PART II

The city of Bastok loomed in the distance as the four approached it. The sun beat down on them, it now being late afternoon. Vivli was still shaking, and keeping unusually close to the others.

"Come on Viv," Zinkata said, trying to comfort her, "We'll go to the tavern. Have a laugh. Should take your mind off that." Vivli nodded, and followed them. The four wondered in, and it was Voldos who noticed Vivli suddenly moved very quickly to keep up with them, and was very careful not to become separated. He began to wonder just what was bothering her. He had an idea, and it was fairly accurate.

Vivli had just had a shocking reminder of how vulnerable she was. She had suddenly been forced to remember that without the others, anybody could do anything to her and she was helpless to stop it. And now she found herself petrified of being alone, even for a second. She kept as close to them as possible, to stay safe. Her entire body shivered as she looked at everybody passing, and she knew she was completely powerless against all of them. She was convinced any of them could easily overpower her, and she had the horrific realisation that there was nothing she could do to stop them. She shuffled closer to the others. She desperately wanted somebody to hold her hand or something, but knew better than to ask.

Voldos paused, sighing as he watched her motions.

"One of us had better run these shells to their new owner and get the reward." Voldos explained, deciding to wrap up their quest. "I'll do it. I think one of you should come with me." Bootus and Zinkata glanced at each other.

"Why?" Bootus asked. "Afraid you might get lost?"

"No." Voldos stated, making a subtle motion at Vivli. "There's some things we could talk about." Bootus blinked.

"Fine, I'll go." Zinkata hadn't caught the gesture, but knew Voldos clearly had something on his mind.

"I'll come too!" Vivli quickly said, deciding to take the company of Zinkata and Voldos over Bootus any day.

"Urm, no, Viv. You go to the tavern. Looks like you need some cheering up." Voldos said.

"But I want to go with you." Vivli explained.

"Come on." Bootus grumbled. "You don't need to bother them. They'll only be a few minutes." Vivli looked a little sad, but followed Bootus, almost bumping into him she was so close. Voldos and Zinkata watched them go, and then headed off in the opposite direction.

Bootus wondered into the tavern, and took up his usual seat at the bar. Vivli jumped up onto the bar stool beside him.

"You getting a drink?" He asked, surprised. Vivli got drunk far too easily to ever allow herself to drink often. Let alone in the afternoon.

"No." Vivli answered.

"Then what are you doing at the bar?" Bootus questioned with confusion. I don't want to be sat on my own, Vivli thought.

"Just thought you might want some company." Vivli answered. Bootus sighed.

"Look, I'm not going to be tactful." He stated. There's a surprise, Vivli subconsciously narrated. "What's wrong? And don't say nothing, because something obviously is." Vivli paused. It was an awkward question. And she hated showing signs of weakness in front of Bootus.

"Urm, I'm not sure." She answered. She wasn't being entirely truthful, she knew why it bothered her so much, but would rather not explain that to Bootus. "I'd just rather not be left on my own right now."

"It's just across the room to sit at a table." Bootus laughed.

"It's not really inconvenient for me to sit here, is it?" Vivli said sadly.

"No, it's fine." Bootus sighed overdramatically to let Vivli know it wasn't fine. She didn't care. She wasn't going to move.

"I'm telling you," Voldos continued. "She's scared of being alone."

"She's scared of everything." Zinkata laughed. "But being alone, that's new."

"It's understandable." Voldos pointed out. "She's a great white mage, but that doesn't exactly protect you when you're on your own."

"But not wanting to be left alone for even a second? Seems a bit excessive." Zinkata said with a smirk.

"I think she may be really shaken up." Voldos explained.

"Since when were you an expert on this kind of thing?" Zinkata asked.

"Hey, man, it's me. I'm an expert on the thought patterns of chicks. Why do you think they all fall for me?" There was a pause after Voldos spoke. Zinkata didn't even need to say anything.

