AN: The first few chapters are a little rough but they get better in the future. I'm using Amano's designs for all the girls and most of the cutscene dialogue is from the PC port. Not really happy with this chapter but I wanted to get it up soon. Thank you for reading!
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As the crew walked into the newly made cave, a cold dampness in the air hit Lenna's senses. The smell of the dank and stale air made her wrinkle her nose as she gently clutched the sides of her dress. The men in her company didn't seem bothered by it, so she sucked it up and decided to breathe through her mouth. Ceilings rose high and an infinite amount of twists and turns struck their path. It could take hours to navigate through the cavern maze.
Their footsteps echoed off the rock walls of the cave, and the sound of dripping water came from nearby. Although they seemed alone, there was a presence of something else dwelling in the caves with them. A constant sensation of being watched never left her, and Lenna worried at the idea of having to fight.
They turned a corner of more jagged rock and Bartz suddenly stopped, holding up his hand. Lenna tried peering around his shoulder but he held out his other arm to keep her back. She tried pushing his arm away with both hands, but he was stronger.
"What is it?" she whispered, too afraid to raise her voice.
Bartz ignored her and instead drew his broadsword. As he started to step away from his spot, Lenna dropped her hands to her sides, brushing against something hard. She remembered that she had strapped a knife to her side when she left the castle. How could she have forgotten about that?
When Bartz had moved enough to where she could finally see what he was looking at, she made the mistake of gasping at what she saw.
"What is that?" she said a little too loudly, as the two creatures now turned to face them.
Bartz swore then said without turning, "Fan out!"
The fiends looked to be distant cousins of crabs, but they looked more like over-sized sea monsters. Lenna couldn't see their eyes but they had giant red shells and the biggest pincher claws she had ever seen; they would definitely hurt if they snapped down on flesh.
Lenna grabbed for the knife at her side with frantic hands as she desperately looked to Bartz for help.
"What am I gonna do?" she heard Galuf exclaim. She pried her eyes away to look at the older man and noticed his empty hands.
Bartz also took notice, and Lenna saw his face blanche.
"Just use your fists," Bartz told him with strain in his voice.
They did as Bartz had told them and they fanned out around the two fiends. Bartz raised his sword and quickly swept down near one of the crabs. The swing missed and it quickly scuttled to the side. It snapped at him, but he quickly redeemed himself by diminishing it. It promptly disintegrated, leaving behind its hollow shell.
"Lenna, go for the other one," he told her. Fear struck her as she clutched the knife close to her chest.
"I…it's coming towards me!" she exclaimed in a frightened tone. She held the knife in her hand but she could not physically force herself to move to use it.
"Lenna, you have to kill it!" Bartz tried again.
She froze in fear as the crab made its way towards her, its pinchers snapping, echoing loudly through the cave. She couldn't move her feet as it crept closer.
"Lenna!"
Her eyes were glued to the enemy, but her body felt numb, like she wasn't really there.
Galuf came into her view as he strolled up to the crab and gave it a jab to the side of its shell. It turned its attention towards him; she watched in horror as Bartz strode up behind it and promptly stuck his sword through the shell, all the way through till she heard the tip scrape the cavern floor. The crab wriggled and then grew limp.
Bartz placed his foot on the fallen fiend as he pulled out the sword, putting it back into its sheath on his side. He turned to face Lenna, a scornful look on his face as he approached her.
"Lenna," he began, but he was cut short by the sputtering princess.
"I-I'm sorry…" she whispered, "I couldn't..." She shook her head in disbelief. She was useless in the battle.
Bartz studied her for a moment then turned around to face Galuf instead. "I think I hear running water nearby. Maybe we can rest there for a while."
Galuf grunted in approval and walked ahead leaving the two behind. Bartz stayed by Lenna's side as she started to leave.
"You've never seen monsters before have you?" he asked, placing his hands behind his back.
"What makes you say that?" she questioned. Had she really been that transparent?
Bartz laughed through his nose. "It's pretty obvious. Don't think I've ever seen someone so scared of just devil crabs."
"Devil crabs," she repeated, "Those aren't that dangerous?"
"Not particularly. You saw how easy they went down," he stopped to kick a pebble in their path.
Lenna quietly lowered her head. Her companion was far more experienced in the world than she was and it was apparently very obvious.
"I've never been faced with that kind of danger before," she confessed, "I have been sheltered my whole life. This is the first time I've seen past Tycoon's mountains."
He raised his brows at her revelation, and she noticed that he was lightly dragging his knuckles across the cavern wall.
