The First Grimoire: Final Fantasy Tactics A2
Chapter 4: "Pinned Wings"
The Camoa Highroad. An oft-used passageway that connects the two neighboring provinces, Camoa and Targ Wood together. Adventurers, merchant caravans, and clans often use this highroad instead of attempting to navigate through the dense forest that serves as the alternate path. Recently, however, this highroad has been subjugated by a clan of rogues, merciless thieves who plan to rob any passerby that crosses the highroad.
This clan of thieves is called the Yellow Wings. Once a large clan consisting of many members, an unknown event had befallen the Yellow Wings in the past, and the number of people has steadily dwindled from then, until only three were left. Eventually, the dark reputation of the Yellow Wings have left the three remaining members to resort to petty acts.
Such as blocking off a commercial highroad for valuables.
One of the members of the Yellow Wings stretched out his limbs. He lied on a leafy tree branch overlooking the highroad, his yellow cap hanging precariously near the end of the branch. In his hand, he held a small carrot–shaped necklace. He sighed and leaned back, holding up the small red necklace.
"What a drag." He said in a depressed voice, "To have robbed a young, defenseless woman. How shameful of me, I should've shot an arrow at Dirk when he tried to manhandle her."
The hunter glanced over the side of the tree branch. There were two other people sitting underneath the tree, both were busy conversing heatedly with each other. One of them, a hume wearing a dark green bandanna stood up and hit his companion over the head with the back of his hand. The small moogle was knocked aside and into the underbrush.
"And there he goes again, smacking poor Ereio around." The observer said, "He really needs to keep his temper under control...oop!"
The hunter quickly snatched up his hanging yellow cap and scooted deeper into the leaves.
"Dolroth!" The angry thief yelled, "Get your behind down here and grab your bow! We've got company heading west!"
"Drat. He saw me." Dolroth cursed his luck, "Damn Dirk, just go and rob them yourself if you're so inclined."
Grabbing his bow, the hunter leapt off the branch and landed next to the thief.
"Took you long enough!" Dirk spat angrily, "What were you doing up there? Feeding the birds?"
"Possibly. Anything that doesn't have to do with associating with you is a blessing for me."
"You better watch your mouth," The thief unhooked a sharp dagger off his belt, "Unless you don't mind losing your tongue."
"Such threatening words from a clanmate." Dolroth stared directly at the threatener's eyes, ignoring his threat, "What have you turned the Yellow Wings into? A pitiful group of thieves that take petty change and trinkets from people that pass our way? Attacking unarmed merchants or young maidens who have no chance to defend theirselves? You are truly an honorable man, Dirk."
"I've heard enough out of you!" Dirk aimed a slice with the dagger at Dolroth's face. A bloody gash appeared on the side of his cheek. Unflinching, the hunter kept staring at the angry thief. The two stood in the same spot for an undetermined amount of time, staring, daring each other to say a word or make a move. Until the sound of footsteps broke the silence.
"There is a group of people passing through the highroad – kupo!" The moogle, recovered from the hit he had taken from Dirk earlier, had ran between the two fighting humes and reported the situation.
"Damn it, I don't have time to argue with you!" Hooking his dagger back onto his belt, Dirk grabbed the messenger by his antenna and lifted him up. Ereio let out a yelp of pain.
"How many are there? And how far are they?!" He hollered into the moogle's face, lifting him up higher.
"Ku–!!" Ereio cried out in pain, "There's...there's four! Four vieras! They've just reached the foot of the highroad path! P–please let me go! – kupo!"
"Vieras?" Dolroth's attention turned towards the flailing moogle. Grabbing Dirk's hand, he glared at his clanmate. "Unhand him Dirk, you're going to pull off his entire antenna!"
"Tch!" The thief threw the moogle onto the ground roughly, eliciting a painful squeak from the furry clanmate.
"Are the vieras armed?" Dolroth pulled the poor moogle up from the ground and handed him a small vial of medicine, which Ereio gratefully accepted.
