From: "Larathia" To: ; Subject: [ffml] [HD] A New Direction Date: Sunday, June 17, 2001 2:48 PM So. The spirits of the dead were given oblivion, and this little punk was the one to give it to them. They hadn't deserved that fate - they fought for this world, fought valiantly before they were betrayed, and it wasn't their fault that their spirits didn't know the way home. Now they were nothing - never-weres, never to return in the reincarnative cycle as a new life. I was tempted to smack that smug grin off the boy's face, tempted to see just how good that sword of his was, to be worth the horrible death the spirits of the fallen had been given. But that wasn't how this world worked, I knew. It would accomplish nothing. It wouldn't bring my warriors back, wouldn't let me send them home. The spirits of the dead mean nothing here, except as guardians for items of the living. My warriors, my avariel companions, meant even less - outworlders that they were. Aelis-Re knew my heart, silently handed me the light chain that would let me ride the winds behind the Bear. I attached it to my belt and whispered "The shore" to him in elvish. He nodded, and without a word of farewell we left Aaron there, holding his precious sword by the eerily silent forest where my warriors met the final death. Grove of the Fallen, indeed. Perhaps his smile faded at our abrupt departure. I can't say, as I did not look back. Aelis-Re gunned the Bear at full speed, eager for reasons of his own to be away from the little pet that had occupied too much of his time. When we reached the shore of the island that once was Doma, he let the Bear rumble to a halt. "What now?" he asked me. "I must find Cyan and perform an atonement," I told him. "Until I do, I do not have the Lady's favor, and I *need* that favor." "Do you know where he is?" asked Aelis. He didn't bother with stupid questions like "so he's alive then?" - he knew that Cyan must still exist somehow, or I would not be required to obtain his forgiveness. I shrugged. "I will follow the lady's guidance," I said. "I imagine she wants this taken care of so that we can accomplish our purpose here and be gone." I closed my eyes and turned my thoughts inward, trying to feel where I should be. Eventually, I pointed. "That way," I said. "Cyan is that way." Aelis noted the direction - over water, of course. "I'll get us a ship," he said. When I moved to protest, he held up a hand. "I am NOT one of Aerdrie's pets, Nighthawk. And I am not getting on an airship - not the way this planet builds them. Damn things are fireballs waiting to happen. Call your winds and blow the ship as fast as you like, but I am not going to go on anything but a nice safe sailing ship." "Yes, of course," I said, though I seethed at the delay. Airships were much faster. "What will you do when you find him?" asked Aelis. I shrugged. "I will tell him that I am enjoined by my goddess to obtain his forgiveness for my assault upon him, and that he may name any single task of his choice to serve as my proof - so long as that task does not violate my oaths of fealty to my goddess. What else would I tell him?" Aelis shrugged one-sidedly. "Like I know. I'll watch your back when you go in, though. I doubt Cyan will just let you spit all that out before he tries to kill you." I clasped his shoulder with my hand then, and said, "I have every faith in your guard, my love. Let's get moving." He nodded, and gunned the Bear into motion again, up the coast to the shipdocks. The chain pulled taut and I rose into the air behind him, riding high on the wind. Larathia "Wow," said Nighthawk, after Aaron returned from the battle in the forest, "I didn't think you had it in you." "Yeah, me either," said Aaron, "So, what do we do now? I mean, what are you two planning on doing now?" "That is something we must discuss," said Nighthawk, who walked a little ways off with Scott. "Wow," Aaron said to himself, amazed at the power he had with this sword. Looking over the sword, he now could relate to people who viewed weapons as a thing of beauty, because this one certainly was. Then he heard something, the Bear! Aaron turned his head in time to see Nighthawk and Scott riding off. "What the fuck...?" he said to himself. At first, he was shocked that they would leave him there. Why on earth would they do that? After he thought a little more, it made more sense. Since Nighthawk had escaped from the clutches of Arcanis's mysterious villain, Scott didn't need his help to find her. Also, now that Aaron had the Deets Sword, he no longer needs Scott's protection from the hazards of this world. Aaron thought about where to go next. He figured that as long as he had the power of that sword, he should use it to fight Kefka, and the other bad guys who were doing bad stuff. By this time, he was sure he was sent to this world for a reason, even though he wasn't sure who or what sent him here. Aaron's only problem was that he was not sure where to go, or who to seek out. A lot must have happened since he arrived in this world. He decided to go to the nearest town he could find, and ask for information about recent events. He set off in the direction he remembered Southvale being in. It seemed like it took them about 15 minutes to get from Southvale to the grove by motorcycle, so this was going to be a long walk... Aaron Ackerson ----------- My original music: http://www.mp3.com/Aaron_Ackerson The Snowbank Seven: http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/266/the_snowbank_seven.html Radio Free Spacecat, with live broadcasts every saturday night and 170 of my favorite tracks streaming all week: http://www.live365.com/stations/42602 Spacecat's Moogle War Homepage: http://spacecat2.tripod.com "The things we touch have no permanence...there is nothing we can hold onto in this world. Only by letting go can we truly possess what is real." -Li Mu Bai, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon