Lenna had been like a spotlight of sunshine through the storm in Faris’ heart. No longer did he spend ever evening in rundown bars, wasting away the hours with sour breath and worse company. No longer did he feel compelled to throw himself at fights and confrontations, to get his blood pumping with adrenaline and to finally feel alive again after so long alone. With Lenna back in his life, he no longer had a hole to fill with liquor and bad decisions.

No, now he only did that when he wanted to.

”You lads said you’re only in town for the week? Aye, then let’s get more drinks going! I’ve not had a proper round with pirates in ages!”

Faris laughed with the rest of them, tilting his head to the side and leaning his chair back with one foot. Not too long ago, Faris had lived in places like this -- musty bars with slick surfaces, tarnished windows, and the persistent smell of salt. The call for ale had been to him like a declaration of family, these tables had been everything from a strategy room to a meeting hall to shelter for a small child to scurry under, pretending she couldn’t be seen.

Still, as Faris took another shot of cheap whiskey, he couldn’t help the twinge of pain his heart. These were pirates, yes, but they weren’t his pirates. Not his family and not his crew. As much as it felt the same, they’d be gone in another four days or so, and Faris would be left behind again to abandoned bars and empty glasses.

”WHERE'S ME DRINK BOY? I'VE BEEN WAITING NEARLY A QUARTER HOUR!" A great bellow came from across the tables and Faris winced at the noise. A monster of a man swung his arms in rage, barely contained by the stool that supported him. Faris sat up a little straighter and gave the kind of stern look he’d have used on his own crew.

”Now, there’s no need for that,” Faris started, but his voice was quickly drowned out by an agreeing chorus of voices accompanied by the banging of fists on tables so Faris just shook his head and drank what was left in front of him. He didn’t have any authority here, after all, and it wasn’t a scene he was unfamiliar with. It’d ultimately be harmless fun so long as the bartender didn’t make any more mistakes.

There was a crash of glass, a shout, and then a roar of rage. Faris looked up in time to see the monster of a man rising, something (or rather someone) held in his fist as he threw the poor boy against a wall. A swell of shouts rose to meet them, pushing, provoking, trying to slide the man off the edge, and for a moment, Faris could only blink at the chaos.

He was too drunk for this.

"AY. You think you're funny, mate. Trying to make look the fool? We should show these land-lover what we do to those who make the Captain look foolish, shouldn't we boys?" Cheers answered him, and Faris sighed, rising unsteadily to his feet. He knew this scene and he knew how it ended. Either they’d beat the poor boy to a pulp or he’d end up floating face down in the bay. Faris rolled his shoulder, teetered back and forth to find his balance, and then used his chair as a step to climb over the table, step off it by the monster’s side, and approach him without caution.

”That’s enough now,” Faris said, unsure if his words would carry over the chanting and the hollers and the cheers. He reached out a hand to pull at the man’s shoulder. ”The lad’s been proper scared as it is. There's no need for-?”

A fist the size of a meat-cleaver flew towards his face.

Faris cursed and ducked to avoid the worst of it, glancing at the bartender only long enough to see him fall to the ground now that the man’s hands were occupied. ”You’re picking a fight with me?” Faris gave a loud and wild laugh, side-stepping into a more open space to keep himself from getting cornered. ”Are you daft? I’m a Warrior of Light, lad! It won’t end well for you!”

Whether it was the rage, the cheers, or the liquor, the man didn’t heed Faris’ warning, and in fact, Faris didn’t want him to. There was something about the heavy air, the chanting, and the swing of blows that got his heart pumping in a way that nothing else could. ”I don’t give a rat’s ass what you are!” The man squared himself to face Faris, cheeks splotched with red, eyes blazing. ”You don’t mess with the captain!” He gave another roar and pulled a wicked looking knife from his belt. Faris tilted his head and grinned back in challenge.

”You’ve got that right at least,” he said, stepping back into range of the more open tables. ”Maybe you’re a little less of a dullard than I thought!”

The man yelled his rage and charged forward, a hulking bull of a man with two hundred pounds on Faris and towering at least a foot taller. Still, Faris didn’t move. Instead he cocked his head, and awaited the captain’s attack. His blood pounded hot with power.

There was a flash of light, and in an instant, Faris felt his cotton tunic harden, elongate, and shape around him. He felt his bracers mold into hard iron and his bandana reach around his head in an elaborate helm. A shaft of light erupted from his hand and then he felt a familiar weight drop into it. The captain didn’t have time to slow, didn’t have time to so much as pull the lunge of his knife before Faris caught the blade with the shaft of a spear and deflected it to the side.

Where there had once been an unarmed and lithe looking pirate now stood a full equipped dragoon. The bar went silent.

”It occurs to me that I haven’t given a proper introduction,” Faris said, staring down the man with a smirk. ”I’m Faris. Captain Faris Scherwiz, if a name be important to you! A Warrior of Light and the Crimson Dragoon who fought toe to toe with that fiend Chaos in this very city! I’ve brawled my way across three worlds and back, and I’ve brought down devils the kind that would send you cowering in your sleep! So I’ll ask again, will you stand down or are you so brash you’d charge into the fire if it meant keeping your pride?”

