Chapter 2

You never know how quickly time goes by until you reminisce with your friends about the "good old days." At least, that's what Suyo calls them. The "good old days," being the time spent in Bazja, were most certainly not good, and while he didn't think so either, it was just easier to call them that rather than tell the tale of the terrible war we were locked in for years. To say my time in Bazja was spent productively trying to make it back home to those I love is an understatement.

I was 17 when I left for the frontlines. I was chosen after being trained in the art of gunblade wielding and excelled in hand to hand combat unlike our mages. We were low on those kind because no one likes to be up close and personal with someone who only wants to see you die so they don't have to. Being a mage allowed one to be back in the distance throwing fire balls or healing spells, and don't get me wrong, they were a necessity, but when they got ambushed before they even had the opportunity to cast any spells, the enemy was made ten times more dangerous.

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Seven years ago...

I looked down at my boots as I got ready to board the airship. They were covered in dirt and appeared to be older than they were. I sighed and looked up at the sky above. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in sight. I brought my hand up to my forehead and shielded my eyes from the blinding sun. I felt someone tap my shoulder and I turned to find my friend Suyo before me. His smile had a hint of sadness to it as we were anticipating what lay ahead for us. "Are you ready, Red?" He asked.

"About as ready as I'll ever be," I shrugged. I didn't mean to feel so careless towards him, and I know we were in the same boat when it came down to how afraid we were of going, but we were chosen for this job for a reason. Suyo was not much shorter than me, maybe a few inches, and he had short, dark blue hair. His eyes were so unique, one blue and one read, and he had the same dark scales covering his pale white skin as I did, only his horns pointed backwards instead of curling around his face. He had a slender frame, but don't let that fool you. He was just as lethal as they come. "Do you have any idea when we board?" I asked.

"Not a clue," he shrugged. He was what they call a reaper. He carried a scythe bigger than him and wielded it faster than any I'd ever seen. He was equally as skilled as I am and almost beat me in a duel numerous times. Almost. I was still at the top with him not far behind. Just then we heard the loud horn of the airship blaring through the streets of Gridania and we just knew our time for chit chat was up. I stepped over the gap between the launch pad and the first step of the ship and made my way up. There were no seats, so I found an empty spot on the opposite end of the vessel and set my things and myself in it. Suyo took the spot right next to me and we stayed in silence.

The airship was smaller than the ones used to transport Eorzeans to and from the main city states, most likely because this one wasn't particularly meant for large amounts of people, just important military personnel. The captain of the ship, Sid Garland, was also the man who introduced the country to the Garlean technology of flying ships to begin with. I've never personally had the opportunity to work with him, but I hear he's brilliant. Sid was a Garlean-born citizen who defected after realizing how corrupt their empire truly was, yet he remains an idol for them. It's crazy to think how they managed to get a literal boat to fly, considering that's all the airships were. They were large boats with a balloon-like contraption in the place of sails. It's a genius invention, and certainly a popular form of transportation here in Eorzea.

We arrived at Gongos the next day. I stood up and stretched my body and made my way over to the railing of the ship. I leaned against it as I felt it begin its descent into the port. Suyo stood beside me and pointed to yet another boat, only this time it was much larger and was in the water below. We assumed that would be what took us to Bazja, the place overridden by war. I'd never been to Yanxia, much less Gongos, and I never knew it was surrounded by so much water. Gongos was actually a little island not far from a gathering place called the Doman Enclave, within swimming distance, and when I say little, it's a bit of an overstatement. There were large rock walls that were certainly not manmade. It had a small base camp not far from the beach and a little dock where the large boat stood. We could get around the entire island in five minutes. The airship crew lowered a long board into the sand and began to climb out. Suyo and I followed. I'd never been more relieved to feel ground beneath my feet. I've flown a few times, but it always gets me.

