Chapter 7 - Arrivals and Meetings part 1
Sayako Nightbringer
It was hard to keep still and out of people's way as the boat pulled into the harbor. I bit my lip constantly to keep anything stupid from escaping my mouth. Not like I could help it, I was looking forward to being on land again. I could only take so much of the ocean.
Rutee eventually had enough of my hyper pacing and walked over to me. She slapped me upside the head and dragged me over to the other girls, where she plopped me down in a seated position and told me to stay still.
Apparently my pacing had made her dizzy... Whoops...
When the boat stopped, we had to wait for the cargo to be unloaded. Truthfully we could have gotten off the boat first, but we decided to let them unload first. Phillia looked out towards the town, taking in the sights.
"So this is Noischtat..." She mumbled. I got up to my feet so I could see, and grinned. The town looked humble enough, having a lot of trees probably added to that.
Stahn walked over to up, also looking at the town. "This is the area I grew up in." He informed us, making both me and Phillia look at him.
"Really?" I asked. Part of me was excited while the other took this information in. This meant it wasn't following the format I knew. So it was even more of a reason for me to keep my mouth shut.
Stahn nodded, but looked confused. I don't know what he was thinking, but he seemed to shake the thought off. "We should go after Greybum" he said, making sense for once. Okay that was mean.. but the man WAS kinda a blond.
Leon took that moment to join our little group, crossing his arms. "First we should go see Ilene" he said, sounding ever like the leader of this expedition.
At our three collective confused looks, Chaltier appeared to explain. "Ilene is the Oberon manager of the Fitzgald region."
We nodded, finally getting it. Dymlos appeared, which made me tense up. We still weren't on good terms ever since I blew up at him. "We might obtain clues there" he pointed out, thankfully ignoring me.
We were finally able to get off the boat so I took the chance to stretch my legs out a little now that I was on solid ground.
"So where is Ilene anyway?" Stahn asked, asking the question we were all thinking. Leon's eye twitched. Did he even know?
"She's... somewhere here in Noischtat" He said finally, glaring at the blond.
"Meaning you don't know exactly do you?" I asked, standing straight again.
"I didn't say that!" he snapped. "Follow me." He turned angrily and led us all into town, Rutee snickering quietly next to me. But I don't think it was about Leon's wounded pride.
Sure enough she rubbed her hands together in wicked glee. "The Eye of God... That thing is definitely worth more than 250,000 Gald..."
Atwight and I shared a look before the purple haired woman looked at Rutee worriedly. "I hope that's not what you are concerned with..."
I chuckled then frowned. Where had Mary gone? The orange haired woman was nowhere in sight.
"Hey guys? I'm gonna go look for Mary" I said, though nobody seemed to hear me over the conversations they were having with one another. Leon though glanced back at me and nodded. Though his look warned me not to get lost.
I stuck my tongue out at him then turned to go find Mary, wondering where in this large town she could be...
-x-
I ended up finding Mary at a cart of some sorts, paying the man for... ice cream?
Mary thanked the vendor, enjoying her little treat when she spotted me. "Ah, Erica!" She grinned and walked over to me, only to turn and bring me to the vendor.
"A vanilla for her please."
"Right away" The man said cheerily, turning to get my treat ready. I looked at Mary with a confused look.
"Mary... what is this?" I asked. She grinned, showing me hers.
"Ice Candy! It's really good." Mary replied, going back to munching on her candy while I took mine from the vendor. The orange haired woman took my arm and led me to a bench where we could sit down.
"Mary... The others are going to worry you know..." I mumbled, turning my attention to my candy. Dear god it was good... I couldn't really describe what it was like, but sort of like a popsicle of some sorts.
Mary shrugged, grinning. "A little time of us away from them won't hurt. Besides, you need to relax."
I looked at her. "What?"
"I noticed that you were a little tense. Feeling any better now that you're away from them?"
I was about to tell her that the whole idea was stupid and that we should head back, but... she was right. I HAD been tense. Rubbing my forehead, I finished off my treat before leaning back a little to stare at the blossoming trees.
"I do feel a little better. I'm just worried I guess."
Mary watched me with a small smile. "Something you can't tell me?"
I nodded, feeling bad that I was keeping one big lie, but I shoved that down. I lived with lies all the time, so this one was no different.
The woman smiled before standing up, pulling me to my feet. "Well, we should head back. Rutee will be worried, though she doesn't show it too well."
We walked back to the group – I still have no idea how Mary knew where they were – just as Rutee had noticed our disappearance.
"Where did you two go?" Rutee asked us, hands on her hips. Mary grinned at her friend and partner in crime happily.
"I wanted some Ice Candy!" she chirped. "Got Erica some since she'd never had it before."
Rutee huffed, turning away from us. "Well don't walk off by yourself!" she snapped, worried about her friend. Mary hadn't been joking.
"It was delicious... Wasn't it Erica?" I yelped at Mary's question and nodded, not really sure what else I COULD say.
Leon sighed for the umpteenth time today and crossed his arms. "Let's hurry and see Ilene."
I walked over to him, trying to keep my chuckles quiet. "Sorry about that. But try to relax a little? I think we all have pent up energy from being on a boat for a while" I said, not sure why I sounded like a parent for a second. I mentally shook the thought off in time to catch Leon's growl.
"They're all idiots. We're not here to goof off. Were here to find information about where the Eye of God was taken."
I opened my mouth to speak, but some laughing made me turn my head to see Stahn racing a little kid. I bit my lip, trying not to laugh. But dear god it was funny! Stahn pushed both fists into the air, whooping with victory.
"I won!"
If Dymlos could smack Stahn upside the head he probably would have done so by now. "Don't do things like this!" he scolded. Stahn stuck his tongue out at him immaturely.
"Doesn't matter cuz I won!"
They glared at each other before turning away with a huff, and that made me laugh out loud.
Sayako: Holy crap. I am so sorry it's taken me this long! I know this is short, but over the months my writing style has changed and I'm going to be introducing my sub-plot in part two of this chapter. It's going to be interesting trying to pull that off when I can hardly reach KiKiDai lately... but I'll try my best!