For a moment, the captain could only stare at him, bug-eyed and slack jawed, before finally he relented, muttering something about this “not being worth it” before slinking back to the table. The rest of his crew said nothing, but eyes Faris with a mix of caution and disdain. Faris pointed his spear at them and nodded. ”Maybe you’ve got half a brain, after all,” he said. ”Aye, you think twice before you terrorize a poor lad like this again! Your blades may be sharp, but there’s always a man with sharper.”

ulla

Lenna offered him food before she did anything else. Even without her memory, Faris was always astounded by the depths of her kind heart -- whether it was small gestures for a friend, throwing herself into the fire for strangers, or even trudging through a mountain for the sake of a dragon. Faris smiled to himself at her offer. ”Maybe a little,” he said even though his stomach felt nearly hollow. ”Don’t worry yourself about it.”

Lenna slid to his side and wrapped her arms around him in a casual, almost natural embrace. Faris blinked at the touch but then patted her back, smiling sheepishly at her small show of compassion. This kind of touch wasn’t something he was used to -- not even with his own sister -- but he couldn’t deny it made him feel a little warmer inside. As Lenna pulled away, he couldn’t help the surge of affection that swelled in his chest just watching her.

Lenna was too kind for the harsh world they lived in. Faris would never let any harm fall upon her.

Lenna touched at the paper she’d been reading, tilting her head thoughtfully. ”Aye. I think I saw a few things that could help us out,” she said. ”Someone is paying quite good to remove some bandits and monsters. I think we could take care of it rather easily.”

”Bandits?” Faris sat upright, eyebrows raised. ”You’re sure you’re-? I’ll take care of it myself! You don’t have to do a thing! I’d only be gone a few days at most, and you’ve yet to master the lot of your crystals!” Something fluttered in the pit of his stomach. He'd known this would come eventually. Lenna had never been the type to just sit around and wait for everything to be done for her. While he’d always admired her determination, Faris couldn’t help but curse it now.

For all the ways that this Lenna was the same, she wasn’t the Warrior of Light she’d once been. She could still call on a few powers when she needed them (the dancer class, for instance), but she’d lost that finesse and power that had fought toe to toe with him against that fiend Exdeath. She just didn’t have the same experience anymore, and a fighter without experience was nothing more than a dullard waving about a sword.

”Have you been practicing your magic? Your jobs? Which of the crystals’ve you managed by now? I don’t think there should be a ’we’ in this until you’ve got something that could keep the wolves at bay.” Even as he questioned her, she’d already drifted towards their small kitchen nook and was cooking again. Making it for him. His stomach turned.

If anything hurt her, he swore on all the high seas of two worlds and back he’d make them pay.

Lenna turned the conversation back to him and Faris crossed his arms, still seated with his legs stretched around the back of the dining chair. ”I was looking for work,” he admitted. ”It’s something I need to get done, but I still don’t know if you’re ready for it. There’s a lot more to a brawl than just slinging your spells about or your blade for that matter. And if something goes wrong…” Faris gave Lenna a dark look. ”It’s not something I want for you.”

ulla

The sea called to him when he closed his eyes. Its rolling waves. Its lashing breath. Faris had smelled phantom salt while leading Lenna through the town square. He’d heard the echo of its roars while he’d booked the two of them a room for the night, and he could almost feel its soothing lull beneath him as he’d tried to sleep. Even with Lenna in the bed beside him, his mind refused to clear. No, there was a storm in his heart, and he needed time to let it pass. Time, moonlight, and the sea.

Faris didn’t mean to come so far. It must’ve been over a mile out from the city now, but his feet hadn’t stopped from the moment he’d silently asked his sister’s forgiveness and slipped out into the night. He needed to look at it. Just one glimpse and then maybe his heart would be set at ease. Faris felt his boots slip on the uneven terrain as he marched a course for what he knew was over these hills. Past the waist-tall grasses and the groves of moonlit cricket song, past the rustling of leaves underfoot and the rocky crags that made up his current upward climb. He didn’t need a road -- the sky guided him, and this course...Yes, if the maps were to be believed, this was where he’d find the sea like a lost love, waiting.

Faris heard it before he saw it and he smelled it before that. As he rounded the hilltop, he saw the water stretch before him in all its inky darkness. His footing was hard to find on the way down, and more than once his boot caught between sharp corners, but he’d have hardly noticed if he’d twisted his ankle right then and there.

This was what he’d wanted. Silence but for the crash of the waves. Solitude but for himself and his thoughts. He’d wanted a place to feel, a place to mull things over, a place to…

To…

Faris frowned as the waters lapped at the edge of his boots. He didn’t feel any better.

The waves stretched on like aged glass reflecting nothing and reaching far past the horizon. It swallowed him in its dark void, and for a moment, trapped between sky and sea, Faris felt as though he might lose himself to the nothingness. Above him, the endless expanse of stars curved around him in a great glass dome. Beyond him, something clouded and incomprehensible. It pressed in around him, that blackness. Like malice taken form.

Like the Rift.

Faris shivered at the thought and rubbed at his forearms. ”What kind of devil’s taken you?” he muttered to himself. ”Wincing away from the waves? We’ve been far beyond the horizon and more! I’ll not have such yellow thoughts!” But still, there was that lurking dread somewhere behind his lungs. Something felt wrong here. In the wind perhaps, or maybe the phase of the moon…

Faris looked to it with all its shining silver and sighed. It wasn't the sea he longed for, but the shores of home.

ulla