A messenger entered the tavern as they often would.

"I'm looking for a Mr Loneheart!" He cried. "I'm told he's usually here." Bootus sniggered.

"Loneheart. What kind of stupid name is that?" He remarked. His humour was entirely based around insulting people, but he was hoping it would cheer Vivli up somewhat.

"Don't ask me." Vivli said softly. "I'm the master of bad surnames."

"Come to think of it, what is your surname?" Bootus asked. Vivli sighed to herself. She had just dropped herself in that one.

"A Mr Voldos Loneheart?" Cried the messenger. The two stopped, and turned to face him.

"Voldos?" Vivli repeated.

"Loneheart?" Bootus laughed. He became a bit more serious. "Yeah, we'll take it. We know him." Bootus said, trying to regain his composure. The messenger handed it over.

"Thank you." Vivli said as the messenger ran off.

"Loneheart!" Bootus remarked again. "I never knew what his full name was until now!" Bootus went to open the envelope.

"Hey! Don't!" Vivli cried. "It might be private."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Bootus sighed. "So, you're surname."

"Oh. I thought you'd forgotten about that." Vivli sighed. Bootus laughed.

"Not a chance." Bootus smirked.

"I mean, I grew up without one. So I even had to find mine out when I found out I was prin-" She stopped. Bootus always mocked her for that. "-when I found out who I was." She corrected herself. "You won't believe me if I tell you." She added.

"Try me." Bootus said, folding his arms. Vivli paused. She really didn't want to say this.

"It's, urm-" She paused, speaking quietly. "Kitty." She finally said, and looked to the floor. Bootus roared with laughter.

"A mithra called KItty? What are the chances?" He cried through tears of laughter.

"Hey! It's not my fault!" Vivli protested. "What about you, huh? What's your surname?" It was interesting that this had never come up before.

"I don't have one, idiot." Bootus answered. "I'm a galka. No parentage. Remember?"

"Oh." Vivli sighed.

"Cheer up," He smirked. "Miss Kitty." Vivli groaned as Bootus roared with more laughter. There would be one more picture of Bootus getting mauled in Vivli's diary tonight, she decided.

Voldos casually swung the door to the tavern open.

"Shall we tell 'em we got extra or keep it ourselves?" He asked, jingling the bag of gold.

"You can't keep that from them!" Zinkata protested.

"Oh sorry, I forgot, Mr Honourable Thief." Voldos taunted. Zinkata sighed. "We gonna say anything to Vivli?"

"What can we say?" Zinkata asked. Voldos pondered this.

"Point taken. We'll just have to let it play out. I'm sure she'll get over it." Voldos answered.

"Hey! Mr Loneheart!" Bootus bellowed from across the tavern. Voldos sighed.

"How did he find out my surname?" Voldos asked. Zinkata shrugged, laughing.

"It is pretty ridiculous." The hume said as Voldos wondered over to Bootus.
"Letter." Announced Bootus. Voldos took it. Vivli in the meantime ran over to Zinkata. Literally ran because she didn't feel comfortable even walking the short distance of the tavern alone.

"Hey." Zinkata said to her as she got to him.

"Hi!" She cried nervously, realising she didn't actually have anything to say. "Urm. You get our reward?" She finally said.

"Of course." Zinkata handed Vivli her money. "I can see you're in dire need of cash, Princess." He added for a joke. Vivli laughed for the sake of laughing at one of his jokes.

"Wow. You're Zinkata, right?" A beautiful blonde hume suddenly cried.

"That's me." Zinkata remarked ruggedly to her. He didn't catch Vivli's scowl of jealousy.

"Wow." Remarked his new fan. "I've always wanted to meet you!" She paused. "I guess you've already got a girlfriend, huh?"

"Well, not right now." Zinkata smirked.

"So, you wanna talk." The girl offered.

"No, you don't. Do you?" Vivli quickly said. Zinkata laughed. Vivli paused awkwardly.