"No – kupo, they aren't." Said Ereio while dabbing drops of medicine on his injured scalp, "They appear to be mages–green mages. Inexperienced ones by the look of it – kupo."
"Ripe produce for the taking, then!" Dirk rubbed his hands together, a greedy grin spread onto his face. "Go and get the hound Ereio, we'll cut them off at the summit of the pass."
"The hound?!" Dolroth exclaimed, shocked. "These vieras are unarmed! Harmless! You're planning on loosing the wolf onto more defenseless women?!"
"Your heart is too soft!" Dirk yelled in response, "We control the highroad! There will be nobody that will pass through! Women, children, elderly! Unarmed or not!"
With that, Dirk yanked the poor moogle from the ground and walked off into the forest. Dolroth was silent. In his hand was the small necklace they had pilfered from the girl before. It felt hot, as if it was going to burn a hole in his hand.
"Well, isn't that a sight. You look like a real fighter now, don't you think?"
Having finally finished with his three–hour long clothing session, Luso finally walked into the pub wearing his new uniform. Intent on showing off to Cid. Unfortunately, the Revgaji was nowhere to be found. Only Edyal was there to greet the young boy. Feeling slightly disappointed, Luso took a seat next to the nu mou black mage.
"You think so?"
"Indeed," Nodding, Edyal handed him a mug. It was filled with a white, cloudy liquid. Luso eyed it warily.
"Where's Cid?" Luso took off his new red hat and put it on the counter, "He said he was going to pick me up from the store after my new outfit was done."
"He had some clan–related business to take care of. I believe he will be back soon." Edyal stared at the small pocket that was hanging off Luso's right side. "What is inside that pocket on your right leg?"
"Oh this?" Luso reached down and undid the clasp. Reaching inside, he pulled out the small notebook that had came with him when he was transported.
"Your journal?" Edyal commented.
"Yeah." Luso laid it out on the counter, moving aside the mug that he probably wasn't going to drink from. "I didn't want to lose it. The shopkeeper girl had taken away my old clothes, saying something about researching it. So this notebook is the only thing I have to remind me of where I came from."
"I see. So it's a memento?"
"Something like that..." Luso looked at the first page of the book, where his hastily–written reflections for Mr. Blair was scribbled down. He felt a slight pang of sadness as he read over his own writing. Unknowingly, he began to frown.
"Is something the matter?" The nu mou asked.
"I'm just wondering what my friends are doing right now. And my auntie too." Luso said, "I don't know if they found out that I'm missing or not. It's already been an entire day, my Auntie must be really worried."
"Your 'Auntie?'" Edyal questioned, "Don't you have a father or a mother?"
Luso fiddled around with a corner of a page, "I dunno. I never met them before. I've always been raised by my Auntie."
"Hmm.."
"Well, I shouldn't worry too much." Luso said, his face back to it's usual smiling expression, "I'm sure everything will work out eventually. I can probably tell Auntie that Mr. Blair just made me go to summer camp for my bad grades or something."
"How easygoing of you." Edyal commented, taking another sip from her drink. "You honestly remind me of Cid in many ways."
"Do I?" Luso picked up a spoon and examined his reflection.
"I didn't mean it in that way."
"What did you mean it like then?" Luso persisted.
"Well..." She was smiling widely. It was amusing to see how much the boy wanted to be compared with Cid.
Before she could begin to explain however, she was suddenly interrupted by the door to the pub opening. As luck would have it, the subject of their conversation was standing in the doorway.
"Luso, so this is where you were." Said Cid, clapping his hands together, "Edyal, Luso, can both of you meet me outside?"
With no further words, the Revgaji turned around and exited as suddenly as he came in. Luso and Edyal stared at the door, dumbfounded.
"Do I resemble that side of him?" Luso asked, packing his notebook back into his pocket and replacing his hat back onto his head.
"No, I don't think you do."
"So what's the big announcement Cid?"
