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year 5, quarter 3
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You've got a lot of brass, or mayhap you're just lacking in brains!
The boy talked, but Faris wasn’t really listening. His ears were stuffed with the sound of waves. His eyes were on creaking wood and the edge of the horizon. Still, he couldn’t help but laugh as the boy insisted, ”…I do have my own gil, you know,” under his breath like a mumbling child. Faris glanced at him sideways and cast him an appreciative grin.
”Aye, I bet. But this is my bright idea, not yours. I wouldn’t ask you to pay for indulging me.” No, Faris would never ask. He’d do it himself or he’d take what he needed -- but he’d never ask. There was a sort of pride on the line when it came to asking. Faris didn’t need any help with securing his own choices. What else was there but weakness?
”I just need a time on the sea. Maybe now that I’ve got the gil…” Faris trailed off, watching the waves longingly, before glancing at the boy beside him. ”Er, and it’ll do you good too, I suppose. You could learn a thing or two. In case you ever need a quick escape down the shoreline. Saved my life the week I got here. But that’s a tale for another night.”
He was rambling as he so often did. “Get on with it,” the other pirates would have told him. He would have told the same to himself, truth be told. But he felt strangely on edge here so close the coast. Like his feet were dancing on needles.
To hear the waves, to taste the salt on the air, and to know he’d never have a chance at a ship. Aye, that was a certain kind of hell.
Faris sighed and searched for the smaller boats past all the ships and the masts and the bustle. He knew what he wanted and it didn’t take long to find it -- a small sailboat meant for only a few men to take no farther than the coast. He eyed its size irritably, but it couldn’t be helped. He wasn’t about to afford anything else, and besides, he’d need a whole crew to pilot the kind of ship he wanted.
So he swallowed the storm in his heart and set up the sail to his liking. His felt his jaw twitch at the sound of the ships nearby, but he could have done this kind of work in his sleep. In fact, he practically did for all the attention he paid it. His mind was on other things -- Tycoon, Lenna, that beast Chaos -- and he didn’t come back to himself until he was awakened by the chilled, salty spray of the waves. How long had it taken him to guide the boat from the harbor? Already, the beach was like another horizon.
He laughed. Big or small, there was a certain kind of freedom to this.
The boat rocked with the current, jumping unsteadily with each wave. Faris closed his eyes and steered by sheer instinct. Perched at the back of the boat with a rudder in his hand, it reminded him of his younger days before he was trusted behind the wheel of a proper ship. Back when he must’ve been barely eleven, learning to navigate the seas for himself.
Once they were a distance away, Faris suddenly remembered the boy. Ace. He glanced at him as the winds calmed and their speed slowed. ”You must not have much to do here,” he said. ”To have come along with me. Either that, or you should really learn to tell a man no.”
You've got a lot of brass, or mayhap you're just lacking in brains!
[attr="class","itsover"] Faris didn’t know what he’d expected from the knight. Another story, maybe. A dark silence, heavy with memories neither wanted to have. Or maybe the man could’ve surprised him and changed the whole mood around -- made another joke of his own and gone on to tell him all about that princess just like he’d asked.
Faris didn’t like to think that he was a man who was easily caught off guard, but he never could’ve expected what happened next.
At first, it looked like the knight was going to say something, but whether he lost his thought or never had one to begin with was impossible to say because his mouth quickly closed again. Faris gave him a moment to think, swirling his rapidly diminishing glass moodily, until he noticed that the knight’s grip had tightened on his own drink. His fingers were trembling.
”You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Faris eyed him cautiously, but the knight barely seemed to notice him for all his sudden tension. The man gasped, his eyes widened, and suddenly he’d thrown himself to his feet without even a word of explanation.
Faris recoiled as the table shook to brace him. ”What are you-?” he started and then noticed the man’s expression. Haunted. Alarmed. Lips drawn, eyes wide, with a ghastly white pallor. Faris stared back at him, eyebrows raised in alarm. ”Forget a ghost, you look like you’ve seen the devil himself!” He leaned forward as though to close the gap widening between them. ”What’s gotten into you?” he asked, but the knight didn’t answer. Instead he just stood there, still as stone with that petrified look on his face before he turned away, muttering something about needing a moment as he disappeared into the crowd.
Faris could only stare after him. Somehow, he felt partially at fault for this.