"Never?" he asked a bit bemused.
"Never," she replied with a shy smile.
He gave her a sigh, "I guess it's a good thing you have me as your guide." He turned and gave her a playful smile.
She felt the heat rise up her neck but Bartz didn't have time to notice as Galuf called their attention. The two quickened their pace and as they rounded the corner, Lenna noticed the sound of running water.
"A spring," she mused, walking to the edge. She stopped before dipping her hands and looked over her shoulder at Bartz. "Is it safe?"
He shrugged his shoulders but proceeded to take off his boots and pull his trousers to above his knees. He waded in and bent down to cup some of the water in his hands, holding them above his head and letting the water cascade down his face.
"Refreshing," he grinned.
"It seems to have magical properties to it," Galuf said from Lenna's side. He too slid off his shoes and waded in a ways.
Lenna knelt down, her hands gripping the edge. The water was rippling because of the men's movements but it stopped long enough for her to gaze at her reflection on the water's surface. Her hair had become unruly and misplaced; her face was covered in dirt and what looked like to be smeared blood.
A gasp escaped her lips as she leaned away from the edge, earning her a concerned look from her compatriots. She leaned back in, pointing towards the water.
"Do I really look like that?" she asked them as she cupped her hands and scrubbed at the grime on her face. The men thought better than to answer the question and turned back to their own thoughts.
After a few more moments of rest, Bartz had deemed that it was time to move on.
The cave seemed to go on forever, and they had run into more fiends, but Lenna never had the chance to try and redeem her earlier plight, as Bartz had taken to her side, dispatching fiends before she even had the chance to blink.
Eventually, they came to a more open area of the cavern; the ceiling rose far above them and ledges were all around. Bartz steps faltered as they reached the top of one of these ledges, and he quickly pulled his partners with him behind a rock. He stood on his tiptoes to peek over the ledge, Lenna and Galuf followed suit.
Lenna's eyes widened as she saw a stout man with an eye patch patrolling about the upper ledge. He looked mean and tough and scraggly and grimy and she swallowed back a biting fear as he turned towards the wall. He ran his hands across it before finally stopping to press the rock. There was a low rumbling noise as another passageway was revealed to their hidden eyes. The man soon disappeared into the passageway, his figure being swallowed up by the surrounding shadows.
"So that's how you get in," Bartz said, breaking their sudden silence. He rolled back onto flat feet and motioned for them to follow.
He started to climb the rocky ledge, carefully finding the correct footholds and small outputs for his hands. Galuf soon followed, a little less gracefully than the younger man, and eventually Lenna was hoisted up with their help.
"What do you think is in there?" she asked, brushing off the front of her dress.
Bartz walked over to where the man was standing before and carefully started running his palm over the wall the way the other had done earlier. He felt every crevice until he finally felt a smoother slab and heard a click!
Galuf stood next to her and thoughtfully ran a finger through his crazy gray hair. "Only one way to find out, I guess."
As they stepped through the now open wall and into the dark passage, there was the sound of more running water, but also the sound of a constant roar, like a greater amount of water hitting the sides of rocks. The walls here seemed moister than those in the previous rooms and spaces they had been in. Their steps didn't echo as much as before and there was now the cry of gulls.
"What's that?" Lenna heard Bartz ask. He pointed ahead to a literal bright light at the end of the tunnel. Something that seemed so out of place in the damp darkness of the caverns.
The gang rushed forward to what now was revealed to be an opening in the wall that dropped off to the cliff below. Lenna had to squint her eyes together at the sudden brightness before her. They were staring at the ocean, the strait that was nestled between several kingdoms. The sea was a deep blue and there were no clouds in the afternoon sky. Lenna could see off in the far distance what seemed to be a mountain range that she knew all too well. They were the mountains surrounding her native kingdom.
Her attention then returned to the sea when Bartz had stuck his finger out the opening. She followed his gaze to what looked like a wooden ship. There seemed to be people aboard but they were so far above they looked like ants. The ship was docking at a small port below them and Bartz spoke up.
"That ship just now," he said retracting his finger, "how was it sailing with the wind so weak?"
The question struck the group with a sudden silence as Bartz finally pulled away from the opening. Lenna and Galuf quietly followed as he led them away. It was very peculiar indeed.
The cavern stretched out even further as they climbed countless ledges and rounded numerous corners until finally, they came to a small crevice, just big enough for one person to fit through.
Lenna stepped up to inspect it. "Do you think there's a way out on the other side?"
