayed holding Vivli back. She thought that was very considerate of him. In a sarcastic tone of voice of course.
"Heh." Voldos smirked. "This is familiar." One rogue drew a sword, and put it to Vivli's neck. She gulped in fear.
"Except this time we have the advantage." The rogue beamed a smile. "Drop your weapons. Now. Or we kill the girl."
"Original." Vivli worked up the courage to grumble. Voldos and Zinkata slowly placed their weapons on the ground. Bootus still gripped his claws. Vivli, Voldos, and Zinkata stared at him.
"Oh, I was just-" They continued to stare. "I mean it's only-" He paused. "Oh, fine." He dropped them.
"Okay," The apparent bandit leader said. "Kill them."
"No!" Vivli cried, struggling. The two bandits advanced on the three heroes, drawing their swords. Bootus dove at the closest, knocking his sword away with his mighty arms and pounding the bandit in the face. The two warriors jumped back as the other bandit slashed at them, and then split directions. Bootus lifted up the bandit he had punched, and hurled him into the second one. Zinkata and Voldos dove for their swords, grabbing them, and holding them to the bandits on the floor.
"Looks like we're at a stalemate." Zinkata taunted.
The bandit leader stared at the two on the floor, and then pulled his sword back to Vivli's throat.
"I'm willing to bet you care more about her dieing than you do about the two on the floor." The bandit smirked.
"That's a bluff." Vivli spat. The cold metal blade was pushed hard against her neck.
"Wanna bet?" The bandit leader snarled to her face. He gave her a peck on the lips before turning away, much to her disgust.
"Please can you kill this man?" Vivli begged.
"Gladly!" An untraceable voice cried, and something jumped down, tackling the bandit leader before he could move. Voldos and Zinkata quickly sprang into action, taking out the two bandits on the floor. Vivli was thrown to the ground as the fourth member drew a mighty broadsword. He thrust it down through the figure on the ground. He let out a cry. He then began to advance on Voldos and Zinkata. He swung the sword, and Voldos blocked it. A sword penetrated the man from the back, and he dropped down dead. The figure who had been stabbed stood there. He wore a beaten brown jacket and brown trousers, with long uncut hair. His chest was stained with blood, but the wound appeared closed. It was Captain Olose Sampson.
"Olose?" Vivli screamed overjoyed, throwing herself into his arms. He laughed and put her down.
"Whoa. Pleased to see you guys. How's it been going?" Olose asked.
"Pretty well thanks." Zinkata told him. "Saved the world. Usual stuff." They had run into Olose back in Norg when they needed to charter a ship to some unexplored islands in search of the crystal shards.
"Are you okay?" Vivli asked, surveying the wound in Olose's chest.
"Fine. Fine." He told her. Vivli looked curiously at it. She seemed a little on edge. It looked fully healed. That's impossible she thought to herself.
"What are you doing out here?" Zinkata asked.
"Well, you've heard about the war that was held over at the Temple of Uggalepih, right?" He inquired.
"You could say that." Voldos said sarcastically.
"Well, after that there was a shortage of airship pilots. I'd had a bit of experienced so got recruited. While in Kazham one day, the Chieftess told me about these rogues that were hunting mithra. Sounded like the kind of thing I should be checking out, so I did."
"You can fly an airship and know the chieftess?" Bootus sounded quite sceptical. "What kind of guy are you?"
"I get around." Olose admitted. "It seems they're looking for someone. Or to be exact, some two. A male and female mithra."
"Ha." Vivli laughed. "Good luck. I've been looking for male mithra for ages. There aren't any around." The others stared at her. She suddenly realised what she said.
"I meant out of curiosity!" She cried. "To see if any were living on the mainland!"
"Suuuure you were." Bootus laughed sarcastically. Vivli grumbled something under her breath.
Zinkata walked over to Olose.
"We were headed to Kazham anyway." He told the sea captain. "Maybe we could work together to solve this mystery."
"Well, we're better off tracking down whoever hired these bandits for that, because this isn't the only band raiding the area." Olose explained.
"They're looking for someone." Vivli told the group, subconsciously wiping her lips from the memory of the bandit. "We need to find out who before we act."
"Kazham seems a good place to start to find that out, at least." Voldos input.
"You know, I thought I put adventuring behind me when I became a smuggler." He paused.
"You're not supposed to admit you're a smuggler!" Vivli cried.
"Hey, when you've been around as long as I have you can get away with that." Olose told her. Vivli stopped walking and dropped into thought. Around as long as I have? What does that mean? He looks about thirty.
Dedji walked out, overlooking Windurst from the inn's balcony. Vivli? Had they really called her Vivli? They couldn't have. There were four as well. But how could they have been them? They weren't really that charismatic. Not for Light Warriors. She sighed. The way she figured it Vivli didn't know where they were any better than Dedji did. But she was a little surprised. She thought she'd of recognised her sister through more than just name.