It looked like the knight was headed towards the bar. Good, it looked like he needed a drink more than Faris did. He let out a low breath and slumped back in his chair, extending his legs out under the table and eyeing the bubbles in his ale with a dark eye. Well, that’s what he got for pushing the topic, wasn’t it? He knew what it was like to recount the past on those dark nights when his heart was a monsoon of storm clouds and thunder. He knew how it was to want nothing more than to forget for an hour and a day, yet he’d still asked his questions. Still tried to wedge his way into the knight’s memories, and it had sent him over the edge.
How would Faris have fared if the talk had drifted towards Syldra sinking below the waves or the father he’d met but never known? Probably no better than the knight did now. Lenna would have called him tactless, the way he’d handled the man’s fragile peace. Brash as ever, she’d have said, and she wouldn’t be wrong. Faris had never learned how to handle sensitive matters, and it had struck him once again between the eyes.
But what was it he’d said to bring it all toppling down? Something familiar, maybe. Something to remind him. Faris brought the last of his drink to his lips, quickly gulped it down, and slammed the glass so heavily against the table that it nearly cracked. He wasn’t drunk enough for this.
A bottle was dropped in front of him like a gift from the gods. Faris blinked between the shot glass, the bottle topped off with amber, and the knight unsteadily slipping back into his seat. ”Whiskey?” The smell struck him the moment the liquor hit the bottom of his glass, and he couldn’t help but grin. ”It’s like you read my mind.”
”I lied.” The knight spoke so suddenly that Faris paused, arm half outstretched towards the glass. ”There is something I remember. Before the crystals. Before Cornelia.”
”Oh.” Was that what this was about then? Some unpleasant memory bobbing towards the surface like a ravaged fish? Faris suddenly felt awkward with his fingers not quite touching his shot glass -- caught between somber silence and the phantom taste of whiskey on the back of his tongue. Would the knight take offense if he drank before the story was through?
Hopefully not because the knight picked up his own and drained it in a single go. He winced at the taste -- didn’t everyone, their first few times? Faris couldn’t help a smirk at the sight of it -- before he started with the one word that could have thrown Faris off guard.
”Exdeath.”
”Eh?”
”I have crossed blades him before -- not in this world, nor yours.”
”What’s that about Exdeath?”
”But in an endless cycle of battle and war. Those are my first memories, and I believe that … That something similar is happening in this world.”
”Hold on, you crossed blades with him? That fiend? Exdeath?” Faris stared at him as though he was speaking nonsense. Well, because he was speaking nonsense! Faris wasn’t a stranger to new worlds -- he’d traveled across them on meteors, after all -- but Exdeath was dead! Swallowed by the Void and then spit out and killed twice over! Or...was he? ”You’re saying that fiend got tossed somewhere else when we were through with him? You’ve got the right devil? A hulking suit of twisted metal? Voice like the depths if they made a habit of gargling rocks? With a penchant for ripping open holes to the Rift? That Exdeath?”
It felt insane. Nonsensical, even, but insane and nonsensical were the new laws of the land, and they had been since before he’d woken up on these shores. It wasn’t like they’d known what’d happened to Exdeath after he’d fallen into the Void, and if Faris wanted to be shocked by other worlds, it was about two years too late for that. Still, there was something else that the knight was holding onto. Something Faris still didn’t understand.
“If it was your world that Exdeath attempted to destroy, to throw into the Rift…” the knight spoke slowly but with a bite so sharp that Faris couldn’t help but lean forward as though on a hook. ”Then you, perhaps, were a warrior of light alongside another young man I was once allied with. A friend.
“Bartz Klauser.”
”BARTZ?!”
In a second, Faris was on his feet, palms slammed into the table, leaning forward, eyes wide, staring with his mouth open. That single word was like a current of its own, like a thunder strike on a stormy night through a wooden mast caught on fire. Bartz! Someone here knew Bartz!
”You know him?! You’ve met him?! You’ve seen him?! That dolt! Where is he? Where did you see him last? I’ve been searching everywhere for a familiar face and you’re the one I hear it from? Why couldn’t he find me on his own if he’s seen you? He’s like a wandering wind and just as predictable!” Faris let out a rough breath between his teeth -- an attempt to gather his thoughts, but no. They were still as scattered as rain on the sea. Bartz. His name echoed like a gong between his ears. He couldn’t get in a single word otherwise.
”He was with you -- what? -- in this other world of yours? Somewhere else? Aye, I’ve heard taller tales, but what was he doing falling into other worlds like that? He’d have had us worried sick if we knew a thing about it! He was always coming and going without a word against it, but if we knew he was off on another planet -- Aye! -- I’d’ve struck him for going off without us! He’s a mess of trouble, that one! And now he tried to leave me behind going off to another world again? I’ll strike him twice for that! He hasn’t got a lick of sense on his own, and if I find him here-!” Faris’ eyes narrowed as he looked the knight over. What else was he keeping from him? Something else about his friends, maybe? Only then did he notice that half the bar was watching him. Had he really raised his voice so much? Faris let out a short huff and let himself fall back into his chair, arms crossed.