Bartz stepped up beside her and placed his hand in the open rock. "There's a draft coming from the other side. I'll squeeze through, then let you know if it's safe."
Without a second thought, he disappeared into the rock.
Several minutes passed and Lenna grew worried. She started to wonder if Bartz had made it safely to the other side, only to be caught by monsters. Or maybe he had found something to help them get out of the cave; perhaps a way out, a path maybe, and he decided to follow it all the way through to see where it led. Or maybe someone had found him…
She soon heard a "psst" and a hand appeared in the crevice.
"Bartz?" she asked, leaning her head towards the crack. Galuf pulled up beside her and did the same.
"It's safe to come through, but you have to be quiet," he told her, shaking his hand at her. "We may have some trouble."
"Trouble?" Galuf questioned, "What kind of trouble?"
"I don't have time to explain, just hurry and squeeze through," he explained in a worried whisper. He shook his hand a little violently.
Lenna took his hand and slid into the wall, sideways, like she had seen him do earlier. He firmly grasped her hand and she tried to make out his face in the darkness of their tiny space. He silently tugged her and they proceeded to shimmy through the wall. Jagged rock jutted out in every spot and Lenna had to bend and move in ways so she wouldn't get caught on it, but as they reached the other end, one scrapped the side of her face, going unnoticed by the princess.
Bartz finally wormed out of the hole and gently guided Lenna out with him. She looked around at her new surroundings. Much like every other part of the caverns, there was the sound of running water and stale air and the same grey, cold rocks that made up everything in the cave. She was beginning to grow tired of seeing the same thing.
But there was something new that had caught her eye. Two big, black flags with a skull and two swords crossed behind it. There was one on either side of the two walls that stood before her. Her eyes grew wide as she came to the slow realization of what they might represent.
There was a grunt and Galuf's head popped out of the crevice. He gave them an angry face, glancing down at the lower part of their bodies. Lenna gave him a perplexed look; Bartz cleared his throat and Lenna drew her attention to where he was gazing down. His hand! She was still holding his hand!
With a bright red spreading across her cheeks, she quickly let go and hid her hands behind her back, Bartz and Galuf making their way up to the flag hanging on the right.
"So this is the trouble you were talking about," Galuf said, sounding and looking a little less angry.
"Yeah," Bartz replied, absently tracing his hand across the flag.
Suddenly his eyes grew wide as he stood very still. Lenna strained her ears, Galuf froze as he was about to speak again. Normally, in these caves, the sounds of every little noise they made echoed off the floor, the walls, the ceiling. But Lenna could barely make out the sound of heavy footsteps dragging, and what seemed to be another voice, one that was not their own.
Bartz stepped away from the flag and tilted his body to a degree so he could see past the edge of the wall, but as quickly as he had done that he shifted back and pushed Lenna and Galuf into the corner, a slight sound of protest coming from both. Bartz held a finger to his lips, signaling them to be quiet.
The sound of the talking stopped as did the footsteps; the three of them waiting in agony, waiting to be discovered. Lenna held her breath, Galuf closed his eyes, and Bartz kept his hand up, still listening.
Seconds later, the steps returned, but they were getting farther and farther away. They all exhaled with relief, and believing it safe to come out, Bartz pulled away from his spot and peered around the corner of the wall they had taken refuge behind.
He turned back to his companions with an unreadable expression on his face. "This is a pirate's hideout," he gestured towards the black flag beside him. "Meaning that ship we saw must've been a pirate ship."
Galuf let out a slow sigh and rubbed his eyes with his finger and thumb, Bartz kept his gaze to the floor. It was obvious that they were starting to lose a little hope, perhaps whatever hope that they had left, of reaching the Wind Shrine.
Lenna on the other hand, saw the current situation as an opportunity. In fact, the news Bartz had just given them filled her with hope.
"I wonder if they would give us a ride?" she hadn't meant to say it out loud, but she did, and the look the men in her company gave her was incredulous.
"Um, I think the only ride they'd be interested in," Bartz started, "would be a keel-haul for all three of us."
Lenna looked down at her boots. Once again, her naivety and inexperience had shown through. How could she have suggested something so stupid?
"Yeah," Galuf chimed in, "You can't ask a favor from a pirate." He looked to where the pirate had been standing, and then, as if the graces of the gods had bestowed upon him the most brilliant idea, he added: "That's why we'll just sneak on and steal their ship."
It was Lenna's turn to give him an incredulous look. Steal a ship? From pirates? That was a crazy idea, but then again, so was hers.
