A week later, Marin adjusted her pack.
Shelly was sad, but otherwise emotionally stable. Marin knew that she could appear stable, until suddenly Shelly wasn't. Marin had been there. But the town doctor would be a better help for Shelly than Marin.
Shelly had to say god bye to her 'daughter' for the second time, as 'Janine' prepared to travel.
Marin hadn't heard whatever had passed between the doctor and Harold. Or Harold and Shelly. Or even all three of them.
But here Marin stood, waiting for the Chocobo-pulled sled to be ready for her to clamber on. She was headed for the coast and a boat across the island chain to a warmer climate.
Marin was about to be escorted to the great unknown. She patted her bag that held the pocket change. She ignored the inner pocket that had the rest of the three thousand Gil that the Dwyer's friends and neighbors had raised for her travels.
Apparently Janine had been shunned by the town for being sickly, despite being frail and not contagious. And now they were glad to see her strike out on her own. With a miraculous recovery, that wasn't contagious, yet the locals were glad to see 'Janine' leave.
'Small town, big bigots,' she reminded herself. It was of something a friend had said after they had moved to Marin's school, from a small town. But she kept her reservations to herself and waved good-bye.
The Chocobo she stood near reminded her of an ostrich and terror bird all in one canary yellow package. They looked far cuter in the games they had come from. While they stood there like giant chickens in harnesses. Chicken-ostriches, but with a canary-yellow hooked beak like a parrot. Or a raptor bird-of-prey.
She felt no desire to pet them, though their giant yellow feathers looked to be able to put Big Bird's puppet to shame. She also had no idea who to tell the difference between an approachable Chocobo vs an ornery 'I'm about to kill you with my giant claws' Chocobo. The birds had well over a foot of height on Marin, with chicken-feet in proportion to their body, claws and all.
Marin watched the giant bird creatures at what seemed a respectful distance, while the sled was unloaded with the last of it's deliveries for Icicle Inn.
The driver headed over to Marin. Locks of red hair poked out from the hood of his parka. The man's snow goggles hung around his neck, and he looked about as much from Japan as Marin did. Which was somewhat. Despite the lack of that country on this planet. Asking Marina question, "don't see many of them around here, eh?"
"Not really. They don't exactly grow on trees around here." Marin fit right in as a resident of Gaia, with the influence her Japanese family had on her looks, and arrow-dtraight black hair. Currently that hair was stuffed under her hood.
He laughed, "Nope. Looks like the only thing that grows on trees around here is more snow."
Marin shrugged, she watched the guy feed the Chocobo with something leafy and green.
"Here, wanna try?" He held out another stalk to Marin.
"I guess..." Marin held the green leaf stalk with her arm as straight as she could, keeping distant from the birds.
Both birds watched her while she held out the plant. The first Chocobo tried to swallow the stalk whole. But it wasn't in time for the second to snatch the leaf out of Marin's hand. Their beaks missing her fingers by inches.
It was like a giant petting zoo, made of predators.
Marin went to take her hand back, when a giant yellow head rubbed against it. She froze, wanting to run but killing that instinct before it made things worse.
"Whoa, now." the driver did something she didn't see. As the first Chocobo rubbed it's giant head against Marin's arm.
"OK, you get a scratch too." The driver told the other Chocobo.
Marin could read nothing from their hawk-like eyes.
"Kweh!" they both chirped at her.
She held both her hands up and tried to move away from the birds, slowly. But they were both determined to rub against her hands or arms. Keeping her fear in check, she let them be affectionate.
"Whoa!" The driver did something else, from behind the giant birds.
Marin started backing out from between the two birds, to the sled.
The Chocobos moved like they weren't done with Marin, but their owner reined them in from following her forward. "Whoa."
Marin waited with the wagon driver near the edge of the snow line. The road was half frozen here, where the snowy tracks turned to mud. The sled would be useless any further. It had been a day and a bit to leave Icicle Inn to get to the southern edge of the snow line.
