/Author's Note
Well, here it is. Chapter 3 :3
Hope you all enjoy this and I shall see you in the next chapter.
-Takes off hat and bows
/
"Fast little bugger aren't 'cha?" Sollette's voice rung through the valley, along with her laughter at their little game.
Cosmo smirked and put on another burst of speed, finally catching up to the Yun. "You are gonna have to be faster than this if you hope to even think of out running me" Adding his own laughter to the mix before matching his pace to Sollette's. At their current rate, they would reach the tower entrance just before nightfall. From what he learned, the tower was never safe, as it was simply too high to keep beasts and foul creatures from it, whatever Fal'Cie designed it and for what purpose has been lost to the ages, but it has proven an effective means of travelling to Oerba thanks to the Atomos style vehicles on the different floors.
"So, tell me some more about that weapon of yours. You said it was made by your clan right?" Sollette asked while keeping her eyes forward while running. It was never a good thing to become distracted when running, even at slow paces. The ground and beasts in the valley could soon catch you off guard.
"Yeah, I don't know much about the smithing techniques myself, since I was not involved in the process. However, I do know that it is imbued with Adamantite and the chanting that went on through the forging..." Cosmo had trouble wording the sentence, frowning he gave the simplest explanation he could come up with "It made both the steel and Adamantite come alive. So to speak. The weapon is linked directly to me and either, when the need arises or I show the will, it will take on a new form. These are linked directly to me and right now, I have no friggin' idea how to use anything but this." Cosmo raised the gauntlet for emphasis. "Enough about this anyway, what about your weapon? I've not seen many Halberd uses around before, and that weapon looks like it has seen its' fair share of fights."
Sollette glanced at the weapon in her hands momentarily "This belonged to my family line directly. It was passed through the family to the most formidable or the next generation if there was only one. It's called Ameno Nuboko. The weapon itself was forged in a part of Gran Pulse far to the east. How it got here and how it ended up with my family is any bodies guess, but it has served us well. It is said to have strong ties to the earth and as such it's power. The wielder and the weapon are linked, so long as the wielder lives, so too does the weapon. It can be damaged and repaired, but it will never break or become unusable. It is as sturdy as a mountain." Pride was clearly evident in Sollette's voice throughout this explanation.
A weapon from a far away land, and one forged with ancient techniques...Coincidence, I think not Went through Cosmo's mind as he listened. If the Nsu clan knew of this, they would call it fate. However, I like to keep charge of my fate thank you very much. This is just luck. I'll be damned if fate brought us together at this point. Cosmo zoned out for a little while, thoughts travelling thick and fast that his mind let the body do the running. His eye's obtained a rather faraway look while he was running.
Sollette noticed this and decided it was best to let him think, she can taunt and tease him later. For now, covering ground is the main concern. They had made some progress and were lucky enough not to be attacked, but there was still a long way to go to the tower entrance. Keeping her breathing steady and her mind focused she lead the two of them along.
The sun was slowly setting on the horizon, the tower was now covered in a soft orange glow and looked strangely magical. However, for both Cosmo and Sollette, things were not so magical. They managed to find a decent place to bunker in for the night, however said place was home to a handful of goblin's. Both Cosmo and Sollette were quite fatigued from the running and their legs were now aching beyond all else.
Just five seconds ago we were happy that we found a place to camp for the night...And it just had to be the only place with goblins. Just great... Cosmo thought to himself, frowning slightly while fending off one of the goblin's punches. Sollette, however, seemed to be having the time of her life. She had already smashed, slashed and pretty much butchered one of the goblins and was dealing with the other that was trying to attack her. How can someone be so joyous in battle thought Cosmo, while he was starting on the offensive on the goblins attacking him, keeping one at bay while keeping the other off balance and prone to attacks. The gauntlet providing a nice shield against some of their hits, even if it did feel as though his arm was going to break from some of the hits. How can she just laugh while taking on some monsters... Cosmo was utterly confused with her behaviour, a well placed goblin punch to his gut however, brought him back to his senses. Regaining his balance and trying to ignore the pounding sensation from his lower abdomen, Cosmo cleared his mind and focused on the goblin that delivered the punch. He was slowly developing a new fighting style while he was attuning to the gauntlet as such. Using his left arm completely for balance and manoeuvring and leaving the right to attack and defend, it gave him a lot more flexibility in the fight and allowed him to be more creative with his attacks. Incorporating a few kicks as well seemed to be effective as a distraction between moves.
