Walking down towards the entrance, Tai wasn't happy with what he was being forced to do, but the sooner he got it done, the sooner it was over. Attached to his back was a silver bat with a custom-made green and red flame handle that protected his hand from any attacks. Stopping at the entrance, he saw the mayor and Estelle waiting for him down near the entrance. He stopped in front of them as he took a breath and sighed.
"All right, ready to go?" he asked her.
"Yes, I have my provisions and a few items," Estelle said, as Tai could see she had a very thin sword and a pink shield that looked like one that an imperial knight would have.
"Okay, good," Tai said, nodding, "I have some gels just in case. Anything we need to do before we go?"
"Yes, I want you two to please take careful note of this," the mayor said, calling both of their attention spans to him, "You two are in all honesty going to be partners while you're outside. You two need to stick together no matter what so that neither gets into trouble. I'm counting on you to be considerate of the others' well-being and do your best."
"We will, sir, and thank you so much for your hospitality you've shown me," Estelle said as she bowed and thanked.
"Will do, sir," Tai said as he nodded.
"Okay, I must head back. Goodbye, and I wish you luck," the old man said as he walked back and headed into his house.
As she turned to her partner, Estelle smiled at him with an innocent and cheerful face and said, "Well, Tai, I look forward to the journey ahead with you."
Tai raised an eyebrow and just sort of stared at her with uncertainty. The journey ahead? Aren't they just going to Zaphias? Wow, she makes it sound like they were going to travel the world in some storybook. He blinked as the awkward silence made Estelle fidget with her fingers uncomfortably and look at him with a frown.
"Did... Did I say something wrong?" she asked naively.
"No, it's just... I'm not used to knowing you yet, but I'm sure I will as we travel on," Tai said as he turned to the entrance and began walking down outside of the city.
"Me too, I can't wait to be able to learn more about you, Tai!" Estelle said cheerfully as she walked alongside him.
As the two slowly got out of the city on foot, the young man couldn't stop but feel a bit spooked. He began to tremble as he slowly looked back at Halure: from the outside. He slowly looked up into the clear blue sky and the clouds roaming free in it. He felt the cool breeze against his face and skin as his partner turned and looked at him.
"What's the matter, Tai? Are you okay?" Estelle asked, walking to his side.
"Yeah... just... a little chilly in a way," Tai said, looking at her, "I've never been outside Halure... this is what the outside feels like?"
Estelle smiled and said, "Don't worry, you'll get used to it. I once lived in Zaphias Castle for most of my life before I was able to step foot out into the world several months ago. I know how you feel, and you can trust me when I say this feeling will soon go away."
Tai blinked at that statement; she knew what it was like to be closed off too? In that case, this girl may be more of a mentor of the outside that he thought originally. He nodded as he turned to her.
"Okay, so we're headed to Zaphias, right?" he asked, "So, where do we go from here?"
He watched her point to the east of where they stood and say, "See the path that lies east of Halure? That will lead south to a place called Deidon Hold. Once we go through, we just follow the path right to the capital."
"The mayor said that you were going to visit somebody there, right?" Tai asked another question.
"Yes. He's a captain of a brigade of imperial knights, the new commandant, and a personal friend of mine. His name is Flynn Scifo," Estelle said, nodding to him.
"Well, let's go pay that visit to this Flynn character and then head on back," Tai replied and adjusted his headphones on his ears.
With that, the two began to make their way towards Deidon Hold... and the beginning of Tales of Vesperia 2: The Blastia Age Restored.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Estelle joined the party.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Skit – Sharing thing
Estelle: (neutral face) Well, Tai, since I'm going to be traveling with you, I'd like to know a bit more about you.
Tai: (looks to his right, uncaring face) Why do you need to know about me? Aren't we just going for a short travel?
Estelle: (looks down, sad) Y-Yes... but I'd like to know about you. It would help me get to know you better. (neutral face) You can even tell me anything. Like, what do you like to do, what kind of a person you are, what your favorite food is.
