CHAPTER 2
The sounds of a banging door were more than enough to shock a sleeping Gavain. He awoke and grabbed his cuffs, more than ready to pound an intruder to oblivion. It was still a lulled dark at 04:00, and he uncertain about who would need or want to knock on his door at this ungodly hour. He approached his door and readied an inquiry, yet kept his stance and awareness firm.
"Who is it?" asked Gavain loudly.
"Calm down, man, it's just me," said the hushed voice. Gav immediately recognized it as Sern. He opened the door and smirked at him, allowing his entrance into his home. Still unsure of Sern's appearance, he posed the question.
"What are you doing up so late? Scratch that… what are you doing here so late?"
"Sorry, Gav. I needed to tell you about this," Sern said quietly, yet assertively. He handed Gav a piece of paper. On it contained information of a new quest for ill-experienced travelers called the Gustaberg Tour. It was a simple quest, attempting to bring new adventurers a bit of an introductory welcome to Bastok and its wildlife.
"It's quick cash, Gav. I mean, we know Gustaberg like the back of our hands, it's 500 Gil and four other idiots we can just pretty much mess around with for two whole days. I think that sounds pretty simple to me, man. What do you think?" Gav studied the page some more to find out if what he said was accurate. He was correct. The paper printed to meet at the South Gustaberg gate in Bastok Markets today at 09:30, so he considered himself fortunate to have been told now.
"Alright, sure, I'll do it. What all do you think we'll need?"
"Just some distilled water, some bread, maybe a few sausages and what not. I mean we got everything else we'd need. I just wonder who the other four people will be, ya know?"
"Yeah, but it really doesn't make much difference to me who it is. Do you have everything you need?"
"Yeah, man, I'm ready to roll. I just figured I'd stay here and crash with you till time to go."
"That's fine. I'm just gonna go to the cafeteria and grab a few sausages so we can grill out on a campsite sometime for whoever's planning on staying with us."
"You and sausage… you better bring somethin' green, 'cause you know someone's gonna be there that doesn't eat meat."
"You're right. I'll get some La Theine cabbages; those are pretty cheap these days. But listen, don't wake up Mog. Let him sleep or else he'll kupo you to death with questions." Both Sern and Gav laughed, and Gav took up his satchel and exited his home. He headed towards the Metalworks and noted it was still dark, but Firewater Circle still bustled with certain activity. He saw riders come through and out again in droves, unaware of the reason behind the hustle. He went inside and saw the Galka he had bumped into earlier that day. The Galka looked at him and sneered. Gav looked up at the Galka and began to speak.
"Look, man…," Gav began.
"I am no MAN, foolish Hume. I am Galka. I am branded with the mere name you give me, and treated with no respect although I fight for your country. My people are your slaves, and all you have to call me is a man."
"You got me wrong. I was trying to apologize."
"Oh… I am sorry to have indiscreetly judged you." Gav looked at the Galka and noted his unmoving gaze. He couldn't understand why he had so much animosity, or why he didn't do anything more about it than fume with mere words.
"What is it that they call you?"
"Alert Gaze… but my real name is Kerrammah."
"It is nice to meet you Kerrammah, and I apologize for bumping into you sir," said Gav as he extended his hand. Kerrammah stood awestruck.
"I am unaware of this custom."
"I stick my hand out, you stick your hand out, and we shake each others hands in compliance and agreement. Here, I'll show ya." Gav stuck both his hands together and shook them in a greeting way. He smiled at Kerrammah and stuck his hand back out to him. Kerrammah extended his enormous hand and shook Gav's, and Gav winced in certain pain as Kerrammah applied what was gentle pressure to a Galka on Gav's right hand. His entire arm flailed in pain.
"What is wrong?" asked Kerrammah.
"Oh nothin'," limped Gav. "You might just be a little unaware of your strength." He held his hand and shook it around as to alleviate the immense pain in it.
"You can have that power too, Hume."
"Yeah right… Galka's are always stronger than Hume's."
"What is your name?"
"Gavain, but most just call me Gav."
"I can help you become this strong." Kerrammah pointed to his arms and motioned to Gavain.
"You can be more powerful than all this mass, if it is what you wish."
"Actually, as of this moment, I just need to go to the cafeteria and get some stuff, then apply for the Gustaberg Tour."
"I can sign you for the Gustaberg Tour. Consider it done. Run, for the cafeteria will be on break in about five minutes. Any other names?"
"Sern! Sign for another Hume named Sern, S-E-R-N. Thanks, Kerrammah!" Gav ran through the halls of Metalworks and to the far right elevator, which seemed as though it were never going to come down. He strapped his satchel on the side of his waist and begun to ascend the sides of the wood paneling on the elevator. Right as he reached the top, the elevator platform began it's descent.