Bartz let out a bewildered half-laugh. "Whoa, you're pretty gutsy for an old timer."
Galuf gave a hearty laugh and moved aside with the sweep of his hand to signal Bartz to lead the way.
For a time, they quietly made their way through the pirate hideout, looking for a way onto the ship. They came across many doors, but all were blocked by the snoring pirates. There was one close encounter, when Galuf had sneezed near one, and he had awoken. Lenna and the others had scrambled to hide behind the closest rock while the pirate had checked his surroundings for the noise. Eventually he had returned to his post and was quickly snoozing once again.
Finally, they had found a dock that stretched from inside the pirate hideout all the way to the ocean they had seen through the wall earlier. The ship from earlier was also there. Big and wooden and apparently abandoned. There was no one aboard it.
The wooden dock beneath them creaked loudly as Galuf ran ahead, Bartz and Lenna close behind. The ship was beautiful, obviously well taken care of. From the few stories Lenna had heard about pirates from her childhood, she was surprised it was so well kept.
Bartz and Galuf now made their way to the helm of the ship, quietly arguing over how to pilot it and who would pilot it.
Bartz firmly grasped the wheel and let out a theatrical laugh, "Yo-ho-ho and stuff," he said with an extreme pirate accent. "Time to cast off!"
Lenna and Galuf looked to the sea out ahead of them, but after a few moments and the realization that they had not started moving, Galuf looked to the young man.
"Well?" he asked, "'Cast off' means start sailing, kid."
"I know that," he replied haughtily. He violently shook the wheel, trying to move it. "The wheel won't even budge. How do you work this thing?"
Galuf opened his mouth to retort, but a voice from the front of the ship interrupted him.
"Try working anything and there will be the devil to pay!"
The voice was harsh but not entirely malicious. It made Lenna freeze.
The band of pirates that had been hanging in the hideout was now following another man. This man was decked out in a beautiful and lavish waistcoat, stunning and shining necklaces and bracelets and rings adorned his body. He had a stern face but there were softer features to it, unlike any she had ever seen on any man before. His long, blonde locks were pulled back at the nape of his neck. He was, in a way, beautiful.
"Trying to steal my ship, are you?" his voice, there was something about his voice, "You've a lot of brass." He took a step closer to the trio and Lenna saw her companions tense at the movement. "Or mayhap you're just lacking in brains! I'd wager it's the latter."
He gave out a taunt laugh and the crew followed his lead.
Bartz started to protest but before he could trouble things further, Lenna spoke up.
"Wait!" she held up her hand as a sign of peace, and stepped forward. "I am Princess Lenna of Tycoon. Please accept my apologies for attempting to commandeer your ship."
Although she couldn't see them, she could only imagine the looks on the faces behind her. The two men started whispering fiercely.
"What? Princess…"
"…Of Tycoon?"
She took another step forward, desperately hoping her years of diplomatic training, manners and etiquette, would finally come to use.
"Sir, this is a formal request from the kingdom of Tycoon." The man waited for her to go on. "Please, allow us to use your vessel. I must get to the Wind Shrine- my father is in danger!" she heard her voice crack on the last syllable, but she swallowed her pride and waited for an answer to her request.
The man looked around to his men and let out another laugh. Once again they followed suit.
"Oho, the princess of Tycoon, here on my ship?" he seemed to be fairly amused, trying to hold back his laughter. "I'm sure we could fetch a good price for this one." He released a tempting smile.
Bartz rushed forward to stand next to Lenna. "Hey! Leave her alone, you degenerate, lecherous, piratety…" he struggled to think of better insults.
Lenna ignored Bartz and tried to walk even closer to close the distance between her and the pirate.
"I beg of you, please…"
The look on his face became one of shock, he looking down at her chest. "That pendant…"
Lenna looked down at her pendant. The one given to her by her father when she was still just a child. She never took it off, never ever. It reminded her of a long forgotten friend, never to be seen again…
The man stepped away from her and quietly discussed something with his first mate beside him. He then looked back to Lenna, his face like that of a statue.
"Toss the lot of 'em into the brig," he instructed, unmoving.
Lenna and the others let out a sound of protest as henchman moved to grab them. Galuf spat at them and Bartz wriggled out of the grasp of his, only to be held down by another. Lenna did not struggle; instead she quietly lamented her fate and willingly let the pirate guide her below the deck.