Tai: Um... Okay... Well... (Looks up into the upper right, a slight blush on his face) I... like music. And um... I love to sit and watch the clouds... My favorite... (looks down to his lower right, sweatdrop, looks uncomfortable) food... (grumpy face, eyes closed) Okay, Estelle, I'm sorry, (Estelle looks surprised) but I'm not really into this sharing thing.
Estelle: (angry/perseverant face) But you won't be able to be social and make friends if you don't tell me about yourself!
Tai: (head moves down, the shadows covers his eyes, his mouth covered by his hoodie) …
Estelle: (looks surprised) Tai?
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Skit – So, you're one of them...
Tai: (neutral face) Hey, Estelle, weren't you one of the nine who defeated the Adephagos a few months ago?
Estelle: (neutral face) Yes. I helped a guild called Brave Vesperia defeat the Adephagos and save our world from its terrible demise.
Tai: (tilts head to his right, unimpressed face) So, am I to assume you also were the same nine who put an end to the blastia culture and destroyed them for good?
Estelle: (looks down, sad) Y-Yes... unfortunately, that was the cost of defeating it with the help of the spirits. (Tai looks to his right, uncaring face) ...Are you... mad at me for being apart of that?
Tai: (neutral face) What? No, no, I don't hate you or anything. It's just... (closes eyes) life's been harder for everybody since the blastia have stopped working, especially me here in Halure. We've had to double up on defenses; both men and structure. Work has been tripled. And it's hard just to be able to go outside of cities and towns, that's all.
Estelle: Oh... I see...
Tai: (opens eyes) Hey, don't let me get to you. Come on, let's keep moving.(portrait starts to move off screen)
Estelle: … I can tell by his voice and body language he's upset at us. I hope I can make it up to him.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Skit – Tai's weapon
Estelle: (curious face) Hey, Tai, what is that thing attached to your back?
Tai: (neutral face) Oh this? This is my weapon. It's called a bat. Why, you interested in it?
Estelle: Yes, it looks very unique. But it's the same size as a sword, yet it's not sharp at all to cut monsters. Why don't you use that kind of weapon instead?
Tai: (grumpy face) Are you kidding? (Estelle looks surprised) Way too many people use swords; it becomes too predictable on what movements they'll do and how they attack. (neutral face) I like using this cause not a lot of people are used to fighting with a bat. It takes a lot of strength to maintain the momentum in swinging it. Besides, I don't like really killing things if I don't have too. Plus, I don't just fight with my weapons.
Estelle: (overjoyed face) You mean you can use your arms and legs to fight?
Tai: (shoulders perk up, head raises up with shocked face, raised eyebrow) Uh... yeah, if I have to.
Estelle: That is wonderful! You must be very skilled in fighting. I can't wait to see what kind of moves and attacks you can do!
Tai: G-Gee... thanks...?
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
As they made their way towards the hold, Tai couldn't help but feel a bit of a loner when they silently walked down the path. Not only was he going to a place where a ton of people resided, but with somebody he didn't know and in a place he knew nothing off. It sucked to him that he was put under unsatisfactory conditions without notice earlier; since he is a need-to-know person who needs all the facts up front, he walked uncomfortably. But even keeping it to himself seemed to not slip by Estelle's notice.
"Tai, is something wrong?" She asked, stopping in her tracks.
"Huh? Oh, no, nothing," he said as he looked around, "I'm... really not looking forward to going to the capital."
"Because you haven't been out of Halure, right?" she asked.
"Well, that, but... in reality?" Tai said, in a rather soft yet truthfully tone as he adjusted his headphones in his hoodie, "I don't like being around large groups of people. They're so noisy and rude. That doesn't mean I won't be friends with you, but I just can't stand tons of people near me or in my face."
Estelle sort of blinked with a concerned face. It seems that some reason caused this attitude was pretty severe in Tai's life, but to try cross that now would be rude. She slowly looked away for a second as she tried to think of something to say, but Tai beat her to it.
"Look, we can talk about this later," he said as he pointed to the hold, "Let's just keep going to the hold. We can figure out what we need to do from there on."
"! AHH!" Estelle shrieked, looking behind him.
