Hooray another chapter! Thanks for the reviews! =)

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles

Caravan Tale

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All Lora could hear was the creaking of the wagon as she passed over the border of Alfitaria. She was still upset about the events of last night. Tobias had wanted her to leave him behind. She had never seen such a dark side of him before. She didn't know what to do about the situation. Lora frowned when she realized she had no consoling words to offer Tobias. She didn't even know where to start helping him, if he even wanted her help. Did he even need help? Lora kicked the stone in front of her in frustration. She had to say something to him.

While Lora was outside thinking things over and leading the caravan, Tobias was working on a letter. It was a reply to Kima. He hadn't been sure on how to respond to her letter earlier, but he felt he could reply properly now:

Kima, I was very excited to receive your letter, even if you stuffed it in with Lora's. Sorry for the lateness of it. I wasn't too keen on your insight into the Cedon caravan. Yet I should never underestimate a woman's intuition, you were right of course. Lora seems to have accepted me as I am. We are travelling now to get the last bit of myrrh. I bet you are basking in all your glory reading this. Thank you for kicking me out of your caravan. It has definitely worked out for the best so far.

Your good friend, Tobias

Tobias chuckled. He wished he could see Kima's face when she opened the letter. He then remembered how he had met them by chance at the Fields of Fum. He had just arrived in Fum half a year earlier and two caravans were quarreling in the middle of the road. It was mainly between a clavat and an older Lilty. The clavat boy's face was red from yelling at the Lilty. As Tobias approached closer he saw a clavat girl trying to pull him back to their caravan. Tobias was shocked at seeing a clavat so angry. They were such a peaceful people. He looked around and no one seemed to be intervening. He just sighed and stepped in between the two caravans, "Gentlemen. What seems to be the problem here?"

The clavat boy spoke up immediately, "This caravan is selling goods that were recently stolen from our caravan!"

The Lilty puffed up his chest, "My caravan did no such thing! I receive all my wares from a good merchant!"

Tobias looked at the Lilty, "Who is this merchant?"

"A selkie by the name of Jun Po, but he is leaving Fum today. Good luck catching up to him!"

Tobias had a bad feeling about this merchant. He was beginning to believe the clavat caravan, "Well what does he look like? It'll help if any of us run into him."

The Lilty huff puffed, "He has long purple-blue hair with a red head band. He's about your height, probably similar in age. He also has a selkie tattoo under his left eye."

Tobias nodded. "Thank you. Now what is it that you claim was stolen?" Tobias asked as he turned to the two clavats. The boy stepped up to him, "A bushel of striped apples we had purchased the day before, that purple sack of iron ores, and….."

The girl suddenly spoke up, "And a necklace!"

The Lilty pulled all three items out, "These could have been anyone's. You have no proof you own these."

The girl stepped forward further, "Yes we do have proof! Can I see the necklace?"

The Lilty handed her a thin silver chain with what appeared a crystal shaped pendant. The girl traced her finger on the side of the pendant and it opened automatically, revealing a small chip of crystal. The Lilty let out a gasp. The girl closed the locket, "It's a family heirloom. Only I can open it. It would be useless to anyone else."

The Lilty then began to ponder if the goods were actually stolen, "Fine. You can have the necklace. The rest has no claim to you unless you purchase it from me."

The boy had calmed down, "Fair enough. It's our fault we weren't guarding the caravan." The girl put the necklace on around her neck. They then began to head back down the road when Tobias turned to the Lilty, "How much for the apples and iron?"

The Lilty was beginning to feel guilty now so he decided to sell the goods for cheap, "200 gil."

Tobias pulled out his money pouch and paid the Lilty. He then ran with the goods to the clavat caravan.

The girl was the first to notice Tobias trailing them. They stopped the wagon and let him catch up. Tobias first handed them the purchased goods, "I thought you might need these."

The girl gave him a bright smile, "Thank you! And thank you for intervening back there! I was so afraid to lose that necklace."

"You two are fairly young for caravanners."

The boy tried to stand a little taller, "It's our first year. Pora is small so there are only so many young people to travel."

Tobias continued to walk with the caravan and learned about their circumstances the remainder of the day. He listened to all the trouble they had been having finding myrrh due to their inexperience. He liked their company and decided to offer them his help. They took it gladly. At one point in their travels Kima had mentioned that he was a mix. He wondered how she had found out. Kima was very smart for her age. She knew the moment they had met.

Kima had good intuition and could usually make the right choice. Tobias always liked to go against her though, just to ruffle her feathers. Kima and Jasper over time had become Tobias's good friends. He was shocked after leaving the mines that Jasper and Kima said he wasn't allowed to travel with them any longer. He was fairly upset about it thinking it had to do with him being different. He ended up following Lora, his only source of safety and company.

It wasn't until Kima's letter came that Tobias fully understood why they had left him the way they did. Kima apologized to him and hoped his travels were faring well. She finally wrote to him about her plan she had all along. Kima confessed to noticing a change in Tobias once he had met that selkie girl he talked to her about. At the mines she had made her decision to make Tobias go with Lora. Lora needed help even though she wouldn't admit it, and she had a good feeling about the selkie girl. In the letter Kima also added a post script that if she was wrong, he was welcome to travel with them again.

Tobias chuckled; Kima was truly a good girl. He peeked out of the wagon at Lora. She was tugging at her hair as she walked with a loyal Mog at her side. As he sealed up the envelope he thanked Kima in his head for giving him another friend to trust. They never did find that merchant though, Tobias wondered if that Lilty had given him a piece of his mind.

*

Hope you enjoyed the little blip into Tobias's past! There is more to come along with Lora's too. I can't promise speedy updates but since I've been writing up a storm recently, I hope you enjoy =)