A little distance away, Sollette was keeping an eye on Cosmo's fighting style as it slowly started taking shape in the battle. It looked to still be very basic, but the guy was learning, so she decided to cut him some slack on that matter. The goblin that was attacking her seemed to be staying just out of reach and trying to attack after Sollette swung her halberd, thinking it could get her while the sharp and pointy end was away from it. It was wrong, it seems that the staff of the halberd was an effective close quarters weapon in the right hands. Sollette was switching between swinging the blade end, very accurately mind you, and using the staff and bottom to counter attack. While Cosmo was fluid and constantly moving, she was sturdy and prepared. Some of her strikes were deliberately slow, as if taunting the goblin to come closer and get pounded by the butt or staff of the halberd. The goblin fell to the taunts and went full speed towards Sollette, arms flailing in a comical manner, as if it was going to windmill her to death. Sollette smirked They sure are stupid she thought, before crouching down and spinning herself and her halberd a complete 360, the force from the strike cleaved the goblin in two, leaving the two...okay scratch that, one goblin attacking Cosmo. He managed to land a pretty hefty hit straight on the top of the goblin, crushing the metal plate and whatever small brain the goblin had underneath it. As soon as that goblin fell, the last one backed away slightly. The thought of two very deadly opponents and the lack of others to aid it drove the goblin slowly backwards. Both Sollette and Cosmo advanced on the remaining goblin, both readying an attack to finish this matter so they could set up camp. The goblin however, did not want to give up easy. Before Cosmo or Sollette could interrupt it, it summoned any energy it had left and morphed itself into a Goblin Chieftain. The Chieftain stood higher than both Cosmo and Sollette, and it's spikes meant it would be a much more dangerous fight.
"Great...Even more and larger spikes on a goblin, just what we need right now..." Cosmo said, frowning at the new form the goblin took.
"Heh, think of it this way, the bigger they are the harder they fall" Sollette replied while smirking, twisting her grip on her lance and bringing it horizontal in front of her body.
Cosmo simply rolled his eyes and changed his stance, shifting to the tips of his feet and keeping his right arm slightly in front. "We have to end this fast, I get the feeling this thing can make enough of a ruckus to bring more goblins or who knows what to us"
"Easy enough done, it's legs are a weak point, I'll aim for them if you think you can score a decent hit on the things face." Sollette stated while charging towards the chieftain, keeping her strikes low and fast to try and put the goblin off balance.
Wait for the right moment, one strike will be enough. Cosmo thought, keeping his eyes on Sollette and the Goblin. She was doing a pretty good job trying to throw the chieftain off balance, it was trying to protect itself more than attack her. If I can just think of a way to get enough height... The thought of how he defeated the Mánagarmr, the height, the twist and the force it produced. Repeating this might do enough damage to take this chieftain out of commission but how was he going to get the height... Watching how Sollette used her halberd gave Cosmo an idea If Ameno Nuboko is as she says it is, this will work. "Hey, Sollette. Boost me" Cosmo yelled while running towards her as she backed up slightly to avoid a deadly spiked fist.
Confusion flashed across Sollette's face before she understood Clever bastard was he only thought as she repositioned while Cosmo was running at her, a side stance with the blade against the ground. Unconventional but then again, if it works it works. Cosmo quickly cleared the distance before taking a leap towards the halberd, Sollette timing it just right to swing in an arc. Cosmo felt his feet touch the halberd and shortly found himself launched into the air, at least thrice the height of the goblin. Using this momentum, he spun his whole body around clockwise twice, the momentum adding to the force of his punch. The goblin couldn't react in time, a combination of the ground attacks from the woman, and the males airborne antics were beyond its reasoning. In the space of a second maybe more, Cosmo's attack hit the goblin in the gap between its, forcing it to fall backwards. Both the goblin and Cosmo were going towards the floor, an armoured fist still embedded in the goblins face. Upon hitting the floor, the goblin's head was soon crushed from the sheer force of the hit and coming into contact with a very solid object. Said very solid object soon had a small crater behind the remains of the goblin's head. Cosmo, having jumped off the goblin, shook his arm in an attempt to shake off some of the blood that now covered his gauntlet.
"Well I'll be damned, that is one hell of a hit you pack there" Sollette said in amazement. She had seen powerful attacks before, but this one was new to her. Add in the fact it was an interesting way to use her halberd Hell, looks like I was right to stick around with him. I wonder what would have happened if he overshot it though... Images of Cosmo hitting solid rock face first flew through Sollette's mind, manifesting themselves as a huge grin on her face and some barely contained laughter.
"Yeah, Yeah. You gonna give me a hand throwing these into the chasm? I don't want the smell to attract anything else...And stink out the campsite." Cosmo replied while Sollette seemed to be having the time of her life I seriously wonder what goes through her head at times. Sollette eventually calmed down enough to grab two of the goblins and carry them to the edge before throwing them into the fault in the land. It took the two of the to drag the chieftain by its' legs to get it into the chasm. With all the goblins and the chieftain disposed of, Cosmo and Sollette set about making a small camp. Containing nothing more than a small fire and their sleeping skins.
By the time they had prepared the camp and refreshed themselves with their supplies, night had fallen and the moon was slowly crossing through the skyline. "You want first watch?" Cosmo asked Sollette, whilst wiping some more blood off his weapon and his leg.