I approached one of the Blades guiding us. He was tall and muscular. He had cat-like ears and stripes along his fur coat. He was a Hrothgar, burly with a lionlike appearance. He lifted his hand into a fist and quickly moved it across his body, saluting me. I did the same. "To whom do I owe the pleasure of speaking?" He asked.

"Blade Pallet," I responded. We remained in salute position until he introduced himself.

"Blade Linasch, pleased to meet you, Blade Pallet. Are you one of the newbies setting out for Bazja?" I scoffed at his remark slightly, but I responded.

"Yes sir. Where am I to go?" He pointed at the large vessel on the water.

"She'll take you where you need to be. Join up with the squadron preparing to board and await further instructions." He offered up another salute, as did I, and I made my way to the dock.

"There's some fine soldiers here, incredibly powerful," Suyo said as we met back up by the boat. We were spilt up when the airship landed to gather information as to where we needed to be. More soldiers came our way and began boarding us. Once on board, we finally made our way to the frontlines.

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We stepped through the gates onto a battlefield. There was fire and explosions, gunshots and yelling. We were at one of the base camps set up. There was a large blue aetheryte in the center and tents set up all around it. Soldiers were moving in and out, gathering supplies or being attended to by healers. Fear flooded through my body. I never gave myself the chance to let it sink in, but now that I was there, I had to actually be ready to lose my life in the name of Eorzea...

"Are you alright?" I heard a voice break through my thoughts. My body reacted slightly, but she didn't seem to notice. I nodded. "Good, I didn't know if I needed to perform healing magicks or not." I looked down at her. She was very short, just barely didn't make it to my shoulders, and she had pure white hair. She looked human with catlike features. She had pointy cat ears on top of her head and her eyes were two different colors like Suyo's which was very rare. One was a super pale pink and the other was a very pale blue. She was what was called a miqo'te. extended a hand to greet me. "I'm Blade Gamduhla, sage."

"Blade Pallet, gunbreaker," I responded taking her hand and shaking it. She did the same for Suyo.

"Blade Zaakuhn, reaper." Her eyes widened.

"Reapers are very rare. Are you any good?" Suyo grinned deviously and place a hand on his chin in a bragging manner.

"Only the best," he said. "There's a reason I was chosen for the special ops." She place her hands on her hips and squinted as though she was skeptical of what he was saying. He shrugged. "Well, one of the best." He lightly punched my shoulder and laughed. "This guy's good, too." I don't know how he's remained so calm. Just then, someone walked by and caught Blade Gamduhla's eye.

"Blade Gamduhla, have you heard what they just said? They're on the special ops, too." Oh man, there's two Blade Gamduhla's? Is that like a special title? My mind was racing so much it was hard to take in any information until she turned to face us.

"Pay them no mind Remus, they're just like the rest of us." She was beautiful. Her eyes were so green they glowed in the dim light of the evening. Her blonde hair was put up in two short braids. She was maybe a few inches taller than the whitehaired girl, Remus, and she had horns extending backwards from her head that resembled fins. She looked like me and Suyo, but small.

"Asura, you know it's so incredibly hard to be in the Special Ops. We don't get many in that division. And for them to be a reaper and a gunbreaker? This could be huge for us! We might have a fighting chance now," said the sage, Remus. That piqued Asura's interest.

"Normally we get summoners and black mages. Is it true you guys specialize in hand to hand combat?" I nodded. "Maybe now we'll have a proper team the raid the Castrum at the top of the hill." Asura gave Remus a look. "It was nice meeting you two and if you need anything at all, we're in the healer tent for a bit."

"Are you a healer?" I asked. It's not talked about so to not scare recruits, but healers are rare, too.

"Blade Gamduhla, Astrologian," said the blonde. " You can call me Balde Asura, though. Helps tell the two of us apart." She smiled and followed Remus to help take care of the injured.

"Suyo?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm in love."

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Hello, Hello!

Im actually very please with the way this story has come out so far. Anyways, here's chapter 2! enjoy 3

~PandaWhere