A/N~ Thanks for all the great reviews as always. Love you all
~Fran's POV
Ffamran, the young hume who'd taken a liking to my airship, told me that she felt smooth under his hands. A phrase that could be taken many ways. And by his expression, yes he would appear the best pilot in all of Ivalice, by his flight, not at all. The advanced ship was ducking precociously and rising up unexpectedly ever since he'd taken the wheel. Despite this, an exasperated grin held firm on his tan face.
"To think, this prime battle ship would have been scrapped!" He said excitedly, through focus-gritted teeth. My eyes flickered over the key-riddled dashboard, and I reached out to flip a switch.
"We have cleared into Old Archadia. There will be an old landing platform in the next mile. Land there."
"I don't remember welcoming your orders, Fran." My ears twitched at his rude reply.
"Your arrogance surprises me." I pressed a few more buttons, and the keys glowed golden. "I have not the time, or patience, to explain each individual working of the ship. If you do not land her imminently, the glocair rings will overheat, and the ship will fall." Ffamran's hands tightened around the wheel.
"We're still so close to Archadia."
"We will get no further with a broken craft." With a groan of discontentment, he pulled hand over hand across the wheel. Unwillingly, the young hume took the ship in a wide ark around the decrepit buildings of Old Archadia, and lowered the airship between the large buildings and onto the open square. The airship settled. He let out a strained sigh and kneaded his shoulder with the palm of his hand. Even in the dark, I could see the swelling under his shirt.
"This is nothing to trifle in worry." He murmured, with a voice aching for sleep. My eyes widened, and I averted my gaze after he'd let me know that I'd been staring. "A man of skill patched this…of course, that rusty iron did no good for it." He stood from the soft leather seat and stretched. "Well then, how long until she can fly?" His voice was once more chipper. "I'm rather eager to leave these walkways of marble and deceit behind me." At least he was as ready as i. Standing, I drew my eyes over the deserted paths and alleyways of Old Archades. This ship had a whisper mode, used for silent descents, so no hume had noticed the large ship's landing unless they had been stargazing intently enough to see her figure soar over the low buildings. When I convinced myself it was silent enough, I finished shutting the ship down. Her systems closed down with a dull hum that slowly faded.
"This night is wasted. She must cool before I take leave with her." I explained. Ffamran let out a loud groan.
"Did you really put all your best effort into this? I'm not sure if I'll be able to comply for that long." He still assumed that he would be stealing the ship away. I would explain no more to him.
"Do not undermine me." I retorted. "Someone such as yourself would not comprehend the complexity of this craft. I will not hold it against you that your appreciation runs shallow, since it is only ignorance speaking." He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. I removed the safety chip from the dashboard so he could not attempt to fly off with it, and proceeded down the stairs.
"Off already?" He asked, following as I lowered the staircase. I did not fear for him stealing the ship. Without such repairs, that only I could make, she would be inoperable. He would have no idea as to how to fix her.
"Parts must be found before dawn. I must make haste." There were many scrapped airship littering the outskirts. With luck, I would be able to find suitable parts to last until I reached a more civilized settlement. Maybe I would go straight up, to the skycities of Bhujerba. Then again, that was unwise to do with such a fresh airship, especially with compromised parts. If a ring were to fail at such a high altitude, there would be no safe landing. A headlong crash into the sandsea, and what was left of the ship would be sucked into the age-old quicksand ocean.
"But surly it would be more efficient if we both looked." Maybe he would get lost among Old Archadia's decrepit alleyways, or fall into that ancient, and perilous, tunnel connecting Archadia to the plains. If only my luck would be so true. "Let's create a new meaning for haste!"
"Return to your Archades." I directed. "You do not know how to live outside of those walls, as you hardly know how to live inside them." He crossed his arms and made an annoyed cluck at me. "Go back."
"Why don't you go back to your forest then?" My ears gave the slightest twitch of surprise. And his damn-quickly eyes caught it. "See? That godess-forsaken city is my forest. I have yet to learn why some viera leave their little nests, but I can guess that it is to get away from certain…restrictions. As is the reason why I left Archades." He leaned up against the doorway, rather wearily. "Anyways, what are we looking for again?"