Luso and Edyal both walked out the dim pub and into the harsh sun of the afternoon. Covering his eyes, Luso could make out the large silhouette that belonged to Cid, who appeared to be standing next to someone else.
"Who is with you?" Asked Edyal, angling her large hat to block out the bright sun rays.
"Lynd still isn't back from the bazaar yet? I was planning on introducing our two new clan members to him in one go." Cid replied, looking around for the absent warrior. He gave up and shrugged. "I suppose I will have to inform him later."
"Two?" Edyal turned towards Luso, the first new member of the clan. "Then that person standing beside you is..."
"Luso. Edyal." Cid gestured to both of them, "Meet Melanee."
Both of them moved forward slightly. Luso could see more clearly who was Cid's companion. It was a girl, a girl who had very tanned skin. Almost opposite to Edyal's dark dressings, she had on a cloak that was colored a bright white. The cloak had a large hood that the girl used to shield her head from the burning sun. Long white hair flowed out from either side of the girl's face, almost melding into the white of the cloak itself. Two large ears, resembling that of a rabbit's, extruded out of the top of the girl's head. Two slits were cut into the hood, allowing them to pass through unimpeded.
"So this is Dr. Ocktor's assistant?" Said Edyal as she looked over the new recruit, who quickly bowed. "A viera, hm?"
"She'll be accompanying us as we head towards Camoa." Cid said, mainly for Luso's benefit. "As you can see, she's a white mage. So she'll be a valuable asset if we are to get into any trouble."
Cid patted the girl on the shoulder. She made a small squeak and jumped up a bit. Edyal raised an eyebrow. This girl appeared to be quite timid, almost painfully shy.
"Hello there!" Luso energetically extended a hand for a handshake, "I'm Luso! Nice to meet you!"
"H–hello..." Melanee replied shakily, staring at the boy's outstretched hand as if it was a particularly strange piece of fruit.
"Um..." Luso withdrew his hand. He scratched his head, thinking of what to say next. A strange air of awkwardness appeared to expand between the two. He turned to Cid for help, who simply scratched his head and shrugged in reply.
"Ahem," Edyal coughed, jolting the two of them out of their silence, "Mayhaps you should get on with telling us what you have planned for us, Cid?"
"Aye, Luso, Edyal, Melanee." Cid called each of his clan members to attention, "In a quarter of an hour, we will be heading towards Camoa through the highroad. Melanee, you've encountered the group that has taken control over the highroad before, right?"
"Yes..." She clutched her chest tightly, "They stopped me yesterday. They told me to drop everything I had on me and go back to the village. I tried to let them know that I was on an important errand, but...but... they didn't listen..."
"Then one of them...a moogle...took out this flute and blew into it." She continued, "Then I heard this terrifying howl..."
"Must be the wolf Ocktor had warned us about." Edyal nodded, her expression grim. "These thieves are heartless, or perhaps simply cowards with no courage to fight armed men."
Cid nodded, his face was reflecting Edyal's expression. "I agree, these people actually have the audacity to loose a wolf on an unarmed passerby." He crossed his arms, "We will have to teach these brigands a lesson. A very harsh lesson."
Grabbing onto his sword, Luso withdrew it from his new sheath showily. He gave it a few swings and then stabbed it into the ground in front of him.
"I can't forgive anyone who bullies people!" He yelled angrily, "Let me at them, I'll make sure they pay for what they did!"
Stifling a laugh, Cid took Luso's sword out of the ground and returned it to him, "You'll want your sword in perfect condition if you want to fight anyone, Luso."
Everyone laughed as Luso embarrassedly fumbled with putting his sword back into it's sheath, even Melanee gave a small giggle at the boy's antics.
"Are you happy now Dirk?" Spat Dolroth angrily, "These women had no valuables on them at all, they put up no fight, and even pleaded mercy!"
"Shut up!" The thief marched over to Dolroth and slugged him in the face, sending him to the ground.
The aftermath of the ambush resulted in a total victory for the Yellow Wings. Although what can construe as a victory in this battle can be debated. Four unarmed women were suddenly attacked by a large wolf from inside the woods. The outcome was obvious.