"Agh…," moaned Gav in desperation. He climbed his way to the side and stepped onto the floor with his right foot. As the left leg came down, it stepped onto nothing behind him and he begun to slip and fall. He shouted in anxiety, and begun to fall backwards. He felt all of gravity pulling his body down to the floor fifty feet below him, until his satchel caught in the wood paneling beside him, leaving him dangling by one arm. As he stayed, the elevator platform began to come back up, and he waited for it. As his feet once again regained what was a surface beneath him, he pulled himself to and strapped his satchel to his waist again. He walked onto the stone, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other and looking down. The stare of an old man came to him condescendingly.
"Stupid kids…," grunted the old man as he walked away. Gavain looked at him and huffed, then opened the cafeteria door. The entire cafeteria was empty, not a soul inside sitting anywhere. Not a single smell of food prepared, not a single food out at all. And it was 08:00 now. He turned and paced back, knowing the cafeteria didn't open again till 10:00, at which point he would've already been in Gustaberg. He went down the elevator, and walked slowly back to his residence. He opened the door and saw that nothing was there except Mog.
"Hey Mog," Gav sighed.
"Master! You are supposed to be at the Goldsmith's in fifteen minutes!"
"For what?" Gav exclaimed. He then looked at the table and saw the Elvaan note, and held his face in his hand. He turned, closed the door and ran towards the Goldsmith's. Right when he reached the front door of the building, it was 08:57. Three minutes to spare, and I've got nothing at all, he thought to himself. He looked constantly for the fiery-haired Aerwyn who had kept his attentions so well. She was nowhere in sight. He sat down and waited. He figured once 09:23 came, he would have been officially stood up and would have to go on to the gate. He kept looking out amongst the crowd, and saw nothing of the Elvaan female.
Once it turned 09:20 he grew tired of waiting and began to head for the lower Markets gate. He figured that for all he knew, she probably forgot or more than likely didn't care. Probably all just a joke anyway, he kept telling himself. Oh well, at least I've got a little bit of cash to look forward to. He made his way, and saw his entourage at the Markets gate. Sern flagged him down with a few waves as he made his way to the gate. He looked at the crowd and prepared to listen to the female Hume soldier who was there.
"Greetings, all. My name is Izabele, and I am your guide for today's tour. Your mission as a party is to journey through Gustaberg, and ultimately meet with Hunting Bear. He is a Galka, and he is waiting for you somewhere in Gustaberg. That is your whole mission, to find him, and catalogue what it is that you do in between that time as a part of a poll on our livelihood. So we have six people on our tour today. Let's call roll, if we may. Sern Ariah?"
"Yes," Sern said as he raised his hand.
"Parragoh?" asked Izabele.
"Here," a menacing Galka said.
"Gavain?"
"Yes ma'am," Gav said.
"Lillian Reen?"
"Here," a Hume female said.
"Lumomo?"
"HERE!" a short female Tarutaru exclaimed.
"Aerwyn?"
Gavain looked around as he recognized the name being called, and behind him came the redheaded beauty herself. She smiled and said, "Here," then glanced at Gav with a smile unmatched in radiance. He looked at her with a perplexed look, somewhere between a smile and desperation. He wasn't sure what to do, or what to say, or where to begin, so he just did what he knew to do best.
"Hi," he said.
"And a hello to you too, good sir," she smiled.
"So… touring Gustaberg, huh? I know it's really exciting…," he smiled frantically, blushing and sweating his frustration.
"Yes. Umm…," she pointed to Gav's head.
"What?" he smiled.
"You're sweating."
"Hehe, it is kind of hot today," Gav said heavily.
"But it was hotter yesterday, and you weren't sweating then." He blushed a little more and listened further to Izabele. Aerwyn's eyes were fixed on Gav the whole time, which made him very uneasy. She brushed past him intentionally and stood in front of him and allocated her sight on the female Hume soldier. She bent forward a little bit, and Gav fought the urge to look at her behind. He heard Izabele ask if anyone had any questions, and Gav instantly popped up his hand in an attempt to distract himself.
"Yes, Gavain?"
"Uh… I was just wondering, what is the umm… well, nevermind."
"Yes. Then the tour is underway. I wish all of you the best of luck in your travel."
Gavain finally looked straight down at Aerwyn's backside, and as he did she turned around and looked at him with a half-smile.
"Something wrong, Gavain?" she asked.
"NO!" he exclaimed.
"Hey Gav," Sern called from the other side of the gate. Gav quickly looked to that side, looked at Aerwyn, then walked over there as if his eyes were asking permission from her for him to go. Sern looked at Gav's red face and begun to speak.
"Whoa, man. What in the world is wrong with you?"
"Ah, doesn't matter. You get anything?"
"No, I thought you were going to get stuff."
"Sern! The cafeteria was closed before I even walked in!"
"Wait a minute… so now we don't have anything?"
"Excuse me sirs," said a small voice. Gav felt something pulling on his pant leg. It was the Tarutaru Lumomo.
"Oh I'm sorry, what is it?" Gav asked.
"I have plenty of food if we all get hungry-wungry. So we've got nothing to worry aboutaru! We just gotta stick together, and not get mad or angry-wangry. We taru's don't get angry-wangry."