Due to the artificially cold Climate around the North Crater, there was a firm demarcation between the colder environment and the larger peninsulas to the far south of this island-continent. Marin had not seen a map at the Dwyer's, but she knew from her own memories of the game, where she was.
They had passed some wild Chocobos on the way south, the animals here were fluffy enough to be doing fine in the cold.
Marin had expected to travel for a few days more, though apparently, this man, Jarvin, was one of many people that supplied the north with the necessary goods that couldn't be made or grown locally. Which was a lot in a town that lived in a permanent winter that was more or less cold all year.
So they waited for the next wagon-load to come in, to switch drivers and goods from wheels to sleds, then Marin could continue the journey south, to 'claim her independence,' as the doctor had convinced her 'parents' that 'Janine' was going to do. As well as gainful employment.
She had just turned eighteen back on earth. Though on this planet, Gaia, some people set out on their own as young as thirteen. The wilds were not as dangerous as she had first assumed. And with the war with Wutai in full-swing, ShinRa was enlisting all ages to their ranks.
Not that Marin was going to join the army.
Marin felt like she was too young to be out in the world on her own. On Earth she had buried Danny and ignored Jamie, just before coming here. Her only guide was her familiarity with a video game. Which was a broken-telephone version of the real place she was in now. As well as Ardyn, whoever/whatever he really was. He as clear as mud with his 'guidance.'
"Ever been away from home before?" Jarvin asked her, making conversation while they waited for the coming wheeled wagon to arrive.
"No." That was true on so many levels. Never out on her own before like this, not on either planet.
"Well, the whole world is your oyster now, though with the war on..."
"Yeah, Wutai can wait for a visit. I'm not in the mood to be a tourist in a war zone."
Jarvin shrugged, "If you really wanted to take a look, I'm sure ShinRa is enlisting all they can for the war effort."
ShinRa was everywhere, even when they weren't visible. Such as the abandoned manse in Icicle Inn. That was ShinRa property, maintained by the locals. It was also where someone had been born that Marin knew could be important one day, Aerith.
Harold had told Marin that no one had lived there for years and years. If Aerith had already been born there, Marin wasn't sure how old she would be now. It made Marin feel rushed. That there was a time line events she knew from the game, and they were happening sooner that she realized. She needed to know how much time she had.
No one really knew when the Wound in the North Crater would kill the planet, but it wasn't the only way the world could end. And Marin needed a frame of reference for the other threats she knew of.
"Chocobo got your tongue?" Jarvin asked Marin.
"Mmm. I'd go for adventure before I join any war."
"Ah, one of those are you?"
"I don't really have an interest in adventure. I just want to get out, stand on my own." She kept the last thought to herself. 'And not let the world pass me by. But it just might anyway.'
"Adventure might find you anyway." He leaned back, pulling out a cigarette and offering one to Marin.
She shook her head, "Thanks, but no thanks."
"Suit yourself." After he had taken a few puffs, he continued, "I've seen your type before. You feel stuck at home, yeah?"
Marin nodded.
"I give it six months, and you'll realize you need your family more than you thought."
Marin frowned.
"Okay, twelve months, tops." He took another drag of his cigarette. "Unless trouble does you in first."
"What sort of trouble do you mean?" she asked him.
"You're traveling alone, yeah? If you're not careful, you'll get robbed, cheated, or scummed out of all you have."
Marin was no hero in a story. She really didn't have a way of defending herself, outside of the Ice materia she had been given by one of the Dwyer's friends. And the extra Cure materia from the doctor. Both slotted in a low-budget bangle on her write.
She had only her gear, two materia to her name, some money and no weapons.
"Then I'll just have to keep to the roads and have eyes in the back of my head."
