Skit – Reassurance
Tai: (closed eyes, grumpy face) …..
Raven: (head tilts to the right, eyes shorten, curious face) Huh? What's a matter, Tai? Yer lookin' really down and upset.
Tai: (neutal face, opens eyes) O-oh, sorry, old man, it's nothing...
Raven: (closes eyes) Now callin' me of all people an old man? Somethin' must be up.
Tai: Heh heh... I guess you caught me, Raven. Sorry about calling you old... (closes eyes) It's just... let's just say I had a bad night's sleep and woke up on the wrong side of the bed...
Raven: (neutral face, opens eyes) Don't think ya can be foolin' ol' Raven with a bad trick like that, Tai. …Ahh, well, I won't go steppin' on yer toes about it. Just be more cheerful about it, 'kay?
Tai: (eyes open) The problem I have right now is kind of hard to be cheerful during it...
Raven: (closes eyes) Trust ol' Raven on this: ya might be criticized a bit by the likes of Rita and Yuri, but a happy disposition can make ya feel much better during yer life. (head tilts to the right, smiling, opens eyes) Frankly, it's got me this far in life, and I know it'll do good for you too.
Tai: (smiles) All right, I'll try it. Thanks, Raven.
Raven: Hehehe. Anytime, kiddo.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
About the time Raven had finally cheered Tai up, both had gotten some food to eat then and some later, and thus made their way towards the Fierta. It wasn't long before they spotted the group soon docking onto the boat and waiting for them. Immediately, some people in the group saw the two coming.
"Speaking of the old man, there he is," Yuri said, pointing to them coming.
"Where did you two go? We've been waiting for you two to come so we could leave to Tolbyccia," Estelle kindly asked about their whereabouts.
"Hey, we had a good seven minutes left, didn't we?" Raven asked, looking at the teen to his side.
"Are you honestly going to argue about how much time you had like children?" Rita asked, groaning at the old man's childishness.
"Heh… yer really lecturin' me about being a child; what irony. Ya sound like an old adult, Rita…" Raven smirked, saying it softly, but loud enough that only Tai could hear it.
It caused a smirk to form on the teen's face and made him completely forget about what had happened earlier. Rita glared at both with a suspicious, evil intent(ish) look as she analyzed their faces. Luckily, for the two men, Flynn had come over with a positive atmosphere.
"All right, everyone; the Fierta is just about ready to set sail," he said, showing with his hand the gangplank to the ship.
The group followed on board as they witnessed Patty near the steering wheel, grinning from ear to ear in excitement of adventure. Yuri and Clay were near the mast of the ship talking, Akihiro was excitedly exploring all around it, while Repede stayed right smack dab in the middle, near the door that led to the inside, with a face expression that screamed nervousness, even with the calm collectedness of the dog. The rest of the party got on and the gangplank was raised. Before Patty raised the anchors off, the group all got remotely together and readied their journey via the ocean.
"All right, we make way to Torim Habor," Flynn said as the leader, "From there, we will make way to Dhangrest through Heliord. Clay?"
He turned to the Dark Enforcer and asked, "I'm guessing you will part from us at the harbor?"
"Yes. The person whom I need to meet with is waiting at the harbor, so I will part ways when we arrive," Clay answered with a nod added.
"All right, then. Everyone got everything they need? We're not turning this boat around, so you better make sure we all have it all together," Yuri reminded for the last time.
"I've got all my stuff!" Akihiro called from the other side of the boat.
Everyone seemed to agree with him as they all nodded together in agreement as if the boy took the words right out of their mouths.
"Okay, then, I guess it's now off to Torim Harbor then," Flynn decided, and gave the signal to Patty.
The little pirate girl giggled as she brought up the anchor and started the ship up. She grinned as she fixed her hat and then took a hold of the steering wheel.
"All righty! The Fierta is heading out now!" she said happily.
With that, the ship began to leave the docks. Slowly but surely, it left any possible way by foot and ventured further away. The group then faced the direction the ship headed and watched as they journeyed on the waves.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"A-Are you sure this is a smart thing to do…?"
"Don't tell me you're getting cold feet already; we haven't even got into the heart of the forest!"