”I’ll draw my sword beside him.” The words came almost muttered as Faris eyed his whiskey moodily. ”If the two of you were off fighting Exdeath, I’d’ve hoped he’d think to bring me along. That’s all.”
Oh good. He's being less of a horrible influence than I thought.
You've got a lot of brass, or mayhap you're just lacking in brains!
The boy, Ace, didn’t have a plan, but he wasn’t entirely lost. He wanted information, it seemed. He didn’t even say he was looking for his friends, just that he’d find them if they were here and he could take care of himself. Faris nodded his appreciation. ”Aye. A man has to stand on his own two feet,” he said, but that still didn’t give him much. He wondered if he’d heard a single other person with the same ideas -- not looking for their friends, but just continuing forward on their own. It was admirable. Even Faris couldn’t do it on some days -- not when he thought about what might have happened to his crew without him and not when he thought about Lenna. His sister was a strong girl -- one of the strongest he knew -- but she had a habit of getting herself into trouble. And unlike Faris, trouble wasn’t usually where she wanted to be.
For once, Faris was the one caught quiet and unaware by a question. ”How did you end up in the sea?” Well that was an easy one and not one he minded retelling.
”Why, I fell in!” he said. ”When I was too young to even have a full set of teeth. My papa, he took us out for a flight on his dragon. The wind must’ve caught me because the first thing I remember is the pull of the waves. I didn’t know a thing about it until I found my sister as a Warrior of Light. But here I am. I clawed my way from the sea and I’ll claw just about anything else that tries to drag me under too!” There was a fire in his words as he finished. Something about that story always lit him with confidence, but it was easier to pull yourself out of the sea than to find your way back home. It took him just about fifteen years to do it last time and he’d come back with a different name, a different face, and was just about the opposite of the innocent daughter his family’d lost. How long would it take him this time? And would anyone recognize him when he managed it?
”But that was a long time ago.” Faris looked up to the sky and watched the clouds drift into the violet light of dusk. ”It’s funny, the things that can change you. If I’d never fallen off the dragon, I’d’ve never turned out a pirate. Instead, I’d’ve…” He touched at his scarf and felt the bulge of the pendant beneath it. His family’s pendant -- the one clue he’d ever had to them. His sister’s had looked just the same when he’d taken her hostage. A princess would’ve fetched a high price from the king if it hadn’t turned out they’d all shared blood.
The wind sharpened as it swept from the loose locks of his hair. Salt. He could’ve recognized the smell of the sea from a half mile away.
”Here we are. Close now.” Faris glanced back at Ace and nodded confidently before hurrying ahead. He’d be there soon on the docks of a well-worn harbor. He could already see it in the back of his eye -- a dozen ships rolling in the bay, the crash of the waves into rocky banks, the scent of salt and fish to strong his tongue curled with the flavor. His heart pounded with the familiarity of it all, and as he turned the corner onto the harbor’s edge, he wasn’t disappointed.
”There it is.” The words tumbled out almost of their own volition. ”It’s just like home.” He felt his knees weaken with the force of it. Of the ships and the hollering and the sailors packing and unpacking their cargo. This was a lawful port -- there were no pirates here -- but it was a sight as familiar to him as his own childhood. This is what he’d been missing all this time. This was everything he’d wanted and more.
He took a step towards the bay. The rolling tides called to him. ”If I could just take a ship…” There were so many here with towering masts and polished hulls. The kind that could take you across the world. ”...Do you think I could sail back home?”
They couldn’t know, could they? Not unless they tried? What if Tycoon was only just an ocean away. What would he say to Lenna if she knew he’d wasted so much time?
To their right, a band of sailors edged past them and started into town. They barely glanced at Faris as they passed, and Faris turned to watch them go. He wasn’t among a band like that. Not a crew, not anyone. It would take dozens to man a ship like that at the very least, and Faris…
He was very much alone.
”Well.” His voice came out husky under his breath. He tried not to look at anyone. ”There’s no use asking questions that can’t be answered.” His eyes wandered past the ships again -- about eight in working condition, but they wouldn’t be helmed by only two people. They were too much for that. Faris sighed. ”Aye. You want to see what it’s like to sail?” he asked and then muttered, ”I think I’ve still got the gil.”