Jarvin shook his head, "That's just it. Yeah you could be met alone on the road between towns. But take it from me," He took a quick drag, "Some of the worst monsters on this Planet wear human skins, and operate in the daylight." He flicked off some ash, "Just because you're in the middle of town in the middle of the day, doesn't mean you're free and clear of trouble."
Marin palmed a coin from where she had it hidden in a sleeve, and played it over the back of her fingers, like how Jamie had taught her "Hmm. Sounds like you don't have a very high opinion of other people."
"Oh, I have a very high opinion of the people I work with and for. Especially when they pay on time. But there are some, they're all smiles and kindness. Then you let them in close, and there's a knife in your gut for the five Gil in your pocket. That's why you don't see me on my own 'adventures'."
"How do you tell the difference then?" She asked.
"Don't let anyone in close, unless you have a knife of your own. Body armor helps too." He hit his coat with his fist, banging the hard plate underneath.
"Yikes." It didn't sound like a way to live. Though between Jarvin being her escort to the coast, and handing out free advice, she tried not to insult him.
"Hey, I'm still here, aren't I?" Jarvin grinned.
She looked at the man, really looked. He might have been in his thirties or forties. Though traveling outside for so long had left it's mark on his face. He was easily old enough to be her father. "Yeah, I'd like to still be around when I'm your age. Optimally for even longer."
"Then go grow those eyes in the back of your head. And don't let anyone in close unless you have a plan for the knife they might have."
Marin shrugged, "Reminds me of something I heard once. 'Know how to kill everyone you ever meet, and always have an escape plan.. "She forgot which movie that one was from.
Jarvin cackled, "And you think I'm cynical."
Marin shrugged, "I might have to live by your advice now, Jarvin. I'm also not a fan of being scummed by the type of monster you mentioned." 'Some things never change.' She mused silently, 'the worst of life are some of the people among us.'
Jarvin considered Marin's words. "Still doesn't sound like it's too bad advice. Having an exit strategy, and that other thing sounds like that person would be ready for any hidden knives. Where'd you hear that?"
"Some book or another I read." It sounded like something someone from an action movie. Marin couldn't place it. She decided not to elaborate on the planet it was from.
"Must have been some book. Do you remember the title?"
Marin shook her head, "I've read so many, I just remember the bits of advice from most of them." Another half-truth. Again, she didn't want to name-names of stories, books, movies, or television shows that didn't exist on this planet. She wasn't sure if there were even video games in this world.
"Ah well. But if you ever remember, you know who to tell."
"Yeah." Marin wasn't sure if she would ever see Jarvin again. She wasn't sure if she would ever come back to Icicle Inn. Marin didn't feel unwelcome to return, though she had left for Shelly's sake in the first place. It seemed cruel now, if Marin were to die or leave this planet for good, the Dwyer's would have to grieve their daughter twice.
They had separation anxiety for Marin right now. So if news of her death ever came back to them, they would lose their daughter for the third time. That sort of grief seemed a cruel fate for them. One that Marin had helped cause.
'So OK, how about less suffering to other people from here on out? And don't die.' She thought to herself, while Jarvin smoked in silence.
Jarvin asked a question when he finished his cigarette. "Do you miss them already?"
"Yeah." Warts and all, she would rather be somewhere she could get Jamie on the phone. Except for her mother.
"Getting cold feet?" He looked at the mud mixed with the snow around them. "Muddy feet?"
Marin shook her head. "No, this is the time for me to go. Or I'll never leave."
Jarvin laughed. "To be young again."
"I dunno, I feel like I haven't done enough for myself so far."
Jarvin chuckled, "youth is wasted on the young."
"I can agree with that." She told him. "I haven't felt young in a while."
"Oh? Normally it's hard to find people your age so agreeable."
"Mmm."
"I guess some of what you're leaving behind isn't going to be missed?"
"Some things I hope I never have to do again."
