Welcome to Adventu, your final fantasy rp haven. adventu focuses on both canon and original characters from different worlds and timelines that have all been pulled to the world of zephon: a familiar final fantasy-styled land where all adventurers will fight, explore, and make new personal connections.
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year 5, quarter 3
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Yuna gave Caius a small smile when he said that he felt like the people of this land needed him. “It sounds like they do. You’ll have to tell me about the Dragonblades. Is that your group?” she asked, as she urged her chocobo to follow him towards the thicket of trees to their right.
Yuna leaned her head back as they entered the forest, enjoying the shade from the morning light as rays of sun drifted through the gaps in the leaves around them. “It’s pretty here,” she murmured. “You’re well-travelled if you’ve managed to find all these places.”
Noticing that Caius had dismounted from his chocobo, Yuna did the same and adjusted her skirt as she slid off the side of the saddle. Keeping one hand soothingly on her chocobo’s neck, she shot Caius a curious look. “Is this where we’re stopping?” She asked, before he said an odd word. ”Vordun?” She repeated in confusion before a baby dragon suddenly crawled out of his sleeve.
Yuna jumped and let out an undignified noise that made flames rise to her cheeks when she realized the dragon was doing nothing more than perching on his arm. Its sapphire scales gleamed in the dim lighting, and Yuna smiled a little in spite of herself at how happy Caius looked as he examined the baby dragon. He looked brighter than he had since they had first departed.
Caius went on to explain that Vordun was his companion, and Yuna nodded in understanding. “One of my final aeons that I received, we call Bahamut. The king of dragons. I bet he'll be a good ally to you one day.” She leaned in a bit curiously as Vordun made a soft cooing noise. “He seems to really like you. How’d you find him?”
After the question was out of her mouth, it occurred to her that what she’d said about Bahamut had been odd. She hadn’t received the blessing from Bevelle’s Fayth yet. She hadn’t even been back to Bevelle since she was seven. But that thought struck her as being wrong somehow, like she had actually been there recently, and Yuna found herself feeling a little dizzy the more she tried to unravel where that had come from.
Thankfully, Caius attempting to get Vordun to sniff a piece of dried meat instead of eating it was more than enough to drive her from her thoughts. Unable to help herself, she laughed out loud, and tried to use her hand to cover her mouth. “I’m sorry. You’re just so much more than meets the eye,” she said around her laugh. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d be the type to raise a baby dragon so patiently. But I’m glad you are,” she tried to explain as he set the dragon on the ground and Vordun sniffed the air.
“For miles?” she asked in surprise. “You’re right. If you’re looking for meat, that could be helpful. Though I think he’ll eat a lot more than you do soon,” she said with a smile when Vordun suddenly took off into the undergrowth. Caius immediately ran after him, and Yuna was left to blink after them both for a moment before it suddenly occurred to her that she should be following.
“Oh! Grabbing onto her chocobo’s reins, she led him after her as she carefully chased the man and the baby dragon through the forest. Trying not to scare off any prey, she mostly kept to the path as she tried to keep both of them in her sights. Small laughs kept escaping her at the situation, and it occurred to her that being in this forest, chasing after a near stranger and a wild animal with the air tight in her chest and the smells of the forest around her, she was having a better time than she’d had since she had arrived in this world. It reminded her of one of the adventures she had taken with a different blond man back on Spira, but for the life of her, she couldn’t picture his face.
Yuna wanted to call up to Caius to see how much further they had to go, but she didn’t want to scare off anything that Vordun had scented. And anyway, she wouldn’t be too upset if the moment continued a little longer.
Yuna settled in on her chocobo’s saddle as Caius turned his eyes forward and began his story as promised. Her lips parted slightly as he laid out the horrors of his world that he had grown up in. “The starscourge,” she murmured, raising one hand up to eye level as she considered the sun that hovered over the eastern horizon to their right. “I can’t imagine a world always in darkness. That sounds horrible.”