It was inside of Keiv Moc, a dark, eerie forest that could creep out even the bravest of warriors. The group was of five rugged men, all carrying swords or axes. Walking into it, they obliterated any monster that got in their way, but that wasn't the target of their search. They consistently watched their surroundings until some of them spoke.
"Look, I have a damn good reason to be creeped out! A half man, half monster that's strong enough to kick the crap out of over 20 different guilds? We're not talking about a regular monster here!" the first one snapped.
"Shhh, keep it down. We don't want it charging at us; even though we're ready, we should aim for a surprise attack," the third, obviously the leader, corrected.
"So, boss, what exactly are we supposed to be looking for?" the fourth one asked.
"It doesn't really matter; just keep your eyes and ears open for anything that could be our target," the leader warned.
It wasn't long after the leader said that when the fifth member, who was covering the rear, suddenly heard a rustle from the bushes behind them. Without uttering a word, he quickly checked it out, slowly gripping his weapon tighter. Out of nowhere, he was grabbed by the front of his shirt. A yell came forth from his lungs as he was flung out of view.
"Wh-What the hell was that!?" the first member said, scared as they all turned to see their teammate missing.
"Where did he go?" the fourth member yelled, worried.
"Calm down! We'll find him; we need to remain close together," the leader tried to keep control over his guild.
Suddenly, a rustle was heard again, and a huge form rushed at them. Before any of them could react at all, the figure grabbed the second man and smashed him head first into the ground, not killing him, but definitely hurting him badly and knocking him out. The man's body went limp and laid near the group. The fourth man grunted as he grabbed his knife and rushed the unknown being. He tried to thrust his sharp blade into it, but a huge human hand came from the being and grabbed his wrist tightly. He pulled the man forward and something hammered into his stomach. All he could do was crumple down and fall unconscious.
The first one freaked and tried to run, "That's it! I'm bailing!"
But before the leader could yell at him to stay, the coward found himself at the receiving end of a huge lariat, placed next to the unconscious fifth member who was brought back from whatever was attacking them. The leader being the last one left, he held his sword tightly and looked up at the huge being that was demolishing them. It was a giant muscular man with brown skin; his body build was beefy with a bit of a gut. All he wore was some trunks made from monster skin and leaves. The startling thing about this strange giant was there was a tail of a wolf swishing behind him and his head… was the head of a wolf. It was pure black fur, and his eyes glowed yellow as they narrowed at him.
"You… What are you!?" the man yelled as a magic spell casted underneath him and he shot a huge Spiral Flare at him.
The target simply dodged from the side, deflecting the magic circle as he moved in to attack the stunned leader…
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
"Ahh, man, this is so cool!" Akihiro yelled loudly as the cool ocean wind blew in his hair.
The group had gotten a far distance away from Nor Harbor and now were surrounded by nothing other than clear, blue, and salty H2O. Patty had done a good job sailing the boat for a fourteen-year-old girl. It was very peaceful and relaxing, but a brand new experience for two of the group.
"Ahh, is this your first time being on a boat, sailing across the ocean, Akio?" Yuri asked.
"Hmph…" Akihiro signaled about the nickname, then continued with a smile, "Yeah, this is. I've only been really in the Ehmead Hill, Capua Nor area; I've gotten to see the ocean, but never travel across it before."
"And it would also mean that Tai would be having his first time too," Estelle added with a smile, looking over at the boy who was looking out onto the sea.
"Yeah, it is rather peaceful… well, for some of us it is," Rita said, looking down at a certain dog.
"Huh? What's the matter with Repede?" Akihiro asked.
The poor dog looked nervous as he tried to stay near the door of the boat that led to the cabins, and not to look where he could see the ocean. Even an almost silent whimper came from him.
"Oh, he just has a small fear of water. That's all," Yuri said, shrugging off the question.
"Small fear? Yeah right. No one as collected and poised acting like Repede acts that way over a 'small fear'," Rita said, folding her arms and looking at him.
Flynn walked over to Repede and bent down on one knee. He gently brushed a hand over Repede's head. It calmed the dog down significantly as he closed his only good eye. The commandant smiled and stayed with him.