~Ffamran's POV
"It is a simple part, something to hold the two Glocair engines apart. It is a…magnetic bar- a long scrap of metal that can slide between the two engine cuffs. A many have been discarded among the shipwrecks here." I could tell that she was reluctant to give out the information, but at least this meant that she'd accepted we were on equal terms, for now. As long as we had a common goal. But I guessed that as soon as she had that part in her long-fingernails, she would try to dash away. I snapped my knuckles and opened the doors.
"Tallyho then, right dear?" I leapt down the stairs as they unfolded. Unfolded to the new and exciting world of Ivalice. The cool, musky scent was strong. It was the reek of poverty, one I did not recognize instantly. My eyes adjusted to the foggy darkness, and I didn't like what I saw. Besides the decrepit stonework that resembled buildings, damp sheets were stretched across the higher walls to attempt and dry them in the perpetual shade. It was a universal icon of below class lifestyle. So much for a new and exiting world. Such a sight only unnerved me. Fran passed me with a few long strides, and then she looked up at the blankets, then me, as if she were about to give an explanation as to why they were hanging in the open streets instead of fluttering in sunlit balconies. I ignored her and swept a glance over the cobblestones again. A bit disappointed of my first adventure, I walked ahead of the viera into the drowsy alleyways.
After numerous turnabouts and carefully planned circling, we ended up at the farthest courtyard from the airship, empty-handed, and cold. At least, Fran had to be cold as I was. Though she gave no inclining that she was uncomfortable, her attire was not best suited for the cold night we were hunting in. She wore a pair of skin-tight breeches with stylish trimmings and cuts along the sides, and a pair of belts across her hips. Her shirt, if it could be called that, was of drafty and rather sheer cotton that trailed to her thighs in the back, but was V-shaped and going down in the front. Then, a pair of cotton sleeves that clipped on from below the neck. Today, she had arranged her luminous hair into a braid going down her back to her shoulder blades. It was held together by an ornate hair clasp, obviously of vieran craftsmanship.
"Why do we need a magnetic part anyways? It should have been set up already." I gestured back to where I knew the ship was settled. Now that I thought about it, this hunt didn't make much sense. "Any ship with two or more rings needs them."
"It was a ship meant for only one ring." She explained. "Thus it was not provided." I dared to walk a bit closer.
"Was this new design your idea?" She glanced at me briefly- deciding if I'd ventured to close.
"You may say that." Did that mean yes? "I thought to add a second ring, if that is what you mean." I nodded.
"'Tis. "
Fran suddenly stumbled. I was so surprised by the ungraceful gesture, that I jumped backwards instead of rushing to her aid. She straightened herself quickly, but could not hold herself upright for long. If I could describe a change in expression, I would say she looked mad. I hoped it wasn't at me.
"Fran? Did you trip?" She kept her gaze fixated ahead. She was very still. "Fran?"
"I've broken my heel." I looked to her feet. She was favoring her right foot, so it was ever slightly off the ground.
"Wait, what now?" She repeated herself, but spoke with a slow, icy tone.
"I have broken my heel. I must sit." I glanced around for some sort of bench, but these slums lacked even that. I pointed out a crate against the wall, which Fran said would do just fine. Normally, when a lady needed assistance, I would give them it. I started to hold out my hand, but Fran instantly snapped about being just fine. Of course you are, I thought. Just because she was a woman did not mean she was also a lady. And Fran was far from it.
She eased herself onto the box and swung her long leg across her lap to look at the heel. Obviously, if I were to stare at a viera, I would be look at the upper half, rather than their feet. Once more, their anatomy reminded me that viera were not human. Her feet were oddly shaped, with no real heel or base to it. Just five small toes with tiny pricks of a claw on each one. I'd wondered why all viera wore heels. It was because they did not have any themselves! What a nuisance that was.
And her right heel had appeared to snap down the middle, making it impossible to walk without the heel pulling apart into two halves. Fran began tampering with the leather strings, trying to tie the two halves together, or something.
"This is impossible…" She finally muttered.
"Ah. We in a bit of a fix, are we?" Both of us followed the new voice, Fran much more subtly than i.