She smiled up at Gav assuringly, and danced around as though she were happy just to exist. Gav knew from that moment he'd have problems with someone dancing around that happily, but he also felt good that somebody was happy they'd all be going out together. It was an assurance he was quite unsure of, because he didn't know how to act between his best friend and this beautiful Elvaan girl he was obviously affectionate for. He just knew he had to try and keep his cool while on the trip, and not let anything get the best of him.
They all walked around and introduced one another. The people seemed to all pair off into different interests. Lumomo journeyed from Windurst as an attempt to travel abroad and find some new friends. Parragoh wanted to travel somewhere other than Bastok Mines for once, and learn to become a warrior. Lillian was a Hume born in San d'Oria, who came back to her mothers home to continue her thriving business of alchemy. Aerwyn was here with her father, and was a potent black mage. Sern and Gavain just did it for the money. They all decided they should pair off and find partners.
"I shall partner with you Lumomo, if you wish," said Parragoh.
"It would be my pleasure-weasure to partaru with you!" she smiled.
"Hey man," Sern whispered to Gav.
"What?" he whispered back.
"That Hume girl… she's pretty beautiful. I'm gonna see if she needs a nice man in her life, or at least to partner up with." Sern walked confidently over to Lillian, and she shyly accepted his partner offer. Gav looked over at the only other person that was unpaired as of yet, Aerwyn. She walked forward to him with her hands behind her back, and stared up at him with her eyes full and wondrous.
"Guess that leaves me and you," she said quietly.
"Yeah, it does," Gav said with a smile.
"We'll see how it goes."
As she said those words smiling, she breathed them heavily on his face and turned around and strutted herself slowly. Once again as she did this, Gav was captivated at her attributes. He then felt a sharp motion hit his right shoulder.
"Snap out of it!" Sern said with a laugh as he slapped Gav's shoulder. They all began to walk off into Gustaberg, with Gavain trailing slowly behind them all. He was unsure of himself yet again, and unsure of all this journeying about with people he barely knew. He was unknowing of what would or could happen, and this made him uneasy. But the thing that made him the most uneasy was his uncertainty of what could happen to Aerwyn. He did not know why he thought this way, and he questioned himself over and over as to why this thought was foremost on his mind.
He stayed behind as they all walked out, and faced the brutal Gustaberg sun. It was enough that it was still early in the day, but even worse was they had no clue of the look of the man they were looking for and had no idea if he was in North, South, or worse; the Wadi. They did not want to have to look for a hulking Galka in the middle of the Wadi totally defenseless and for the most part untrained. They decided they needed a leader to guide them through most of Gustaberg. They begun nominating.
"So, who knows Gustaberg here?" the Hume female Lillian asked.
"Sern knows it pretty well," Gavain said.
"Ah I know it alright, but I think Gav knows it better," Sern shrugged.
"Well what do you all think we should do? It is obvious we need a leader of some type, but we should be sure that he or she knows his whereabouts and will not lead us into some imminent danger," said Parragoh.
"I think danger-wanger is bad, but we should be able to handle ourselves either way. I'm certain we'll be alrightaru!" exclaimed Lumomo.
"I nominate Gavain to be the leader," said Aerwyn. "Anyone who agrees, say agreed."
Gavain was puzzled at how she took charge of things, because he wasn't normally the type to just tell everyone what to do without some type of concensus. He was glad that she was a controlling type, and thought that this would come in handy in certain situations where everyone would be led to dilly-dally, as he felt was going on right now.
"Agreed," said Sern with a smile.
"I agree," nodded Lillian.
"I am in agreement," said Parragoh.
"Yes yes!" said Lumomo.
"Gavain?" said Aerwyn.
"Yes?" he asked.
"Are you in agreement to the position of leader?"
"Yeah I'll do it," he said, with uncertainty.
Aerwyn looked on his uncertainty, but let him take the role over instead of worrying about it. "So where to?" she asked questioningly.
"We will head through Vomp Hill, ascend it, then descend it. If we don't find him there, we'll try the Morhen Lighthouse then. By nightfall we'll head for the Fumaroles. If he still hasn't been found by then, we'll stop and camp there. Tomorrow we'll make for North Gustaberg, and go from there," he said, to which they all nodded.
"Is everyone certain we're all well supplied and ready to go?" he asked finally.
"Yes," they all said one by one.
"Then let's roll," he shouted. They all followed him enthusiastically, seeing that he indeed did know his whereabouts and had good general sense about him to ask the right questions. They all went one by one, Aerwyn behind him, then Lumomo and Parragoh trailing behind Aerwyn, and Sern and Lillian at the rear. All seemed content and excited to begin a new adventure. Gav noticed it was 11:00 and smiled at his surroundings, happy to be out of his dreary home and normal circumstance. He could not keep his mind nor his eyes from wandering on the Elvaan girl behind him the whole time, to which she generally smiled. Vomp Hill lay just ahead of the party a few thousand feet. They continued a normal pace, and happily chatted the time away.