The next day, Arleos and I stocked up on supplies, barely speaking. We had just finished stocking up our food when he finally broke the silence.
"So you're from Sylvarant, huh?" Arleos spoke quietly.
"What of it?" I shot back just as quiet.
"What are you in Tethe'alla for?" He asked.
"I'm looking for something important."
"And that thing would be?" He prodded further.
"The items to make a rune crest." I sighed. "I've been looking for a couple of years now and all of my efforts have yielded nothing. I was thinking of returning to Sylvarant for a time but, then when Ozette was destroyed I didn't have the time to think about it."
"Back to Sylvarant?" Arleos stopped walking. "You have a way to go back?"
"Well yeah. Did you think that I would have come to Tethe'alla without a way to go home? Don't be absurd." I scoffed. "Are you coming back with me or not?"
"Of course." Arleos smiled and continued walking. "Let's get going."
We finished buying supplies, getting curious glances from the shopkeepers as we loaded our bags. I even bought Arleos some clothes of his own that would fit him better than mine. After that we left Meltokio, mounted up on Diablo and Andi, and headed towards an island everyone avoided.
!
The next morning, I killed the fire while Arleos packed up the supplies, before we mounted up and headed out. About midday, we arrived at the shore line, our destination in the distant waters. I slid off Diablo, setting my bags down before walking up to the water with my flute. The gentle waves lapped at my boots as I raised the mouthpiece to my lips, and I began to play using the rhythm of the waves as my tempo. The music ebbed and flowed much like the ocean's surface and was gentle like the caress of water's touch. I was so lost in the music, that I barely noticed a giant tortoise surface from the water and wait for the song to end.
"You wish to go to the Otherworldly Gate?" It asked in a deep, slow voice.
"Yes." I answered solemnly.
"You wish for the beasts and elf to accompany you?" It questioned again.
"Yes." I nodded once.
"Very well," The tortoise lowered its body onto the sand and made a ramp with its tail. "Please climb onto my shell."
I turned and waved the others forward as Diablo and Andi grabbed my packs, coming immediately to me, while Arleos lagged behind, clearly wary of the massive creature. Sighing, I ran back to him, grabbed his wrist and dragged him forward onto the tortoise's back. Once on, the tortoise swam off and swiftly carried us toward the island. It didn't take very long and once we had all disembarked, the tortoise returned to the depths of the ocean. Arleos and I trekked across the island on foot, giving Diablo and Andi a chance to rest, and after a few hours we came to a large open field with three large rocks in the center of it. I sighed and headed over to the rocks. As we got closer to the stones, the engravings upon them became clearer. I heard Arleos gasp at their size but kept walking and set my bags down near the rocks.
"It's a full moon tonight so we'll be in Sylvarant by tomorrow. We'll stay here till then." I sat down with a huff. "Relax. Monsters haven't been on this island for a long time. Can't you feel how light the air is here?
"True, the atmosphere is better here." Arleos dropped his packs with mine and sat next to me. "It's a lot like Heimdall here. So peaceful."
Arleos removed his hat, and the headband, and settled into the shade of the closest stone. I rummaged through one of my bags, pulling out a canteen, and drank heavily before handing it to Arleos, who took it gratefully. We sat in the peace of the field for a time before I began to get antsy. Never the one to sit still for long, I ran over to Diablo and Andi and began playing with them. Arleos stayed in the shade as the three of us rough housed the two of them against me. Both of them were snarling furiously and snapping their jaws, careful to miss me, as I jumped and flipped like an acrobat, avoiding their jaws and using their backs as springboards, always moving.
The three of us kept going for hours until the sun was just starting to cast long shadows on the field. When we finally stopped, Diablo and Andi were panting hard and I was covered in sweat, so we walked to the small creek that ran alongside the clearing. I peeled off a few layers and rinsed them in the icily waters as the other two drank greedily. Once they were done, I dunked my head in the water and let the gentle current rinse the sweat and dirt from my face and hair. My long auburn locks were dripping down my back as I made my way back to Arleos, who had built a pleasant fire by the rocks.
I laid my clothes down in the heat of the flames to dry them and dug through my pack for the clothes that I had once lent to Arleos. I turned to head toward another of the stones, so that I could change, when I noticed that Arleos was taking extreme care not to look at me for too long, avoiding my wet clothed body. As I pulled on the tunic and jerkin, I noticed that they still held the faint scent of Arleos from the short time that he had worn them. I blushed slightly and breathed deep deciding to wash my clothes more often. I returned to the fire, laying out the rest of my clothes before eating some of the food Arleos had made. Again, we sat in silence for a time before I got up to collect more wood for the fire.
I was alone in the forest, enveloped in the quiet, when an odd whirring noise came to my ears. Looking in the sky just above the trees, there was an oddly familiar machine. It landed nearby and I sprinted through the trees to see what it was. However, upon reaching the clearing, I froze. Raine Sage was dismounting the strange contraption. I crept closer to her as she pulled out a wing pack and stored the machine. I walked closer still to her and spoke.
"What are you doing here?" I asked grabbing her from behind. She struggled for a bit before realizing she couldn't break my hold.
"I came to see if the rumors about the Otherworldly gate were true." I let her go and she spun to see who had grabbed her but froze when she recognized me.
"Figures that you would come here. As soon as you hear word of a ruin, there's no stopping you." I turned and began walking back into the darkness of the forest.
"Wait! Do you know where the gate is?" Raine asked running in front of me, cutting off my path.
I sighed. "Follow me." I coldly passed by her continuing on with her following like a lap dog. As I made my way back to camp, I did not collect the firewood I had set out for, but instead kept a keen eye on the moon as it climbed in the sky. Raine followed me to the clearing and froze when she saw the three rocks. I left her there and hurried over to Arleos, who had taken to sharing Andi's warmth. When they saw me coming, Diablo raised his head off of his paws and Andi gently wagged her long sleek tail.
"We need to start packing up." I explained to Arleos. "When the moon is directly over head, the gate will open. We need to be ready for it and any unwelcome persons that join us." I pointed over my shoulder at Raine, who was just beginning to walk further into the clearing.
I packed up my clothes from the ground, as Arleos killed the fire. I situated Eclipse on my belt and slung my packs up on my shoulders as Arleos donned his headband, hat, and his bags. Andi and Diablo stood and shook out their coats as the moon was almost overhead. Then, seven more people entered the clearing, and Arleos and I hid behind the rocks as Raine approached to at least give them the slightest bit of privacy.
As we waited, I could hear Lloyd speaking, and I shifted my weight, waiting. Suddenly, I noticed that there was the soft clink of armor all around us. I turned to Arleos and saw that he had heard the same thing that I had. Placing a hand on Eclipse's woven handle, I gave a nod to Arleos who nodded back, his hand going to his weapon as well. Arleos and I dropped our packs silently to the dirt waiting for the right moment to strike.
The moon was almost ready.
Okay so I have been looking over the last few chapters and this one particularly sucked to me because of the overload of useless stuff, so I went back and changed a few things a.k.a deleted a few things.
As always, have fun reading and please leave a review!