She didn't miss the meds that caused her to gain weight, for one. They left her tired and always hungry. They had put her back in the hospital weeks after trying them. Not that they had been refilled since her last day. Marin had been kicked out of the hospital once she seemed well enough to be at home. Nothing she had taken had actually worked yet, her doctor had still been trying to find the right solution for her.
All those medications were a long way away. All she had now was what she had been taught in therapy. And a promise to herself to not to black out like that again. 'I don't want to know what they do with psych patients here, especially not when all the hospitals are owned by ShinRa.'
The bottles in Icicle Inn's doctor's office had been produced by the ShinRa Electric Power Company factory. They owned everything.
Except the country Wutai, for now.
Marin touched the armlet that held her only two materia. There was no magic for curing madness, not like Marin's. She sighed, trying to keep herself calm even as she stood on ground she had never walked on before.
"Everybody's running from something." Jarvin didn't elaborate.
"Yeah. I guess that's true." she looked around, the Chocobos were still munching on some greens. The birds hadn't hear the approach of the next vehicle yet. "Running from or to something, but that sounds like a cop-out that describes everyone."
"Maybe." He took another pull of his cigarette. "which one are you? Running from or to something?"
"Kinda both."
"How so?" He asked Marin.
"I'm running from getting stuck in town."
"But both?"
Marin shrugged, "I don't want trouble. But it feels like I'm running headlong into it."
He flicked more ash onto the snow, "then get those eyes in the back of your head. Sounds like you'll need them."
One of the Chocobos cocked their head at something, then the other caught on, they both pulled against their harnesses, making noises that meant nothing to Marin.
"The next-" Marin stopped her guess that the wagon was coming, when Jarvin pulled a rifle out of the bed of the sled.
"Fuck! You know how to use that?" He waved at her materia armlet. While also making his own noises and gestures to his Chocobos, calming them down.
"Yeah."
He cocked back the bolt-action rifle. "The critters around here ain't so bad. As long as they don't catch you off guard." He spun around, trying to find what the Chocobos had noticed.
Jarvin climbed to the top of the sled's front seat.
Marin climbed onto the bed in the back, also looking around. But she stayed low so Jarvin could shoot over her head.
"Here." Jarvin managed to pull a materia out of one of his pockets, while juggling the rifle. "slot it, now."
Marin swapped it with the Ice magic.
"It's fire, that ice magic is useless around here."
A pack of wolves came around from the tree cover. One stayed back and howled.
The Chocobos started flapping about, but the brakes on the sled prevented them from pulling the sled on their own.
Jarvin shot the one howling and reloaded.
Marin tried to spare her spell-energy, casting as weak a fire ball as she could at the lead 'wolf'.
They were white wolves, but with large, fluffy, yellow manes like lions. The four of them moved as a pack of wolves.
The one in front squealed and barked in pain as the fire rolled over it.
Jarvin shot again. "I hope you can do better than that!" He yelled at her.
The 'wolves' were almost done on their run-up to the wagon. Jarvin shot another wolf. His gun only slowed them down.
Marin had time for one more fire spell before she was really going to feel out of place without even something to block those teeth.
She gritted her teeth and silently promised herself, 'This time, I'm going to fight you, not cower.'
She had curled into a ball on the ground, on Earth, as those dogs had ripped he apart. She had blacked out the actual take down. Between them jumping at her and rolling around on the ground, she remembered nothing. Marin remembered the bites from after that. That was three years ago now.
This time she was going to fight.
Marin pulled out as much energy as the Materia would let her, the best this Materia could do was one step up, a Fira spell. But the fire engulfed the same wolf. This time finishing it off.
One of the Chocobos was lashing at a wolf with it's vicious claws. Jarvin picked his shots, making every bullet count.
The fire guided itself to where she willed the magic to go. She only had to focus to not miss.
Though when one of the things had launched themselves at Jarvin and grabbed his arm. She willed the next fire spell, another weak one, to hit the wolf in the rear, so it wouldn't hit Jarvin.
The wolf whined at the burning and immediately let go.