Suddenly, turning around, he saw that a bird monster had gotten behind him and was about to peck at him before he could turn around. But in that intense second, suddenly the top of the glove he wore glowed green. Estelle catching it for a second, she suddenly noticed a pool of this dark and liquid-type green and black matter immediately swelled up underneath the monster. It suddenly killed it by impaling it with a spike form of the same material. Soon, Tai turned to look at the incoming monsters.
"Wh-What was that weird energy?" Estelle asked, shocked.
"Forget that, we got monsters!" Tai said, apparently calling attention to the monsters coming.
Soon, there were a few birds and a wildebeest type monster come at them. They were charging down towards them as the young teenagers pulled their weapons out. Estelle pulled her saber out and faced the monsters with her shield behind her. She noticed that Tai's stance was him holding as if the bat were a blade, but leaning his body to the right and keeping the blade close to his body (A/N: If you're having trouble picturing it, imagine him in Sora's Kingdom Hearts 1 battle stance).
"I hope you still got your skills and artes for this!" Tai said loudly.
"I'll do my best!" Estelle nodded as Tai began to rush at the birds.
Quickly, he swung the bat hard into the first bird to come at him with his right arm. Killing it instantly, he turned and swung his right foot into another bird, momentarily stunning it. After the kick, he jumped into the air and brought the bat down hard onto the bird, killing it with a smash on the head. But before he could turn around, another bird came at him from his side. Before he could react he heard Estelle yell something.
"O evil soul, fall before this pure light! Grand Chariot!"
In an instant, seven bright dots of light came out and formed a star formation of a chariot. All exploded, killing the bird that was coming for Tai. The young man blinked in surprise; wow, those stories of this girl knowing powerful magic was incredible. He nodded with a slight smirk as she smiled back. Surprisingly, she immediately turned and blocked an incoming attack from the last bird monster there. She was firm when her shield stopped the attack by holding her shield without hesitation.
"No!" She yelled as she swung at it like a fencer, cutting it several times.
It was quite amazing to see a princess have such grace and amazing strength with a sword as she ended up taking it out fairly quickly with a few more strikes. Maybe he wasn't completely right about her being able to handle herself; she did have a few areas she needed to work on. But at least, he didn't have to worry about protecting her all the time. But speaking about protecting, he wasn't ready for the huge wildebeest coming at him. It barely rammed him, but ended up catching his leg a bit and cutting it open. Tai grunted in surprise as he was nearly knocked off his feet.
"AHH! TAI!" he heard Estelle yell in concern as she suddenly readied another magic spell.
To buy her time, he quickly rushed at the wildebeest and struck it in its right side. Quickly coming in front of it, he let go of his bat and flung a right fist into the monsters face, followed by an opposite swing from his other arm. Spinning 360 degrees, he smashed his foot into its fact and then as he began to turn again during a spin, he grabbed his bat and smashed it into its face. Seeing Estelle was done charging, he took a huge jump and back-flipped away. Before the wildebeest could regain its composure, she was ready.
"O divine spear, run my enemy through! Holy Lance!"
Suddenly, huge spears of light came on top of the wildebeest, impaling it and then exploded with a flash, erasing its existence. With that, the battle was over and both were generally okay. Estelle put away her weapons and hurried over to him. She began seeing the blood from his leg drip onto the ground as he stood up and puts his bat back onto his back.
"Are you okay? You did pretty good with the fight," Tai said, slightly hiding the pain from his facial expressions.
"You're bleeding!" Estelle said horrified, "Hold still! I can heal this!"
A bit annoyed that she completely ignored him, he said, "Look, I'm fine. I've dealt with worse injuries. This is just a little cut."
Ignoring him again, she bent down and held an arm towards the bleeding leg. Suddenly, a greenish-white energy swirled from her body and to his leg. With a weird magical charm, his leg was completely healed. Tai jerked back in response as he literally bent down on one knee and glared at the healed leg.
"Wh-What the!?" he said amazed.
"I have the ability to heal others and cure them of ailments," Estelle said happily.
"I see... no wonder you were one of the nine; they must've depended on you a lot," Tai said as he stood up.