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The small cell they had been placed in was small, and damp, the sickening stench of ungodly proportions filled the room. The wooden planks creaked at every movement above deck, the constant sound of busy feet sent small particles of dust through the air. Their arms were bound tightly to their sides, the itchy rope wound many times around their torsos.
Galuf was the first to speak up, after hours of just sitting there in the dim lighting.
"Well, this is a fine how-do-you-do." He joked dryly. "What genius came up with the idea to steal a pirate ship, anyway?"
Bartz scoffed and shook his head. "Look in the mirror, Pops."
Galuf's eyes widened and then he quickly squinted them shut. "Oh, my aching head," he complained, "I can't remember a thing."
"And your amnesia oh-so-conveniently returns," Bartz muttered.
Lenna quietly watched them from her corner of the room, a faint smile spread across her face.
Bartz caught her gaze and scooted himself as best as he could towards her.
"Still," he said not taking his eyes away from hers. They shined oh-so-brilliantly, even in the face of uncertainty. "I can't believe you're really the princess of Tycoon, Lenna."
Lenna shied away from his gaze and turned her attention to the floor beside her.
"I'm sorry; I didn't intend to keep it a secret." And she hadn't, she really hadn't. It just wasn't that important.
Bartz studied her, taking in every inch of her. Even though she wasn't looking, she could feel his eyes on her in the dark light. What does he see? She wondered.
"It's not that big a deal," he finally said. She gave him a grateful look.
"But if you're the princess," he continued, her heart involuntarily dropped at this, "Why were you going to the Wind Shrine all alone?" His face seemed to actually hold some concern.
"My father is there," her voice was barely a whisper. So much emotion wanted to be released, the uneasy fear of what might have happened to her only family. "He hadn't been gone long when the wind slowed to almost nothing." She took a shaky breath. "I just can't shake the feeling that something terrible is happening."
She looked at Bartz again, and he gave her a reassuring nod. "I slipped out alone to head to the shrine, but then that meteorite fell and… well you know the rest."
He turned away from her, resting his head against the wall. "Yeah, I guess I do," he mused. Across the room, Galuf let out a strong snore. "We should get some rest too."
Lenna nodded and imitated him, resting her head against the wall, feeling the vibrations of the wood, and the creaking of the ship. Slowly, sleep consumed her.
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As morning came, the doors to the small cell burst open. Three pirates came in and roughly hoisted each of them to their feet, grogginess still fresh in their minds. It was a startling feeling, being dragged to your feet, straight from the depths of sleep with no forewarning.
They were pushed up the steps and out into the sunshine that covered the deck of the ship.
The captain of the ship was quietly arguing with his first mate.
"But Captain," Lenna overheard the first mate say, "What about the landlubbers?"
"Untie them," he said with a harsh tongue.
His crew stood there in shock at their captain's sudden mercy. He grew impatient.
"I meant sometime today!"
Lenna felt the pirate behind her slip his sword between her back and the rope, he quickly drew it back towards him, the rope falling to a heap on the ground. She looked down at her arms and frowned at the red rope burns that covered them.
"But…Why?" Lenna asked. She certainly hadn't been expecting this.
"I reconsidered your request," the captain said flatly, "You can go back into the brig if you'd rather."
When he didn't receive a response he quickly turned toward the sea. "Pull anchor! We sail for the Wind Shrine."
His crew once again stood dumbfounded. He turned over his shoulder. "Hey! Something wrong with your ears? I hope I don't have to repeat myself!"
The band of pirates began to scramble to their positions and posts, pulling ropes and preparing to leave the port.
Lenna received a sudden burst of courage and strode up next to the captain, startling him greatly.
"But the wind has stopped…" She frowned, "How can the ship move?"
He gave her a wicked smile, "Full of curiosity, aren't you, lass?"
He turned to bow of the ship. "Syldra!" he shouted, "Come up and say hello!"
Nothing happened at first but the ship had started to rumble. Lenna grabbed for the railing, peering over the side of the ship, the deep blue water churning below.
She gasped as the very large head of a monstrous beast slowly surfaced from the water. A sea serpent it looked like. It had beautiful amber eyes, purple and green scales adorned its beautiful body. It opened it large maw, letting out a soul crushing shriek.
Lenna stared in wonder, her mouth agape, and the captain spoke up. "Beautiful, isn't she?" he said in a voice so low, only she could hear. "Syldra and I were raised together. We're close as siblings."
Lenna tore her stare from the beautiful beast and looked at this new side of the captain. But he looked away before he could notice, instead looking at Galuf and Bartz."
"Alright!" he announced, a smirk across his face, "We're off!"