(Arrrrg...sorry, I had to edit this...so this is the new version. However, it's not a drastic change...it's only the last like three lines...but it ties into something later. Sorry!)
This chapter starts off Locke's past. All the chapters that deal with Locke's past are about four years before the start of FFVI. Most chapters will be obvious of what time period it takes place in, but I thought I would make it clear. Enjoy!
2. A Day In The Life of A Treasure Hunter
"Come on, baby, where are you?" Locke was on his hands and knees, closely inspecting a wall of the cave that he was in. It was rumored that there was a great treasure hidden somewhere along these walls, and although Locke didn't know where it was or even what it was, he was not leaving the cave until he found it. I promised myself I would find it, and I'll be damned if I have to go back without it! I will spend the night here if I have to!
He was frustrated for he had been searching this cave for several hours now, going by what was said in a rumor. He banged his fist against the hard stone wall, slightly grimacing with pain, but the pain of not being able to find the treasure was worse. He sat on the ground and exhaled, hoping that the trinket would just pop out at him and spare him from his dissatisfaction.
Locke definitely came a long way from his childhood, and he still shuddered at the thoughts of everything that happened in his past. He was raised by his wealthy grandmother in Kohlingen, who he was very close too. She would tell the small boy endless stories about the War of the Magi and the Espers of yore and he would listen carefully with interest. When his grandmother died when he was ten, he felt like his world came to an end. She was all he ever knew of family, for his mother died from the troubled birth, and his father died of a sickness a few years after Locke was born. He never really knew anyone other than his grandmother, for he was always a shy boy who kept to himself, so by losing his grandmother, he lost his only friend.
Unable to stand the heartbreak of losing his grandmother, he cut himself off from any other family ties that he potentially had and tried to fend for himself. He wasn't fond of any real work, so he spent most of his days searching the forests and the mountains for small treasures and trinkets that he could barter off for food and money. By doing so, he gained a reputation of being a slacker among other things, thus the beginning of his hatred toward authority figures. Although having a reputation such as the one he had didn't bring him down, it just gave him more of a reason to leave his hometown of Kohlingen and start a new life for himself.
Starting on his own was rough for him, for he was only 17 years old at the time and wasn't even sure what his place in life was. The only thing that intrigued him was old relics, money, and history of the tired world. Naturally, he combined those three interests and started to search for relics that explained some of the history of some towns. He was naturally agile and nimble, so pick pocketing and picking locks came easy to him, and he used those talents as an advantage. He hated the stigma that the word 'thief' brought on, but it was hard not to think of himself in any other way since he was on his own and he needed to indulge in those crimes to survive.
He preferred the term Treasure Hunter, which is none other than a synonym to the word that he detested, but to him it made a huge difference. By choosing this way of life, he was free to roam the countryside at his will to search for treasures. Although it was lonely, traveling town to town like that, he was already a recluse in life so he was unfazed by being by himself all the time. Companionship meant nothing to him anyway for the only thing that interested him was finding new treasures. He was in love with treasure hunting; it gave him a purpose in life.
Locke shook his head quickly to wipe away the images of his past and continued to search the wall again. Giving up was not a trait that he possessed, so the inability to find the treasure that was rumored in this cave was exasperating to him. "Come on!" He said in a forced whisper as he moved his hand over the wall. "It has to be here! Please be here!"
As if an answer to his plea, he felt a slight dip in the wall, piquing his curiosity. He pushed on the crevice, causing the entire wall to shake. Locke hopped on his feet and tried to gain his balance for it felt as if an earthquake was ripping though the earth. He watched the wall slide open about a foot and a half then stop, leaving Locke to thank himself that he was a rather slim man.
"Heh," he said in wonder as he slipped through the crack in the wall. He looked back at the gap that was in the wall and he knew that he didn't want anyone following him, so he found the switch on the other side, which caused the wall to mend itself again. With the path closed behind him, he started to walk forward to see what treasures awaited him. It was obvious that no one had been down in the cave for quite some time by the way the torches were burnt down to nothing and the only clues to fires were the burnt ashes that lay scattered on the ground.
Locke carefully grabbed a stick that was once used as a torch, hoping that it wasn't too worn down and wouldn't crumble in a million pieces if he picked it up. He figured the goddesses were with him that day when he saw that the torch would be capable of being lit again. He grabbed his flint stones out of his pocket, clicked them together causing several sparks to touch the end of the stick, setting it ablaze. Locke put the stones back in his pocket and lifted the torch up to get a better look at the cavern.
He slightly chuckled as he looked around at the remains of what clearly used to be an old campsite. There weren't any paths to other parts of the cave; it was just one large open area. He was assuming a band of thieves used to live here by the array of weapons and camping supplies that were scattered everywhere. Something must've come here and wiped them all out…He thought as he investigated everything. I don't think they would've left in this manner if they had planned it…
Although he knew he was alone, he still looked around before starting to search for treasure. He found several potions, antidotes, and gold pieces during his search and put them in his pockets. Never know when they'll come in handy…He continued to search until he saw a key with an intricate top to it. A ribbon was strung through the handle so Locke assumed that it was worn as a necklace for safe keeping by the owner.