"They should be lucky that they are still in the realm of the living!" Dirk kicked the one of the four unconscious vieras, "What family do they come from? We might be able to negotiate a ransom! Ha!"
"You piece of sh–" Dolroth coughed, he could feel his anger reaching the boiling point. "You can hurt me as much as you want, but don't you dare lay a hand on women!"
"Who do you think you are?" Dirk sneered, "Some sort of righteous paladin? You are a part of the Yellow Wings! You have no right to speak such honorable words!"
He laughed cruelly. Silently, Dolroth gritted his teeth in anger.
"Kupo! People sighted!" Ereio called out from his vantage point on the tree, "There's people coming up the highroad – kupo!"
"Two in one day?" The thief said gleefully, "The Goddess of Luck must be smiling down at me!"
There wouldn't exist any sort of woman that would smile on you. You coward. Dolroth cursed, Not even a Goddess...
"How many are there?" Dirk called up. The moogle stretched out further, trying to make out the distant shapes marching towards them.
"About...five! Five people – kupo!" Ereio announced.
"Five?!" Dirk could feel his glee slowly drain from him, "You better not be lying, or else I will go up there and skin you myself!"
"N–no!" The moogle shuddered, "It's not a lie – kupo! There really are five bodies coming this way! Armed too! "
"A–armed?!" The thief said in a hollow voice. From below him, Dolroth snickered. "What's so funny?!"
"Nothing!" Dolroth laughed louder, "Are you afraid? Facing actual 'produce' that can fight back?"
Angry, Dirk kicked the hunter on the ground violently. Dolroth felt himself lose consciousness for a second, before his body struck a tree. In his clouding vision, he could see the thief approach him with his dagger drawn.
"You...!" Dirk raised his dagger, ready to take the life of the one who insulted him. Suddenly, Ereio landed between the two and blocked Dirk's path.
"There's no time to fight amongst ourselves – kupo!" Ereio yelled, "The party is going to reach the foot of the highroad soon – kupo! We have to get a strategy thought out – kupo!"
The bloodlust in the thief's eyes hadn't faded yet, but he managed to compose himself. Lowering his dagger, he glared at the moogle standing in front of him. Ereio stared back fearlessly.
"Get the hostages, tie them up." He commanded, "I have a plan."
"So you're using my sword?" Lynd asked the brown haired boy walking next to him, "I'm slightly amazed that you can even lift it."
"I'm kinda surprised too." Luso unsheathed the sword and held it out in front of him, "I've been told that I'm good at sports, but I never really worked out or anything like that."
"Sports?" The bangaa queried. "Is that a form of fighting or dueling?"
"N–no, not really." Luso replied back, scratching his head, "It's more like games, really."
"Then this sports must have trained your body in some way," Lynd crossed his arms and nodded at his own statement, "You must show me what this sports is someday."
"Eh...heh." The boy could only give a weak smile in response. He couldn't imagine the large bangaa playing dodgeball or soccer with him, the thought itself was too odd to even think about.
After waiting a while, the group had reunited with their last member. Lynd was quickly introduced to the two recruits. Although he was irritated at Luso for taking his sword in the beginning, he quickly warmed up to the boy, chatting freely with him as they set forth to cross the highroad.
"We're here." Cid stopped his group. Looking around for any potential enemies, Cid unsheathed his sword. The rest of the group did the same, with Melanee and Edyal taking out their staves instead.
He took the first step onto the stone road, gesturing behind his back to tell the rest to hold their positions. Luso gripped his sword anxiously, awaiting the appearance of the thieves he had sworn to beat down. Cid took another step towards the rising highroad until...
"Step no further!" A loud voice announced from the top of the road. A hume wearing a green bandanna stepped out from behind a large stone on the road. In his right hand, he held a sharp dagger, and in his left, he held a thick rope that extended to behind the rock.
"We don't take orders from thieves." Cid replied back, taking another step to emphasize his point.