"Don't worry, Repede; we'll get there soon. Be brave, okay?"
Once awarded with a bark, the group talked a bit before they all split up. Clay decided not to be a bother to anyone, and thus went inside the cabins, staying there. Once they did, Estelle decided to go talk with Tai; she hadn't for a while now. As she came closer, he noticed her and nodded to her, saying she could come over. It wasn't long before the old man joined them.
"How are you guys doing?" Tai asked.
"I'm very fine, thank you," Estelle said, her usual perky self kicking in and smiling at him.
Raven made a joking-sad face, and let his head drop, "Ya two are the only ones I can talk to. The others treat me like an idiot or just plain ignore ol' Raven…"
"Well, you came to the right people, Raven," the teen replied, "This is pretty exciting."
"I know; it was incredible to be able to travel a boat freely," Estelle said, closing her eyes, but kept speaking, "So, Tai, it's been a while since you and I talked."
"Yeah; come ta think of it, ya two have been occupied for so long, I don't recall ya talkin' to each other ever since I first met Tai," Raven agreed with his classic smile.
"Indeed, it has… it's just, it's uneasy to have to deal with these events that threaten the peace of our world again," Estelle said, looking down and holding her hands close to her chest.
"Really, yer highness? I would've thought that fightin' the Adephagos thingy strengthened yer resolve of takin' on huge challenges," Raven asked, picking at his ear.
"Well, that may be true for some people, Raven," she said turning and looking away near Tai, "But it's hard for me to get used to it."
"Ahh, well, don't let yerself get down in the dumps, Estelle," the old man grinned, "Ya'll figure it out. Ol' Raven's sure of it. Right, Tai?"
"Yeah; it's different for a lot of people, I suppose," Tai agreed and nodded his head, unknown to the knight who watched him and the other two converse.
As the three talked, Flynn couldn't help but watch them politely on the other side of the ship. He kept listening in. It was around that time Yuri and Rita came over to him and noticed him looking. While Patty steered the ship, Repede staying near the door, and Akihiro adventuring upon the deck, they decided to talk a bit.
"What are you doing, Flynn?" Yuri asked, raising an eyebrow.
Flynn looked at him briefly, then back at the trio far away, "Oh, just taking the opportunity to watch them, especially Tai. I've never seen him act like that."
Yuri placed a hand on his hip, agreeing, "It's so awkward. He doesn't act like this; he only does with Raven and sometimes with Estelle."
"Well, despite that, I don't think he's an evil person," Flynn responded to that.
Rita's irritation showed as she glared at him, "I don't care if he's a good person or a bad person; I'm being on my guard around him."
"Is this about the glove again…?" Yuri sighed of annoyance.
"Shut up!" Rita scolded him, "A person with that much power at their disposal shouldn't be taken lightly, or allow to go wherever the heck they want to go! It's too dangerous!"
"But wouldn't that mean we'd be forced to be watched all the time, considering our power?" Yuri asked smirking, causing the mage to realize that was a good point.
"Urrgh… but we're different! We use our power for good and we saved the world, but that guy… he's so mysterious and suspicious; he never tells us anything, and to make it worse, the only person he completely talks to openly is the old man," Rita argued, making a good rebuttle.
"Rita… do you honestly think Tai is a bad person?" Flynn asked, honestly surprised at her feelings towards the teen.
"Like I said before, I don't care if he was good or bad to begin with; if Duke of all people says he could be a potential threat, then I think so too," Rita nodded as she closed her eyes.
"Wait, you guys ran into Duke?" Yuri asked, surprised.
Flynn turned to him and nodded, "Yes, back at Ehmead Hill. We introduced him to Tai, and he seemed to hint at knowing something about his glove."
This sentence made Yuri think and look over at the teen. His back was turned and his hood was covering his head, but he kept speaking with Estelle and Raven. But this new news about Duke concerned about Tai made him a bit more cautious about him now. If the great war hero, the same guy who controlled Dein Nomos, had knowledge about Tai… could that mean this teenager was a threat…?
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Hey, guys, I am SOOOOOO Sorry it's taken this long for a chapter. I recently got back into college, so that comes first! I hope you like the story so far and keep reading! 8D