"I'm not so sure about that." He laughed to Vivili. Vivli mumbled something to herself. He went to walk away with the new girl he had found. "Wait!" Vivli suddenly cried. She had yelled it without thinking. This time not because she wanted to stop Zinkata, but because she didn't want to be left on her own. Zinkata sighed. "Look, you can walk over there at least." Vivli shyly gulped, and ran over to Bootus and Voldos.

Voldos had a serious look on his face. He had just read the letter he had received.

"What is it?" Bootus asked. "Bad news?" Voldos looked up slowly.

"My parents are dead." He stated as Vivli walked up behind him. She stopped dead in her tracks. She couldn't think of anything to say.

"I'm really sorry to here that." She finally got out. Bootus stayed silent. Voldos managed a smile.

"It's okay." He said. "I hated their guts anyway."

"What?" Vivli quickly said.

"Long story." Voldos answered. "Hm. This should be interesting."

"It should?" Bootus asked, getting interested.

"They've apparently left me everything they had." Voldos explained.

"What did they have?" Vivli questioned.

"A lot." Voldos explained. "Before I got exi-" He paused . "Before I left San d'Oria originally, they basically disowned me. Looks like they've turned back in death." He smirked. "Wow. I even get the title."

"Title?" Bootus asked.

"What are you talking about, Voldos?" Vivli said curiously.

"That's Lord Voldos." Voldos smirked. The galka and mithra shared an amazed glance.

"You're parents were a Lord and Lady?" Vivli exclaimed.

"Yeah. I was training to be a Temple Knight, you know?" Voldos laughed. "Well, things got complicated. They didn't like something I did, so I never completed my training. My parents couldn't believe it. They told me to basically go and never come back. So they formulated this mission to come to Bastok and spy."

"I can't believe you're a lord." Vivli whistled in disbelief. Voldos suddenly noticed something.

"You can hardly talk, Princess!" He snapped. Vivli paused in consideration.

"Oh yeah." She sighed.

"So what do you plan to do?" Bootus asked.

"Head to San d'Oria I guess." Voldos explained. Vivli couldn't help but notice that his voice was tinged with sadness.

"Hey, listen, if you want to talk to someone-" She began.

"I don't care." He snapped. "Their dead. I don't give a damn."

"How did it happen?" Vivli asked, concerned.

"Orcs apparently. They've been trying to explot San d'Oria ever since the battle eight months ago, ever since they saw it weakened." Voldos smirked. "So I guess technically it's my fault."

"Oh, come on. Don't say that." Vivli said gently.

"I'm joking Viv. I really don't care." Voldos told her. Vivli sensed he was lying, but decided to drop it. "Where's Zinkata?" The elvaan asked to change the subject.

"Over there." Vivli grumbled miserably. "Flirting with some girl." Bootus rose an eyebrow at the way Vivli said this.

"Dammit! Why can't I do that?" Voldos cried. The two looked at him. "I, urr, I mean, I could. Obviously. With my charm. I just decided to let him have that one."

"Could you undecide?" Vivli said quietly, wanting to get Zinkata way from her.

"What?" Voldos asked.

"Nothing." She quickly beamed.

The afternoon turned to evening, and soon it was getting late. The four had spent the evening joking, and trying to remain light hearted, for both Vivli and Voldos, trying to keep their minds off what was bothering them. Vivli had been very glad to see the girl Zinkata had been flirting with leave, and apparently the two didn't get any further. She had also been very lucky, because Bootus had been distracted by a band of dancing tarutarus at the time and missed her attitude to Zinkata, meaning he still hadn't quite figured out how she felt about him.

Once it had gotten fairly late, Vivli wanted to go home and sleep. She always got tired before the others, but this time it was different. She walked up to Zinkata quietly.

"Zin, I'm tired." She said. She'd chosen Zinkata purely because he was the logical choice between the three, this time not having anything to do with her emotions.