There wasn’t any use in trying for crimes he couldn’t pull off, and he wouldn’t go breaking laws and property if there wasn’t anything in it for him but the thrill. He started forward without glancing back. ”Come on,” he grumbled. ”There ought to be a sailboat we can use.”
You've got a lot of brass, or mayhap you're just lacking in brains!
The boy didn’t have anywhere else to be.
Perfect.
”Aye, not much to do around here unless you go hunting for trouble. Though just staying alive’s a chore for some I’ve seen. Being dropped here without a friend or a gil to your name? It’s like a babe falling straight into the sea. There’s nothing to do for it but swim unless you feel like drowning.”
Faris sighed. He could still remember the crash of the ocean waves if he thought hard enough. He thought he’d die, lost alone in those icy waters without so much as a piece of driftwood to keep him afloat. And then the pirate ship had found him. The rest had been history.
”You know, this isn’t my first time tossed into the waters.” His boots treaded a steady rhythm across pavement as he walked. He glanced towards the boy before continuing. ”That’s how I turned out to be a pirate. I was lost at sea until they pulled me from the depths. Didn’t know a thing about myself for ages. So I can’t complain much now, I think.”
They’d reached the riverside now and the canals edged with merchant boats littering the water like street stands. The air carried a musty smell like fish and old wood rot, but it wasn’t entirely unpleasant. It smelled more of mud than the salty tinge of the sea, but water was water and Faris loved it all the same. He couldn’t help a smirk as they passed a boat selling wickerware and baskets. He’d spent one of his first weeks in this place hijacking a boat just like it and sending the town guards on a boat chase after him. Time had a way of passing before you knew it.
”Do you have a plan? Anything you want to do?” It wasn’t a question he asked often, but the boy seemed lost. Maybe some direction would do him good. ”It’s best to have something in mind. I’ve seen too many people adrift just hoping a friend’ll run into them by chance. It’s not a way I can take.”
No, instead Faris had spent his time chasing adrenaline and villains alike. Not that he’d had much luck on the latter. He hadn’t seen head nor tail of Chaos since Torensten had caught ablaze, and as for the dragons…
Well, he didn’t know what to do about those right now.
”You’ve got a name, don’t you? I’ve been talking for ages and I still don’t know a thing about you.” Faris glanced back at the boy and raised an eyebrow. ”So what is it? Tell me something new.”
I'm so sorry. I'm corrupting your poor, innocent baby
You've got a lot of brass, or mayhap you're just lacking in brains!
The boy hummed and shook his head. He didn’t have any adventures to tell of, at least none like Faris’. ”Only war. Pirates, warriors of light - I've never heard of them. What are they?"
”You’ve never heard of a pirate?” Faris asked so he didn’t have to comment on the first part. What kind of boy only knew war? It was something too sensitive to ask and too sad to think about. ”A sailor, lad. A less than law-abiding one.” Faris crossed his arms and tossed his head to the side. ”It means standing on your own two feet and carving your own path, rules be damned. There’s a freedom to it, but it’s not easy. And of course you need a ship.”
Faris eyed the horizon in longing. Would he ever feel the uneasy sway of a ship deck beneath him again? Maybe if he got ahold of one, he could sail it straight out of this place and back to Tycoon. Maybe.
"I'm not from here, either."
The boy’s confession came so sudden that Faris could only blink in surprise. ”Eh?” He glanced him over and cocked his head. He certainly wouldn't have guessed it himself. He was used to the way that the foreigners like him looked, and this boy wasn’t it. He was too put together. Too…well-mannered for it, but he supposed they came in all sizes. Not all of them could be knights, scoundrels, and warriors.
The boy called his world “Orience,” though Faris had never heard of it. Honestly, he’d have been surprised if it had, but just the thought that they shared a thing in common lit him with a spark of flame. ”No kidding,” he said, grinning at him. ”Why, we’re two of a kind! There’s not enough of us running around, I’d say. It’s like being the only sober one at a party.”
He tossed his hair over his shoulder before appraising the boy eagerly. ”Well, you’ve no choice but to sit down and talk with me now, lad. We can swap stories and tales of home. Have a round of drinks if you’re able or…” He paused. His thoughts were still on the sea and the freedom of the waves. He longed for it like a lost lover, but it was beyond him now.
Or was it? Hadn’t he heard tell of a harbor not far from here?