"Who are you?" I called at the approaching man, springing to my feet. We'd passed a few citizens of this run-down city, and this man looked better off than all of them. His cloths were obviously poor, but they were not torn or dirty. And he had decent shoes, something that the others lacked altogether. He sauntered over, a friendly, knowing smile on his face.
"Ah. Formalities. The name's Jules. And you two are lookin' like you need some advice." Whether I liked it or not, and I didn't like it, I'd been raised as a noble. His common speech appalled me. Fran just tried to ignore him.
"Not unless you know where we may purchase a vieran heel in this…city." I mumbled. Jules snapped his fingers.
"Course I do. You can find anything in these parts. This thing you need to watch out for is makin' sure others aren't lookin' for the same thing, ya know?" No, no I did not know. And my look must have given it away. "Yea, well, I can get you a heel. If you could just come with me…ah, if you don't want to leave your girly alone, I understand." Girly? Fran's ears straightened.
"Go. This…'girly'…may look after herself."
"Are you sure?" She gave a slight nod, and I left to follow Jules.
He chatted the entire way, with that unique was of adding in double negatives every so often and skewering the grammatical laws. I liked it. Laws of any kind bothered me now. I'd already broken fifty of them after stealing the airship.
"Kay, Faamren." Even my noble name was a stretch for him. "We're here." He had stopped outside a worn-down tavern door. "Jus' wait a spell, and I'll be back with the lady's shoe." I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall. No lady was she.
An instant later, a rough sack was thrown over my face and I was shoved to the dirt. My yells were smothered by the ground. Their hands searched my pockets and stripped me of anything valuable all in seconds.
"'Ey! The lad's with me!" I was given a final shove before my attackers ran off. The sack was lifted off my head by the same hands that eased me back against the wall. Jules' face was uncomfortably inches from mine as he looked me over. "Desperate blokes…you still in one piece?" He asked. I coughed into the sleeve of my shirt, now torn.
"What was that all about?" I croaked.
"Well, you're obviously in better shape than the lot of us. They were seeing what they could get off of you, I suppose." Even after that, I managed a grin.
"Well, they will be disappointed then." I'd been in such a rush to leave that I lacked anything truly valuable. I had ripped off one of my father's family heirlooms, but that was safely tucked away in the airship.
"Ah, lad. They still managed to find something." He pointed to his ears. My hand flew to mine, but they only felt skin. I brought my hands back, smeared in blood.
"…Those scavengers!"
Jules found my outburst somewhat amusing. He took me inside the tavern and seated me on an empty stood in front of the bar. Taverns were supposed to be full of life, and drinking and women. But this…'tavern' was virtually empty, save for a few scraggly-looking people huddled in the corners.
Jules came back with a few silver trinkets in his hands.
"Yea, this'lle do nicely." He handed me a pair of cheap silver earrings. "Here ya go. Otherwise those ear holes will close up and you won't be able to look pretty anymore." He jeered. I fitted the earrings back into the sore lobes. They were like an article of clothing for me. Their weight felt good.
I noticed then that Jules also had the cartilage of his ear pierced. It was matched by an image of my father, refusing to allow me to do the same. I waved my hand around the side of my face.
"Jules…do you pierce your ears yourself?" He shrugged.
"Yep, sir. Like it?"
"Very much, actually." He leaned forward.
"See, the more you have, the prettier you feel." I grinned, playing along.
"Well. You know that I love to feel pretty."
I left the Tavern with a right shoe for Fran and bleeding ears. I'd gotten a bit ahead of myself, and had my ears decorated with numerous colorful studs. I might have looked a bit silly, but I felt so empowered. What would I do next on this freedom spree of mine?
"Eh, Faymrin? Wasn't your lady friend supposed to be waiting here?" I nodded, scanning the crate where she'd been seated.
"Well, we did take a bit longer than anticipated. She probably hobbled back to the airship."
"Airship!" Jules cried. "Blokes, you didn't say that!" I grinned despite myself.
Until we reached the airship. Or, where the airship should have been.
"What!" I cried, dropping the shoe box into the dirt. "T-That conniving…!" I clenched my fists and stormed out to the center of the clearing where my pack lay in the dirt. "Apparently, you don't need to be able to walk to fly an airship."