"Hello. Now, what could you be the key to?" He said out loud as he held it up by the ribbon and put the key up to his eye level. He lifted up the torch and continued to walk around and did a double take to a chest that was about twenty yards away. He quickly walked over to it, inspected the lock, then inspected the key. "I think I just found out."
He put the key in the keyhole and it easily twisted, opening the lock. "Oh man," Locke said with a chuckle. "People don't believe in challenges anymore!" He threw the lock to the side, opened the chest, then groaned when he looked inside, for it was full of clothing. He couldn't ignore the voice in his head that told him to search it anyway, so he started to move the clothes out of the chest. He jerked back when a group of moths flew out of the clothing when their sleep was disturbed, then rolled his eyes in annoyance as he continued to throw the clothes on the ground.
The last few things in the chest were two small wooden boxes, which were also locked. Locke reached in and inspected one as he made a few clicking sounds with his tongue. He grabbed out his set of lock picks that he kept with him at all times and started to go to work on the lock. After only a few seconds, the lock broke free and Locke chuckled.
He carefully took off the lock, in suspense of what was in the box. He lifted the top of the box and found himself looking at several priceless jewels. There were diamonds, emeralds, pearls, and other precious stones; and all decently sized. Locke was giddy with his finding and didn't want anyone else to be able to snag it from him, so he put the lock back on it and placed it in his pack. He reached in for the second box, picked the lock and opened it.
His excitement grew as he saw the beautiful dagger that was in the case. It was untarnished and quite possibly the most beautiful weapon he had ever seen. There was gold laid into the hilt and several jewels surrounded in the steel of the blade. He gently rubbed his finger along the edge of it, and inhaled as it cut through his skin, drawing a few drops of blood.
"Still sharp," he said under his breath as he continued to look at it. "I'm not sure what is supposed to be the actual treasure; the jewels or the dagger. Unless, of course, there is more in here."
He took out his old dagger from the holster and looked at it. It was in rather sad shape and he knew he wouldn't be able to get much for it if he tried to pawn it off, if anything at all, so he drove it into the ground next to the wall. He happily looked at his new and elaborate dagger and put it in the holster, making it its new home. He stood up and continued to look around to see if anything else was left for him to find.
The torch light was starting to dim, and Locke sighed. He knew that it was because it was an old stick and probably damp from remaining dormant in the cave all this time. He shrugged and decided that he would look around for a little while longer and then come back another time. He knelt down by another box and started to rummage through it, in hopes of finding more things. Although it was a rather satisfying day already, his curiosity was still working.
He stopped his movements when he heard a sound; footsteps. He cautiously brought his hand to his dagger and tightly gripped the hilt, just waiting to attack. The footsteps stopped, but Locke wasn't going to put his guard down because he knew someone or something was down there with him and he wanted to be able to protect himself.
"Locke?" Locke jumped at the sound of his name for he wasn't expecting it to be someone who knew of him. He took out his dagger and whipped around to see a tall, muscular man standing behind him. He was wearing black pants, a white shirt, a red bandana around his head, and carried a nice sized sword in a holster around his belt.
"How the hell did you get in here?" He got into a fighting stance with his dagger in his hand, and the other man simply laughed at him. "What the hell's so funny?"
"You don't know who I am, do you?" The man asked as Locke slightly lowered his dagger as a look of confusion washed over his face.
"No, I don't," Locke replied honestly as the man put his hands on his hips. "Okay, I answered your question and now you answer mine. What the hell are you doing here?"
"Name's Xane," he replied simply as he walked over to Locke. "Hm, I pictured you a lot differently, but what can ya do."
"Okay, now two questions," Locke said to the mystery man, not putting his dagger away yet. "Who the hell are you and what the hell are you doing here?"
"I've heard a lot about you, Locke Cole." Hearing his full name come out of the man's mouth was strange to him; no one had called him that in years. "You're a very hard man to track down, you know. Vaughn would be very impressed."
"Vaughn?" Locke asked, the name ringing a bell in his head. "Why have I heard that name before?"
"Vaughn is the leader of a band of treasure hunters called Quantz," he replied as Locke's jaw dropped. "Oh, I'm assuming you've heard of us before?"
"It sounds familiar." He voice was nonchalant, but in actuality, he was awestruck. Quantz was a group of some of the best known treasure hunters in the World Of Balance; everyone who had the slightest interest in treasure hunting knew who they were. They were notorious and Locke admired them from afar ever since he heard of them. "What do you want with me?"
"Vaughn would like to speak to you," Xane replied as he started to walk out of the cave, leaving Locke in shock. "However, he wouldn't be too happy of how you basically let everyone in this continent know you were in this cavern."
"Hey, it's not my fault that the door hasn't been used in a while and made a damn earthquake," Locke said quite defensively, putting the dagger in the holster. "If I'd have known it was going to be that loud, I would've returned at about three in the morning so no one would be awake."
"We'll let that be our little secret then," he said as he motioned for Locke to find the release to open the door again. When Locke found it, the entire cave shook and rumbled as the door opened.
"Wait just a second," Locke said, pausing as he watched Xane exit the cave. "Why was the door quiet for you, yet feels the need to cause an insane amount of noise whenever I touch it?"
"I'm just lucky, I guess," he stated as Locke narrowed his eyes in confusion. "Now come on, Vaughn doesn't like to be kept waiting."