Caius went on to talk about the monsters that plagued his world, and Yuna nodded slightly at that. That one she understood, even if the term ‘daemons’ was unfamiliar. She equated them to the sinspawn in her head, and cast him a sympathetic look. She knew how devastating monsters like that could be to the general population. That was when Caius took a shaky breath, and Yuna respectfully faced the front again in case he didn’t want her to see him like that.
“Don’t feel you need to continue if it’s hard,” she said softly, but was secretly a little pleased when he kept going. He went on to describe the devastation the world had faced and how they had been reduced down to one city. “I’m sorry to hear that.” She glanced over at where he rode on his own chocobo. ”...I understand. How hard that is. Sin was attracted to large cities, so we had to stay in small groups. But at least we had the sun…”
She readjusted her grip on the reins as she considered the dirt being kicked up on the path around them. Caius had gone on to describe his own personal stake in what had happened to his world, and Yuna raised a hand to her mouth as she turned to look at him. Her eyes softened slightly as he implied the terrible fate that his family had met and his own self-destructive behavior after that.
Gently nudging her chocobo to the side, Yuna rode up beside him and carefully placed a hand on his shoulder as she tried to think of what a priest would say in this situation. “They’re at peace. And I’m sure they’d be very proud of you now,” she murmured before breaking character a bit as she looked up at him. “...When I was very young. My mother was killed by Sin. And my father gave his life to buy the world a few years of peace.” Her own words almost surprised her. As a summoner, she was supposed to bear other people’s pain. Not share her own. Still, it felt right, and she shot him a small smile before letting her hand fall from his shoulder. “But we’ve both continued on and made it this far. I think that takes more bravery than you’re giving yourself credit for.”
She fell back into step with him as his story took on a far more optimistic note than it had before. “Noctis sounds like a great man,” she commented, not understanding all of the words that Caius used, but understanding the gist of the story. Noctis had accomplished exactly what she had wanted to in Spira. He had banished the cause of their world’s grief. This ‘Ardyn Izunia’ who had somehow plunged their world into darkness. If Noctis had been from Spira, they would have honored him as the High Summoner over all other High Summoners.
“I’m glad you found someone who inspires you. I hope I get the chance to meet this Noctis one day,” she said, looking up at the clouds swirling overhead. People who shined like that to others were so important in a world trapped in a cycle of grief. That's why summoners existed in the first place. That’s why everyone looked up to her father.
“Oh no!” She laughed when Caius did and sheepishly claimed that his story had been too long. “I don’t mind at all.” He looked so different when he was laughing or when he was talking about Noctis. Maybe it was normally hard for him to open up immediately. Or maybe--like Yuna did--he felt more comfortable now that they were on the road and away from the city.
“Sure, I’d be happy to hear another story. I’ll try to come up with one myself.” Yuna adjusted how her staff was laying across her knees as Caius checked his bag and proclaimed that they were low on food.
“As long as we hurry, then I don’t mind. I just want to reach them in time, but we will need supplies” she explained. “Lead the way then. Where is this forest?”
Yuna settled more firmly into her saddle as they rode the chocobos out towards the horizon. The morning sun glowed on their right side, and Yuna raised a hand to block the light from her vision as they veered towards the northeast. Caius had mentioned a chocobo farm that he had visited as a kid, but Yuna frowned slightly when he admitted that he hadn’t really seen one after that. He sounded a little wistful.
“Did you move to a city?” She asked curiously. She knew next to nothing about bigger cities since she had left Bevelle when she was seven, but she doubted that it was common to keep chocobos in them. Surely the animals wouldn’t have been happy without a large space to run and plenty of greens.
Caius mostly dodged her question when she asked about his background, and she shot him a curious look, wondering if his past was difficult to talk about. Maybe she should make a note to tread a little carefully as they swapped stories. She’d hate to offend him or bring up something that he’d prefer not to talk about.
“Sure, I can go first.” Shifting to lay her staff more comfortably across her lap, Yuna stroked her chocobo’s neck as she thought about how to explain this to someone who wasn’t from Spira. “I was in training for a few years to become a summoner, and I had just recently become one. That’s where my healing magic comes from. I haven’t tried to summon anything since I arrived in this world though,” she clarified with a faint smile. She somehow doubted that it would work here. There were no temples and the Fayth didn’t exist here. Anyway, Yuna was almost afraid to try to call on Valefor. If she failed, then it would be like hearing the final click of a locked door. She’d know then that she could never go back to Spira.
“There’s this monster that exists in my world, you see,” Yuna continued after a moment. “We call it Sin. It’s terrorized everyone for over a thousand years. It’s...honestly still so weird to talk to people who have never heard of it,” she said with a faint laugh as she twisted a bit on her chocobo to look at Caius. “That’s why summoners exist. My goal is to beat Sin and bring peace to the world.”Was. It was her goal. She let the unspoken sentence dangle as she turned to face the front. What was her goal now? She had been so ready to die for Spira. But what was a summoner without Sin and without Spira? What was she supposed to do now?
Thankfully, the view in front of them drove her out of her dark thoughts, and Yuna let out a breath as she stared at the miles of empty grass in front of them. The city had been nice, but it was far out of her comfort zone, and it was a relief to be away from civilization again and back on the road.
“It’s so pretty out here,” Yuna said, looking up at the clouds swirling across the expanse of the sky before glancing back at Caius. “What about you? You did promise an exciting story,” she said with a slightly teasing smile.
Yuna blinked in surprise when Caius told her to keep her money. “Are you sure?” She asked hesitantly, but when he pushed the pouch back towards her, she gave him a more genuine smile than she had so far.
“Thank you so much. Sir Caius,” she said, using the term of respect for an important guardian as she clasped her hands in front of her and gave him a short bow. He was a tall man with a tough exterior and an unreadable expression, but he was already proving himself to be incredibly kind under the surface. Yuna liked him immediately, and she had to fight a slight laugh as she tucked her money back into her bag. Caius was once again reminding her of her oldest friend. Kimahri was also short on words with an intimidating appearance, but he was one of the most loyal people she knew. How she missed him.
After that, Yuna politely moved to the side and waited as Caius rented two chocobos for them. Stepping forward to help him with the saddles, she handed him things as necessary, leaning forward to gently stroke her chocobo’s feathers. “I haven’t ridden one of these in a long time. Not since we trained them in the Calm Lands,” she reminisced, before the words died in her throat a little. Where had that come from? She had never visited the Calm Lands before. That wouldn’t come until near the end of her pilgrimage, after she’d visited Bevelle’s temple.
Yuna felt a little dizzy, and she glanced up at Caius mounting his chocobo before she hurried to do the same. Settling down in the saddle, she took a moment to arrange her skirt around her before following Caius as they started to lead their chocobos away from the rental area.
“I’d love to hear one,” Yuna said when Caius commented that he could probably come up with a story. She was genuinely interested, but she was also eager to forget whatever episode had just come over her. “How did you become a...mercenary?” She hesitated on the word slightly, as she wasn’t entirely certain that she remembered how he had pronounced it. “Is that what you did in your old world?”
Yuna felt the man stiffen under her touch when she first started healing him, but he slowly started to relax the further she got into her work. He didn’t answer her questions at first, which worried her a little. She hoped he wasn’t hurt so badly that he was going into shock. Yuna renewed her focus on trying to close his wounds, and she was so intent on her task that she was a little startled when he finally answered that they were alone. She was relieved both to hear him talk and that there was no one else. She should have enough magic to heal two people, even if the wounds were bad.
The silver-haired man had a light, smooth voice, but he sounded like the type of person who never said two words when one would do. Yuna nodded in acknowledgement of his answer and shot him a small smile before going back to her work. Eventually, she let out a short breath and sat back on her heels as she let her cure spells fade. “I hope that helps. That was a bad wound,” she said, shaking her head when he thanked her. “No, it was no problem at all. I’m just glad I was close by.” She still had no idea why she had woken up here, but at least she was able to save someone. Maybe two people.
The thought made her remember the second man on the ground, and she turned her attention towards him, squinting and feeling for him in the dim lighting when the silver-haired man suddenly rose from the ground and mentioned a candle inside. It seemed he was going to go get a light. “Thank you,” she tried to tell him, but he had already turned away and gone most of the way back to the house. It looked like her initial assessment of him being quiet was correct. Yuna fought a small laugh, but it quickly died in her throat when she glanced down at her hands and noticed that her fingers were sticky with blood that wasn’t hers.
Casting a worried glance back at the house, Yuna leaned over the man on the ground, noticing with some relief that he was breathing. What had happened between them? They were both pretty badly hurt. The uneasy thought occurred to her that maybe they had gotten in a fight, but the silver-haired man was back before she could dwell on it. The glow of the candle illuminated the small space around them, and she gave him a grateful smile before scooting closer to the unconscious man and calling on her magic again.
“Alert?” She asked in response to the man’s warning before shooting him a startled glance. “He attacked you?” She supposed that she’d heal the unconscious man either way, but she wanted to know if he was dangerous. “I’m sorry. If he hurt you, then don’t feel you have to stay here.” Yuna said, turning to look at him. The light of the candle let her see his face better, and she sucked in a quick breath of air before she could stop herself as she noticed his eyes. The pupils were slits, and they almost seemed to glow green in the dim lighting.
“Ah...I’m sorry,” Yuna said quickly, knowing that she was being rude as she quickly focused on the man on the ground again. Stealing a glance back at the silver-haired man, she shot him a weak smile. “I’m Yuna by the way. Do you live here?” What she really wanted to ask was what had happened to him, but he didn’t seem like he would be inclined to answer that.
Yuna tilted her head a bit when Caius seemed surprised by her phrasing. “Mercenary,” she echoed him, smiling a little sadly when she realized that he probably didn’t know what a guardian was. Why would he? If there were no summoners in this world, then it followed that there would be no need for guardians. Even if accompanying her did make him a temporary guardian, it was better to adopt their vocabulary while she was here. So she’d use Caius’ word if that’s what he wanted.
“Will your partner be joining us?” She asked politely, but she suspected the answer was no as she scanned the horizon and didn’t see anyone else approaching. Torensten must have thought that this was a two person job. Yuna found herself a little disappointed--not because she thought they couldn’t handle it or that Caius seemed like bad company--she was just so used to travelling in large groups that venturing off into the wilderness with only one companion sounded lonely. Still, she didn’t comment on it as she switched her staff to the other hand and nodded at Caius when he mentioned that he’d been here for a while now.
“Do you mean...that you’re originally from somewhere else too?” She asked curiously, trying to decide if she could picture him among the beaches of Besaid or the towering spires of Bevelle. She doubted he was from Spira, but it would have been wonderful to meet another person who mourned losing the same places that she did. “Yes, I know where we’re going,” she murmured in answer to his question after pausing for a moment to recall the exact words of the man who had hired her. “Less than a day’s journey to the northeast. They don’t believe that the delegation would have made it all the way to the Headstone forest.”
Adjusting the bag over her shoulder, Yuna followed Caius down the path as he led her to some rental areas near the edge of Torensten. She perked up at the familiar chirps and kwehs of the chocobos, and she almost wanted to laugh out loud at the sound. Finally, something in this world was familiar.
“I’ll be using magic. So I don’t have much on me,” she reassured Caius when he asked her methods. “I don’t mind travelling by chocobo if that would be fastest. I’ve ridden one before.” Pausing, she leaned her staff against her side as she dug through her bag quickly before holding out a small pouch with some coins in it to Caius. “For our expenses,” she explained with a slight smile. They might both be getting paid at the end of this, but it still felt wrong to make him pay for their transportation up front. He was being kind enough to escort her after all.
“You sound like you’ve been doing this for a while. You must have so many stories.” Yuna continued, stepping to the side since it seemed like he knew what was he doing with the rentals much better than she did. It was definitely good to have someone experienced along. And maybe he could tell her more about Zephon than she'd heard so far.
As Yuna had come back down the street to meet him, Tidus had been finishing up one of the loaves of bread that he had bought along the way. She watched the bob of his throat as he swallowed before he shot her a small smile as she proclaimed that he was the boy who’d burst into the Cloister of Trials when it had taken her over a day to win Valefor’s favor. Maybe it was her imagination, but there was something like disappointment on his face for a moment when she’d finished talking, but it was gone before she could think about what that might have meant.
“Thank you so much for your help with that,” she said, smiling slightly as he leaned in and confided that he’d almost given up on her. He had taken some heat for ignoring the precepts and bursting in like that, as she recalled. Some of the townsfolk had referred to him as a heathen and told him to stay away from her. “I think it takes a lot of bravery to do something like that when everyone’s telling you not to.” She wanted to encourage him to do the same for other people, even if no one else agreed.
She felt her cheeks grow a bit warm when he commented that her wit matched her pretty face. She didn’t have much experience there, but she could tell that he was flirting with her. It wasn’t exactly proper, and any of the priests would have yelled at him for it, but she found herself stealing a glance at him anyway. He had beautiful features for a boy, and so far he’d been nothing but cheerful, kind, funny, and the most helpful person she’d encountered since waking up here. She couldn’t help but like him, even if he was obviously hiding something. He was so different from everyone else in her life back on Spira.
“There are fiends here?” She asked in surprise when he mentioned the monsters he’d encountered on the road. That surprised her if Sin didn’t exist here, but maybe the fiends were a separate issue. If that was the case, she’d have to be sure to perform sendings wherever she could. If summoners weren’t usual here, then maybe it was no wonder they were having such a problem with monsters.
“Thank you for the warning. I’ll take care when I’m on the road,” she assured him, trailing after him down the street as he headed towards a group of market stalls near the back. She was prepared to follow him into the butcher's building--even if places like that always made her a little sad--when Tidus suddenly offered her his services. She paused in mid-step again, looking at him in surprise. “Are you...offering to be my guardian?” She asked curiously, straightening when he mentioned that his services came for free.
“I can’t possibly accept that when we’re both struggling to learn our way around. There must be some way I can repay you,” she argued, taking a closer look at the blue sword at his side when he gestured at it. Her breath caught in her throat a bit at the familiar swirls drifting through the blade like waves. The last time she’d seen that sword, it had been in the hands of a different man with orange hair and a Besaid Aurochs uniform.
“That’s Brotherhood, isn’t it?” She asked a little sadly, stepping forward and lightly laying a hand on the dull side of the blade. “You must be close to Wakka. I didn’t think he’d ever let anyone else use it.” Seeing it made her realize how much she missed Chappu. Wakka and Lulu never liked to talk about him now that he was gone. Would they stop talking about her now that she was gone too?
“I’m sorry,” Yuna murmured finally as she took a step back. “I’m keeping you from your errands. Just let me know when you’re ready to head back. I'll be ready.”
Yuna spent a few minutes watching the sun creep over the tops of the trees in the distance until the sound of footsteps coming up the path behind her alerted her that her companion must have been arriving. Turning around to greet him, she took a minute to study him as he approached her with the rising sun illuminating his features. He was an incredibly tall man with a sprinkling of stubble across his jaw and blond hair that looked to be just a little longer than hers. He had an unreadable, closed-off face that intimidated her slightly, but as he drew closer, she could see that his brown eyes were kind as he gave her a small smile.
His greeting was curt, and as he extended a hand and gave his name, she had to fight a small laugh. She knew it would look rude, but he just reminded her so much of Kimahri. A man of few words. What was Kimahri doing back on Spira now that she was gone?
It was the comparison more than anything that made her give him a warm smile as she took his hand in return. “Yes. I’m Yuna. It’s an honor to meet you, Caius.” Releasing his hand, she held her staff down by her waist as she gave him a shallow bow. “Thank you so much for your help with this. They tell me that you’re a guardian?” He might be a stranger to her, but she had only the utmost respect for people who were willing to risk their lives for the sake of others.
Turning away from him slightly, Yuna considered the winding path that led out of Torensten, flushing slightly as she decided that she should be honest with him. “I’m afraid that I might have to rely on you for direction quite a bit,” she confided. “I haven’t really had to leave Torensten yet. I only recently woke up in Zephon. But I'll do my best to help in any way I can before we arrive.” Hopefully Caius didn’t mind serving as her guide along the way. She was eager to finally get a look at the lands that lay beyond the city.
As Yuna explained how she’d woken up outside of Torensten last night, Tidus pulled an apple out of the grocery bag he held in one hand and took a loud bite. Despite how serious the situation was, Yuna had to suppress a slight laugh at how casual he was. They might never be able to return to Spira, but this boy didn’t seem to be letting it get to him too much. At any rate, he seemed to be trying to stay in good spirits. Maybe she should take a page from his book. Yuna felt like she’d done nothing but mull over her situation since she’d arrived.
After she finished talking, Tidus gestured for her to follow him, and she stepped after him a bit curiously, weaving through the crowded streets as he started up his own story. It made sense to her that he’d woken up on the coast. She couldn’t have said why, but something about the way he bounced past the people moving around them reminded her of a wave drifting through the sea. She could easily picture him near the water. What had he done for a living back on Spira? His tanned skin suggested that he spent a lot of time outdoors.
“Sin...not a problem?” She repeated after him, not quite believing it, but one look around her told her that he was probably right. The strangers wandering past them sometimes looked tired, or expressionless, or in a rush, but there wasn’t the same note of hopelessness floating around. The marketplace was crowded and noisy and a generally happy place. People were laughing. There wasn’t a hint of despair to be found. This was a world without Sin.
The thought made her stop in her tracks. Though she quickly caught herself and resumed walking behind Tidus, she felt more somber than she did before. This was what Spira could have been. This was what Spira maybe never would be now that she was here. Not unless another summoner died in her place.
“We need a way back,” she murmured before perking up at the rest of Tidus’ story. He claimed that where he was from ‘wasn’t important,’ but Yuna knew a brush-off when she heard one. He was hiding something. She looked at him a little closer but couldn’t find anything to distrust about him. He had one of the friendliest faces she’d ever seen, and her cheeks felt a little warm when he looked back at her and she realized that his eyes were the same color as the waters that surrounded Besaid. She only felt more flustered when he brought up his living arrangements and that Griselda could probably give her a room too.
“Really? Thank you so much. I do need a place to sleep. I managed to find somewhere last night after I helped an injured man by the road, but I don’t have anything permanent yet,” she explained as she looked up at him again. Maybe she shouldn’t have trusted him when he was so clearly hiding something, but it was hard not to when his grin was so open. She smiled back at him, though it quickly faded when he brought up her spotty memory.
“We’ve...met?” She slowed to a stop and looked him over with a slight frown, trying to place the name or face somewhere in her past before slowly shaking her head. His personality was so distinctive. She was sure that he would have stood out even if she’d met him in a crowd.
“I’m sorry. I don’t remember,” she murmured, trying to be polite instead of disagreeing with him before moving on to his second question. “To be honest, I’m not entirely sure what the last thing I was doing on Spira was,” she confided reluctantly. “I know I must have been on Besaid. I had just recently become a summoner…” Had she left on her pilgrimage yet? Her brows furrowed slightly as she considered it, walking a few paces past him as she thought about it. She couldn’t have left for Kilika yet. She’d remember if she’d passed her second trial, wouldn’t she?
Yuna started to turn back around to face Tidus, when her breath caught in her throat a bit as she looked back at him. It was his eyes that did it. Yuna could picture those flecks of blue looking up at her on the temple dais before she’d lost consciousness and fallen into Kimahri’s arms.
“How could I have forgotten? Of course I remember you,” Yuna said, excitement at seeing a familiar face rushing through her as she came back down the street and stopped right in front of him. “You’re the boy who burst into the temple during my trial. You were the talk of Besaid.” Had she ever gotten to thank him? If not, then she'd have to correct that.
After a few weeks in Torensten, Yuna had started to adjust to life in the bustling city. The people here could be incredibly friendly, at least once she stopped asking questions about temples or Sin that no one understood. People even seemed sympathetic when they learned that she had popped in from another world--it didn’t seem to be so unheard of in Zephon--and she was grateful that there were other people around who understood her plight.
Yuna was even starting to be able to make a name for herself with her white magic. Though no one seemed to know what a summoner was, they had plenty of need for a healer, and she was more than happy to lend her skills to whoever needed it. Even though she needed a way to support herself, she still felt guilty taking money for her services. She had become a summoner to save whoever she could, not to profit off of people’s suffering, so she traded for meals and lodging instead whenever she could. Yuna was even starting to be happy in her new life.
And yet...something was missing.
She missed the sound of the waves hitting the shore in Besaid. She missed the way that Wakka would come in laughing from his Blitzball training and ruffle her hair in the way she hated. She missed the way that Lulu would chide her for skipping meals to study. And there was someone else she missed. She was sure of it, but the harder she tried to picture his face, the more it seemed to slip away from her. But even if she couldn’t remember him, Yuna still missed him with an ache that never seemed to go away.
But more than anything, she missed having a purpose. Her life’s goal had been to become a summoner. To defeat Sin. To end Spira’s suffering. Now, Spira might as well have been a million miles away. She might never see her home again, let alone be able to save it. If she couldn’t do that, then what the point? What could she do in Zephon to find meaning?
Maybe it was Yuna’s existential crisis that led her to accept a job in the wilds outside of Torensten.
“We sent a delegation to Provo that was supposed to return yesterday.” The man who had come to see her at the inn was dressed officially with firmly pressed clothes and a distressed voice. “Last we heard, they were diverted towards the Headstone Forest due to an earthquake. We’re worried they might have been caught in it or run into trouble out that way.”
“Of course,” Yuna found herself saying as she clasped her hands together and and gave him a slight bow. “I’ll do my best to find them and heal anyone who needs it.”
That was how she found herself standing near the city limits of Torensten with her staff in one hand and a bag thrown over one shoulder. The sun had risen recently, and she watched its rays creep over the treetops in the distance as the man finished briefing her on the location.
“They should be less than a day’s journey to the northeast. I don’t believe they would have made it all the way to the forest.”
Yuna nodded in understanding before perking up at his next words.
“I’ve heard you’re new to the area, but there can often be monsters out that way. It can be dangerous to travel alone. And since you don’t know the way, we’ve hired a mercenary to protect you.”
“You hired me a guardian?” She asked in surprise as her thoughts flickered to Kimahri, Wakka, and Lulu. It made her feel strangely homesick, and she was quiet for a moment before she realized the man was still looking at her expectantly.
“Will that be a problem?”
“Oh! No, I don’t mind working with someone.” Really, she even preferred it. Travelling was lonely work, and she knew what could be waiting for her when she found the missing group. They might not even be alive, and she preferred to face that with someone else.
“Thank you for considering my safety. I look forward to traveling with them.” Yuna smiled at him and glanced back to the horizon as she waited for this mysterious stranger to show up.