One of the Chocobos pecked at one of the wolves circling the wagon before the wolves disengaged and regrouped away from the wagon.
Marin couldn't tell one from another, as the three came back together and yipped at each other while they peeled away, back to the tree cover by this road.
Jarvin reloaded another bullet, prepared for the 'wolves' to come back.
"I ain't no easy meat." He said while he sighted down the barrel. Sweeping the gun back and forth across the direction the wolves had vanished back to.
"Here." Marin said, holding out her hands.
"What?" He didn't look at her, he was still looking for the wolves to come back.
"I have healing magic."
"It's just a scratch." He wiggled his right elbow.
Marin frowned at his stubbornness. "Let's be refreshed in case they come back."
"Fine. But be quick."
The single bite only needed the weakest cure spell, which was all she she had left. Of course a town doctor had attuned her own healing materia for all the magic potential trapped within. Marin was going to have to start from scratch with her own.
Materia as a concept was understood by her, how they worked and 'unlocked' their potential with repeated use. Actually facing down the monsters that would unlock that potential over time and use, was different.
"There are some rips in the coat." Marin told him. As she applied the healing magic during the lull. "Could your birds have gotten hurt?"
"They know how to defend themselves." He watched the green threads of light from the healing magic, travel between her hands and into his arm. "When I get the chance to put the rifle away, I'll take a look."
Marin didn't want the wolves to come back at this point. Hopefully they wouldn't meet any more. "I can't hold up this kinda magic forever."
Jarvin nudged the bag he kept under the driver's seat, with his foot. "I have some supplies in there. They're not cheap, but I'll be glad for you to use them to keep up that magic."
"Oh, you have ethers?"
"And a few other things. But if Magic's your only weapon right now, I don't want you running out anytime soon." He cussed out his co-worker. "Where the hell is Ben with that other wagon?"
He pointed the weapon at the ground, "Bandersnatches usually don't fight to the death. Usually. I didn't expect a whole pack at this time of day." He eyed Marin's armlet that held the materia. "I'm not asking for it back, yet. But that fire magic is on loan. So I didn't have to go solo on those things."
Marin shrugged. "If I can borrow it for as long as I need to watch your back..."
Jarvin massaged the arm that had been bitten. "Damn things ruined a perfectly good coat. But thanks." He put the rifle, still loaded, over the seat. And hopped down to check on his birds. "Keep an eye out, and blast any more that come."
"OK." Marin climbed onto the front of the sled, leaving the rifle on the seat. She kept and eye on the leafless tree line the Bandersnatches had retreated behind. While also looking across the whole vista around them.
The road they had come down was more a track, worn down from years of sleds and wagons. There was so little civilization here, they seemed to be working fine without the need for cars or trucks that would need power. Jarvin had told her that the Chocobos could eat the plants that grew outside the small village they were heading towards. They just had to switch to a wheeled wagon that would go the rest of the way over the mud and shallower snows.
Marin saw something flying in the distance, it was too large to be a bird. Whatever it was, with bat-like wings, it wasn't heading towards them. She still kept an eye out in that direction. In case it reappeared any closer.
Though the wilds weren't as dangerous as she had assumed. They were still wild. And she was glad to not trek to the fishing village on her own.
"Janine, right?"
"Yeah."
"This one has a nick on his leg." He looked the way the Bandersnatches had gone. "Bring the rifle, just in case."
Marin had only ever held a BB rifle, years ago at a camp on Earth. But she knew the protocol. She put the safety back on, pointed the rifle up in the air. And carefully hopped down from the sled. She didn't check whether or not it was loaded, she knew it was. Even if she had known that it wasn't, she still would have treated it with that sort of respect.
"Here." she held out the butt of the gun, so it would point over her shoulder and away from Jarvin's birds.
"Huh." He took it, checking the safety before he sighted with the barrel to point after the Bandersnatches' retreat. "Ever fired a gun before?"