"Hey, Tai, did you see that weird green energy that protected you from that first monster that attacked you?" she asked, wondering if he knew.
Secretly, the young man shivered with the thought that she actually was intrigued by what that was. By his body language and silence for a few moments, he knew what it was, but seemed as if he didn't want to talk about it. He shrugged, saying he didn't know, and answered Estelle's question.
"Don't know; I honestly didn't get a clear view to see it," Tai said, looking away unimpressed.
"Well, I wonder what it was; it was so eerie-feeling and sudden that it came out of nowhere," she said, slowly holding her hand close to her chest.
"Well, it's gone now. Come on," Tai said, signaling for her to join him in hurrying to the hold, "Let's get over there before we're attacked by more monsters."
"Right," Estelle said, as she began walking to Deidon Hold with him.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Skit – ...Creepy...
Estelle: (looks down, sad) What was that? That weird pool of energy?
Tai: (neutral face) What, you're still on about that thing you saw?
Estelle: (pained expression) It was so creepy... it looked like...(Tai looks to his right, uncaring face) it was alive or something. (looks down, sad) I hope I never see it again...
Tai: Look, I don't what it is exactly you're talking about, but it helped me out, right?
Estelle: (looks surprised) Well, yes, it did.
Tai: (neutral face) Then, should we just say it helped and leave it at that?
Estelle: (neutral face) I suppose so.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Skit – That was nothing?!
Tai: (neutral face) That healing power you used really helped me, Estelle. My leg feels a lot better now.
Estelle: (neutral face) I was so worried. (looks down, sad) When I saw your leg was bleeding badly, I had to tend to it right away. It hurts me to see people in pain.
Tai: (looks to his right, uncaring face, eyes closed) Ahh, this was just a cut; it was nothing. (Estelle looks surprised) I've had much worse injuries in the past before.
Estelle: (head turned to the right, scared face) Wh-What? You suffered a deep puncture injury from that monster that cut open your leg badly! How could you have had a wound that was worse than that?
Tai: (looks straight up, carefree face) Well... if I recall... (neutral face, eyes closed) I've had a few bones broken, a concussion from last year... oh! (looks straight up, carefree face) There was this one time a monster nearly tore off my leg... and then-
Estelle: (eyes clamped shut, screaming face with blush) O-Okay, stop! (head turned to the right, scared face) (Tai looks with neutral face) I don't think I want to hear about any of the horrible incident you've gone through.
Tai: (looks down to his lower right, sweatdrop, looks uncomfortable) On second thought, I need to keep my mouth closed about that... Sorry, Estelle...
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Skit – You got skills
Tai: (interested face) You know, for a princess, you got some game. Magic artes, healing artes, and sword and shield skills to boot. You don't fit the stereotype of "helpless princess", that's for sure.
Estelle: (neutral face) Hehehe, thank you, Tai. I learned from a strict sword-master who is in the imperial knights from a very early age, and my magic and healing abilities were just second-nature to me.
Tai: And the fact you traveled with that Brave Vesperia gang must've really helped you along the way. (neutral face) You got quite some power in you, Estelle.
Estelle: How about you? Did you learn to fight with somebody in Halure?
Tai: (sly face, smirk) Um, Estelle, that's really quite a theory you got there. When you think of Halure, you don't exactly go in there looking for strong fighter potential. (neutral face, smiles) I trained myself. Hours upon days upon years, I honed my skills and body to be able to fight.
Estelle: So, those strikes with your arms and legs and the skill with the bat?
Tai: All mine.
Estelle: (overjoyed face) That's wonderful! You are such an amazing fighter! I can't wait to see what kind of artes you can do!
Tai: (shoulders perk up, head raises up with shocked face, raised eyebrow) Oh... um, cool. (portrait moves to the left, showing he's speaking to himself, head moves down, the shadows covers his eyes, his mouth covered by his hoodie) I can't let her see my artes... if she does...
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
The second chapter is up. Please let me know how exactly I'm doing. I wanna be able to catch the characters perfectly and stuff like that. Anyways, how are all of you liking Tai? Is he a good character so far? ^^ Bye!