"I said, STEP NO FURTHER!" The thief yanked his left hand, pulled the rope taut. From behind the rock, four bound vieras fell in front of him. He crouched down, holding his knife above the face of one of the vieras. The poor girl tried to scream, but her mouth was gagged by a piece of fabric.
"Unless you want me to make this girl look less appealing to men, you will drop all your weapons, gil, and other valuables and return immediately!" He demanded, lowering the blade closer to the viera's eye.
"Try it then, pierce her eye out." He said firmly, "However, once that blade of yours reaches the viera's head, I will cut you down in an instant."
"Don't you fear for this girl's life?" Surprised at the man's indifference to his hostage, the thief lowered his dagger slightly.
"Oh, I do." Cid stated plainly, "But I would fear more for your life if you are going to continue moving that knife of your's closer to the girl."
"Ugh!" Facing such bravery, the thief couldn't decide what to do. In his mind, he knows that the red man was not lying when he stated that he will be cut down if he even nicks the girl's face. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Ereio hiding behind a tree. The moogle gave him a thumbs up. Dirk smiled, maybe he can get out of this situation after all.
"Alright then, you win Revgaji." Dirk stood up, holding both of his hands up in a sign of defeat. Cid was taken aback at the thief's sudden action. He lowered his sword for a fraction of a second.
"NOW!" Suddenly, Dirk took his dagger and flung it at the Revgaji. He quickly ducked backwards, behind the rock that he was hiding behind before.
"What?!" Cid hastily deflected the flying blade and began to charge towards the attacker. He only made about three steps until he was bowled over by a large mass of red. Looking up, Cid could see a long row of sharp teeth, all poised to bite into his flesh.
"Cid!" Lynd and Luso yelled out together. They saw the wolf pounce on their leader, and they quickly ran towards him to help. "Luso, I'll take care of the wolf. You go and get that thief!"
"But!"
"I can handle that wolf by myself, don't dawdle!" Lynd barked, he pointed at the vieras on the highroad, "Go and save those hostages!"
"R–right!" Luso veered off towards the direction of the highroad. Leaving Lynd to go and prise the wolf off the Revgaji.
Edyal held out her staff, allowing it to float unhindered in front of her.
"Stay back, Melanee." She said to the white mage behind her. Who quickly nodded and retreated a few steps. Edyal closed her eyes and began to concentrate. Words slowly began to form in her mind, and she recited them.
"Glistening spears that strip away the ground..."
Meanwhile, Cid had jammed his sword in between the wolf's jaws. Forbidding it from crunching down on some Revgaji steak. With his right hand, he punched the beast in the chest, trying to push it off of him, but it's claws had already sunk deeply into his clothes, anchoring the beast on top of him.
"Get off me!" He aimed another fist at the beast, but it had the same effect as the first punch. The wolf simply didn't want to let go. It swung it's head a few times, making Cid's sword fly out of it's mouth and clanging onto the ground. With it's mouth free, it began to descend upon it's prey.
"Grrrrah!" In the nick of time, Lynd grabbed the wolf by the back of it's neck and held it's head back with his great strength. "Cid, NOW!"
Taking this chance, Cid threw another punch at the wolf. This time, he aimed at the hanging jaw in front of him.
Crack!
A perfect hook, the fist impacted into the side of the beast's jaw, dislocating it. With a yelp, the wolf unhooked it's claws from Cid's clothing and leapt off. It dashed away, giving the two warriors a wide berth.
"You alright, Cid?" Lynd pulled his leader up.
"I've been better." Cid walked over to his fallen sword and picked it up. He glared at the beast, who glared back at him.
"Wolf, huh?" Lynd licked his lips, "I can't say much about the beast itself, but I hear it's meat is a delicacy in many places."
"I don't know about you, but I don't feel like eating something that has that many fangs."
"You never know, it might be delicious!" Lynd charged towards the delicacy, his sword poised to cut it into pieces.