Marin put her hand out to the Chocobo, holding the green stalk Jarvin had given her. "Just toy guns. I've never fired a real gun."
When the Chocobo started munching, Marin cast the healing spell and touched the Chocobo's wing while the magic worked. The green threads traveled down to the scratch.
The Chocobo stepped back from Marin anyway, at the feeling of the magic. But by then, the streams of the magic were already settling on it.
"Feed the other one for good measure." Jarvin pointed to the bag at his waist, remaining on watch.
Marin complied, Feeding more greens to the other Chocobo.
"Wark!" they both chirped at Marin.
Marin rubbed her temples. "I could go for a refreshment myself."
"Get one from the bag."
Marin climbed back onto the driver's seat, pulling out the bag, she ran into her first serious problem. "Uhhh." the bag opened to reveal a number of bottles and other miscellany.
"What's the problem?" He asked her.
"Erm sorry. I don't know which one's an ether."
"Oh for, this is really your first time on your own."
Marin only shrugged. As Jarvin grabbed the bag and pulled out a bottle.
"I'm not gonna be snide, after fixing my arm. But" He listed them off. "these are potions, hi-potions, my one elixir. don't." Ethers could restore her magic power, but an elixir could refresh someone's physical endurance as well as magic. Elixirs tended to be irreplaceable. He shoved that one deeper in the bag. "I have a couple of hi-ethers, but this." He brought out the bottle of ether. "How much do you think this is?" He asked her.
That she knew. "1500 Gil." Which was half of all the Gil she had.
"Good, you're not that green." He shoved it at her, holding the rifle in the crook of his arm, so that it pointed away from the wagon. "Don't use it unless we actually need more magic outta you."
"Got it." she nodded while she put it in her pocket. Based on her estimations, that ether would be like emptying a twenty-gallon jerry can into a five-gallon tank. Wasting what it could do for someone else. She was just a beginner, she would be better off saving the ether unless their lives depended on it. She had maybe a couple of weak spells left on her. But with Jarvin armed, she could wait on the ether.
"Good, cuz those ain't cheap."
Marin nodded. In this world or the video game, they always felt a luxury. They were only for the battles that had run far too long. Drinking them like water was never a good idea, and were not affordable on Marin's current budget.
"You can keep that one." He told her.
"Thanks." She patted the pocket it was in.
Putting her hand up, the formerly-injured Chocobo shoved it's head against her hand. "Whoa!" she said in surprise.
Jarvin came around. "What?!"
"Nothing, sorry. I didn't realize they were that strong." she stroked it's head.
"Kweh." It said in almost a purr.
"I think she likes you."
"Maybe." she was able to run her hand down it's neck, feeling how the feathers changed in size and texture from the head to the neck. "I like animals." 'But I don't know or trust Chocobos.'
"How about Bandersnatches?" He asked, back on top of the wagon.
"Not if they're gonna eat me."
The other Chocobo reached over, not wanting to be left out.
Marin stepped around to be in front of the double harness. So she could pet them both at once, swallowing her nerves despite being so close to the creatures. "These guys are pretty friendly."
"If you say so."
Both Chocobos warked and turned their heads to look down the road they had been heading down.
A wagon finally came into view from around the curve. Struggling against the mud.
Jarvin fiddled with his rifle, getting the bullet out of the chamber. Leaving the gun on the seat. He hopped down and chewed out the other driver.
Marin kept petting the Chocobos. It was what it was, but they were both all right.
She only half listened, while she felt like having a nap. Instead, she helped the two men unload the wagon. So that more goods would be going back to Icicle Inn. In the sled.
Jarvin argued with the guy for being late. And that he had been paid to take Janine down to the coast. They argued. Marin continued to move goods. Until some of it was too heavy for her to pick up herself.
The men argued over that. Jarvin was still steamed to have been caught by the Bandersnatches.