"Go on then, go back home. We'll see ya in the morning." Zinkata told her. Vivli paused.
"Urm. I'm scared." She admitted. "I really don't want to walk home on my own." She confessed. Zinkata sighed.

"It's understandable I guess." He muttered. Vivli looked at him pleadingly. "Okay, fine. It's fairly late anyway, and if we all have to travel to San d'Oria tomorrow, we could use the rest."

"Thanks." She managed to say.

Vivli had been literally clinging to Zinkata the whole walk home. Now the fun of the tavern had died down, Zinkata was beginning to see how truly scared she was of being on her own. In truth, he was fairly worried. He'd seen people suffer trauma of types before. He was desperately hoping this wasn't going to last. They arrived at her moghouse, but she just hung around outside, looking at it.

"Urm, this is going to sound silly-" She admitted as a beginning. "-but, can I sleep in your room tonight?" Zinkata looked at her. "I'll sleep on the floor!" She quickly said. "I just- I can't be on my own. Not tonight." She explained. Zinkata could see she was beginning to shake again.

"That's fine Viv." He said. She sighed in relief. "Come on." The two wondered over to Zinkata's moghouse, and wondered in.

"Viv, you can have the bed." Zinkata told her.

"What? No. I couldn't." Vivli answered. "It's not fair. I'm happy enough to sleep on the floor."

"What kind of guy would I be if I didn't let you, huh?" Zinkata asked.

"The type who robs a little mithra who's just arrived in Bastok?" She suggested. Zinkata laughed. Phew, he found it funny, she mentally sighed.

"Go on. Take the bed. I've slept on the floor enough times anyway to not have a problem." He explained.

"Urm, thank you." Vivli managed to say. She knew she was being selfish, but she felt such a fear at the thought of being alone she took it anyway.

Voldos was sat up in his moghouse thinking. His parents had never been that close to him. He was born into a rich elvaan family, but the lack of care they had given him had allowed him to grow up in his own terms, and he was able to see the arrogance they had towards other cultures without suffering it himself (at least too much). They'd forced him to train as a Temple Knight, and that hadn't turned out too well. Now they were dead. It was strange. He hadn't seem them in so long, and hated them, but somehow, somewhere, still felt sad. He smirked, trying to distract himself. He was now a Lord, and would have their estate. Wait to see the chicks I can pick up as a Lord he thought, grinning to himself.

Vivli had pulled the covers up around her, but was still shivering.

"Zin?" She called out. "Zin? Are you asleep?"

"Not any more." He grumbled, waking up.

"Sorry." She whimpered.

"Can't sleep I take it." Zinkata sighed.

"Not really." She confessed. "I'm-" She paused, not wanting to openly admit it. "I'm frightened."

"Look, it's okay. I'm here, alright?" Zinkata told her. She was reminding him of a very young child.

"I know. I just don't like the thought of you being asleep when I'm not." She let out a nervous laugh. "I'm a wreck. I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm so scared and I don't even know what of." There was an awkward pause while Zinkata tried to think of something to say.

"Look, I can send you to sleep." He said, getting up. She sat up in the bed.

"What are you going to do?" She asked. He sat down on the edge of the bed.

"I don't think you're going to like this." He paused. "Well, you will, and that's why you won't." Her ears twitched as she realised what he meant.

"Aw, come on. You know I hate it when people-" She was cut off as Zinkata started to scratch behind her ears. She started purring strangling, before curling up like a cat and falling to sleep. The reaction the nerve endings in Vivli's ears usually caused was pleasure, but when she was as tired as she was and in bed, it worked perfectly to send her to sleep.

"I'm glad that actually has a use." Zinkata said to nobody, rolling back onto the floor.

Unfortunately, Zinkata doing this didn't help Vivli's crush on him in any way. The pleasure evoked combined with the connections in her brain that it came from Zinkata led to a night full of dreams involving him. And, of course, Zinkata remained totally oblivious.