"Huff...huff..." Luso panted. He had reached the foot of the high road. Now all that's separating him from the thief above is a flight of rough stone stairs. Gathering up his remaining energy, he began to run up, two steps at a time.
"Where do you think you're going?" A voice came from somewhere above him. Luso quickly looked up. He saw a pointy arrow aimed straight at him. There was someone standing on the tree branches, and he was staring straight down at the boy.
Instinctively, Luso raised his sword to protect himself. The person holding the bow and arrow didn't make any move to respond, but began to speak again.
"Are you planning on saving the girls? Being a hero and all that?" Dolroth said, keeping his arrow trained on the defending boy.
"Yeah!" He called back fearlessly, "I'm going to be a hero and beat up all you cowardly thieves!"
"Cowardly thieves?" The hunter laughed, "I think you mean cowardly thief."
"What?" Luso was confused, did he just insult his own teammate?
"Oh, it's nothing. It's a personal issue I have against our leader. But none of that, why don't you show me what you got?" He lowered his bow, and gestured towards the top of the road.
"You're letting me pass?"
"You could say that, you're a hero. Aren't you?" He replied, "Go and save the day, I won't stop you."
"How do I know you wont just shoot me in the back?"
"Simple." Dolroth took out a small, carrot shaped necklace from his pocket, "I'm no coward."
"Um..." Melanee was watching the black mage in front of her, "Miss Edyal...?"
"...Indefatigable blades that fall from the sky..." Edyal continued, as if she was in a trance. Melanee looked around them, there was no targets they could hit from here, even if they were to use a magick spell. So what was Edyal aiming at?
"...Strike my target, lights of heaven!" The nu mou suddenly opened her eyes and grasped the staff that was floating in front of them. Wielding it like a spear, she thrust it towards the woods powerfully, her large hat falling off in the process. The tip of the staff erupted like a cannon, bright lights flew out of the end and raged towards the forest in jagged lines.
"Eek!" Melanee looked the other way as the lighting flash nearly blinded her eyes, "Miss Edyal! What are you firing at?!"
Her answer came to her quickly as a squeaky scream erupted from inside the forest. Edyal picked up her hat and dusted it off. Melanee blinked away the spots in her vision and turned around. She could see a small moogle standing behind what was left of a tree. A large, charred hole was left in the middle of the thick tree trunk, revealing the moogle that was hiding behind it.
"An animist hm?" Edyal stared at the moogle's furry green cap, "That explains how you managed to capture a wolf and tame it."
"Kupo!!" Ereio took out a small whip and raced towards the black mage. Edyal did nothing, only staring at the incoming moogle.
"Melanee, have you heard of a saying called 'lightning never strikes twice?'"
"Um...I think Dr. Ocktor mentioned something like it before...why?"
"Don't believe it, especially if you are around a black mage."
"Huh?"
Suddenly, an aura of light emitted from the tip Edyal's staff. A small glow, not like the flash from before. Edyal took the staff and raised it up high above her head.
"Lightning!"
From above the running moogle, a small black storm cloud began to gather. Looking down, Ereio noticed that his shadow had nearly doubled in size. He stopped and looked up.
"Oh n–" A large bolt dropped down from the cloud and struck the tip of the moogle's pom pom as if it was a lightning rod. "Kupoooooooooooooooo–––!"
Comically, the small animist was lifted up into the air by the energy of the lightning and flew aside. He landed into the forest, unconscious.
"Don't worry." Edyal brought her staff back down beside her, "That wasn't enough to give you any lasting damage."
She turned back and smiled at Melanee, who had fallen onto the ground from the sudden impact of the lightning.
"Don't worry Melanee." Edyal said, extending a hand to help the white mage up, "Lightning might strike twice, but it is unlikely that it will strike thrice."
A/N: No, it wasn't a doublecast. Lightning is a two-part spell. Also, I know that Animists use musical instruments as weaponry, but if you look at the official art for a Moogle Animist, you can see clearly that they wield a whip. Well, not that it really matters, I guess.