Marin found herself in the driver's seat of the wheeled wagon. Jarvin beside her. As they left the other man to finish his u-turn to get the loaded sled the rest of the way to Icicle Inn.
Jarvin had his gun in his lap, pointing out of the wagon. While he drove the Chocobos forward.
Marin nodded off and tried to get some rest, sitting up in the rocking wagon. Her teeth rattled on the pace he kept up. She didn't get any real rest for the rest of the day. Other than bumps in the road, there were no interruptions the rest of the way to their destination.
"Fools." Jarvin told Marin in the light of the setting sun.
She opened her eyes. "What?"
They came up to the fishing village, Weylinn, that had a few more people residing in it than Icicle Inn, with far less tourists.
There was a ship that was carefully unloading some huge box beside the town. Whatever the crane was lowering, it was too large to use the boat launch. There was a platform on the beach that looked like it was just finished. The wood hadn't been weathered by seawater or rain at all. Just for that steel container.
"What?"
"Someone else is trying to get a car or a truck into my boss' territory. Where are they gonna get fuel cells for the thing? Nobody makes Mako cells around here. It all has to be shipped in. Including parts to repair that truck."
Marin shrugged. She knew that Mako was the primary energy source on this planet. Earth's nuclear power wasn't the same, but it was the closest equivalent as she understood it. But she didn't want to prove her ignorance by asking how the power cells worked. "Then let them try. When they run out energy, you can pass them by while the Bandersnatches chew on their tires."
Jarvin laughed. Slapping Marin on the back. "You gotta job lined up on the western continent yet?"
'No.' She thought. "Why do you ask?"
"You're not useless with those Materia. Though you're gonna need to rely on more than your mana."
Marin shrugged, "A 'real' job is the plan. But I need to travel to find such a teacher out there, if I want to find a job with my Materia."
"Well, if you're even back in town, in Weylinn. You know who to look up." Jarvin smiled warmly.
"Yeah." Marin nodded to herself. She was going to write his name down, in case she was ever back around here. After fighting practically back to back. She didn't want to forget the man's name. "Are you from here?"
"Born and raised." He said with a big smile. "Us small-towners have to stick together!"
"Yeah." She smiled. Though her home city was bigger than the biggest city on this planet. And her hometown wasn't even the biggest Earth-based city. She had been in Icicle Inn for less than a month. But it didn't reduce her feelings of camaraderie with the man.
She blinked and they were already between the few houses that lined the road to where he could unload the few things that were laded out of Icicle Inn. The supply of food stuffs were endless, to keep the tourists happy all year. Though Icicle Inn still needed regular supplies, pretty much daily. Far beyond their mail, daily they needed necessities for the small village.
"I want to see the world before going back." Which was true for either home of hers. She considered, 'Maybe a little sightseeing before going back to Earth wouldn't be so bad. Up until the world ends anyway. Not that I want this one to end.'
"Well, if that's your plan. Then you better get to it." He pointed at the few bags in the wagon. "Little help?"
Marin held out the fire Materia. "I said I'd give it back now that we're here."
Jarvin took the Materia solemnly. Nodding to himself, he put it back where it belonged. "And keep the ether."
"Thanks." she yawned. "It'd be cheaper for me to buy my own materia, and save that ether for later."
"Yeah. So..." He looked at the back of the wagon.
"Oh yeah." she hopped down and grabbed the first few bags. Outgoing mail and a few other things. Helping Jarvin take them where they were needed.
"First ship for the western coast doesn't leave until the first tide in the morning."
"I remember." She said, hefting one of the bags. She tried to think of when that was. But she only knew that it would be very early. Harold had also arranged for her to stay in the village until that ship left. It was more a large fishing boat than a real ship. Weylinn was too small for the bigger ships. Even if it was the only port on this side of the continent. The snows really kept everyone away but the tourists. Everyone else was born here.
"C'mon, I'd like the wife to meet you. When she comes back from fishing that is."