"With just the two of us, it's going to be some long watches. Split it into two each of two hours, this will help us know when to change over" Sollette replied while producing a small timer from her bag. Quickly setting the device to alert every two hours.
Cosmo looked at the device for a few seconds. Back in his village, technology was scarce. After the recent battles, it was pretty much rare. They only had a select few pieces anyway, even before the attack. The Sun clan preferred to not have it intruding in their life. While most towns and cities had cement and metal buildings, they still had small wooden and cloth covered ..tents more or less. It was a similar story with the Yun clan, they chose only to adopt the tech that could aid them though. The digital devices that could count time or some of the radar devices helped greatly with hunting groups and protection of their home. They had more houses and more stable buildings than the Sun, but even then Oerba, the smallest and least developed town on the whole of Gran Pulse, was more furnished and had better housing. To these clans, the wilderness and traditional life on Gran Pulse was better than any technology.
Other clans however, embraced the technology. The towns, cities and large constructs all around on Gran Pulse were testament to that. They even developed war machines to keep peace and defend the towns from the more violent monsters. Some of them were small, the Hoplite's came to mind, others however, were more than a match for most any beast. The Armaments and Centurions, their strongest creations, have even managed to repel Oretoises, and when the war began, Cocoon and it's armies struggled in the first few skirmishes and battles under the sheer might of the Pulsian Automata. In a very short time, however, they developed stronger and faster airships to deal with the ground forces. Proving that air beats ground any day. The Pulsian's, replied with airships of their own. While the Cocoon has adopted speed and agility, Pulse replied with armour and stronger weaponry. Both sides destroyed a hefty amount of the others armada and forces. The losses and damage caused to both sides, both human, automata, airship and the L'Cie who fought in these forced both sides to sit back and anticipate the others next move. A long time passed with neither side attacking, but both living in fear of when the other would strike and with what.
This fear became second nature for most, while others busied themselves with what became known as 'The Arks'. There is no documentation of how many or where they are. All that is known is that they house both powerful automata, and a strong magic. Said to release the full abilities of a L'Cie and bring them to their peak, any to find one and can enter the chambers will have their full power revealed to them and become an unstoppable force.
"Whaaaat, you never seen something like this before?" Sollette asked after noticing how intrigued Cosmo was getting with the device.
"Not really, didn't have much tech back at our village, most everything has been done by the traditional ways. That being said, the first few battles didn't help much. Relocating what we could and staying true to the traditions is probably why you guys thought we were all gone." Cosmo replied, shifting his gaze into the sky. The moon was visible now and even though it was showing but a third of its' light, it was more than enough for the two of them to easily see around them.
Sollette nodded slightly before she too, looked into the sky. The Yun and Sun could be classed as really traditional, but with everyone else living and breathing technology. There had to be a few to keep the traditions alive lest they all be forgotten. "Well, to explain this in the simplest of terms, place it over your right ear. It will emit a very low sound only we can hear to alert us that the time has passed. Just wake me up once your shift is over and grab some sleep before your next one." Came the explanation.
"Alright then, pass it here and go get some shut eye. We still have the tower to go through tomorrow and then through Oerba, into the Vestige. Knowing our luck, plenty more fights will be in our way." Cosmo replied, catching the device when Sollette threw it to him.
"Gotcha, any trouble just wake me up. If you have trouble staying awake...Try giving a name to something, an attack or just something you see. Hell, I'd like to see what you would call that aerial manoeuvre of yours." The usual smirk graced Sollette's lips as she said this.
"Heh, go get some sleep. I'll wake you up when it's your turn" With that, Sollette went over to her sleeping skin and planted her halberd in the ground at the bottom of it. Cosmo, with minor difficulties and some laughing from Sollette's part, got the device attached to his ear and set about keeping watch. A low rustle followed by some deep, slow breaths was all the confirmation he needed that Sollette had gone to sleep.
Hey father Cosmo thought to himself while looking once more at the stars. I met an interesting person today. She's from the Yun clan. She is a bit brash and annoying but, she shares the same ideals and lifestyle as us. You would like her. Even though I've only just met her, I know I can trust her, fighting alongside her gave me a good insight to her personality. She enjoys the battles far too much but...she has a caring heart and will go any distance to do what is right. Seems I won't be alone on this journey. I wish you and the rest of the village well, I hope everything is going fine for everyone. I miss everyone back home but, I do not regret this, feeling sad is a good reminder of what I must do. A solitary tear ran down Cosmo's right cheek. When I complete my journey, I hope I have a good story to share with all of you. Cosmo emptied his mind after that, the slight smile that showed and the reminiscent look in his eyes were the only visible things around them.
"Seems like it's going to be a quiet night" Was the last thing heard in the camp. The single phrase, said softly, passed through the night like a whisper in the wind.