His eyes set on the boy as he nodded his resolution. ”Aye, I’ve a better idea.” He gestured towards the a southern road with his chin and started off, gesturing for the boy to follow. ”I’ve not been to this town in a while, and that calls for a special occasion. I’ll show you a ship if you’ve got the time for it. Take it for a whirl around the bay. You wanted to know about pirates, didn’t you?”
Yes, that was it. He’d hijack a ship and sate his longing and his boredom in one fell swoop. And the kid could come along too if he wanted. It would be fun for him, he thought. Faris had been about half as old when he’d been apart of his first ship-jacking, and it’d been a night to remember.
You've got a lot of brass, or mayhap you're just lacking in brains!
For a moment, there was only Faris at the center of the universe, held in rapt attention by the world. Then he blinked and the moment had passed. The crowd erupted into thunderous applause.
There was a flurry of faces and brightened eyes, all asking the same things. Would he play again? Did he have anything else? Who was this mysterious man with the golden lute and a magical touch? Part of him wished he’d tried this months ago, but another shrank away from the attention. As much as Faris loved acts of bravado, his place had never been the stage. He was much more at home with a sword in his hand or barking orders from the top of a windswept mast. Still, the people seemed to like it. And if he owed anyone anything, it was these people who he’d saved and left behind.
So he grinned at their requests, told them, ”Aye, I’ve got enough songs to last ‘til dawn!” and played for as long as his patience would allow. He played ballads that strengthened the spirit and marches that inspired the warrior within. He played songs that quickened the rhythm and one particularly useful rhyme that they’d learned from an odd man with a penchant for the piano. Still, while he could certainly play until dawn, his audience could not. They slowly filtered out as obligations called them, and finally he was left with only a handful of faithful listeners -- most of which were children. Still, he didn’t mind answering their questions and telling them everything he knew. From his adventures on the high seas to his battle against the evil warlock, Exdeath to the several times he’d flown on the back of a dragon. They stared at him with eyes as wide as gil coins, and only one of them thought to call him out on it.
”No way! There’s no way he really flew on a dragon!” the boy said, and Faris just caught him in a half-grin.
”Course I did,” he said. ”Haven’t you ever heard tell of the Warriors of Light?”
They hadn’t, but he didn’t have the time to tell them about it. They were dragged away by their mother just minutes later, and Faris left about where he started. Alone, bored, and aimless. He sighed and held up his lyre to the rays of the setting sun. How long had it been since he’d used the bard class for anything? He’d always berated Bartz for trying it in the middle of a rough fight. But then again, he always liked to hide and try to play his songs from the bushes.
"That...was a...nice song."
”Eh?” Faris almost could have missed the compliment for how quietly it was muttered, but it looked like he wasn’t alone just yet. There was another boy still waiting there, just a little younger than himself it seemed with scruffy blonde hair and clothes that looked like they’d been pressed that morning. He kept his hands shoved deep in his pockets and only barely dared to look at him.
”Was this...something you experienced? Or a tale you made?" He was a timid one, that was for sure. Even now, Faris could barely hear him, but he thought to humor him anyway. Anyone could rise up to a fight if they needed to, and he had a debt to pay the people of this town.
”It’s my life, sure as the sun rises.” Faris put a hand on his hip and cocked his head to the side. ”I’m from beyond these shores if you hadn’t figured it out. A place called Tycoon originally, though I’m a pirate by trade. And a Warrior of Light if the situation calls.” The boy looked so uncomfortable that Faris didn’t know exactly what to say next. Just that he should probably keep talking if he didn’t want the silence to suffocate him. So he nodded to the boy and said, ”I’m Faris. Captain Faris Scherwiz, if a name be important to you. I’ve been in these kingdoms for about a year -- maybe more. And I don’t have amnesia if that’s your next question. I don’t know what knocked the sense out of the others that landed here, but it missed me. Scared, I reckon.”
With that said, Faris cast the boy a dry grin. ”But here I am going on without a word otherwise. You must’ve had your own stories to tell. We’ve all got adventures, after all.” Even if most weren’t anything that Faris found exciting enough to bother with. It was something, at least. ”Why don’t you tell me a few of yours?”
You've got a lot of brass, or mayhap you're just lacking in brains!
It had been a long time since Faris had been back to the city on the river. A long, eventful time full of misadventures, regret, and nightmares. Still, he knew he’d have to come back eventually. His conscience wouldn’t let him off the hook.
Torensten. The city he’d first found over a year ago. Torensten. The city he’d helped defend but not quite well enough.
Parts of it were still in ruins from Chaos and the fires, though there were obvious attempts to rebuild. Half-stacked stone walls where there had once been rubble. Freshly sprouted grass where there’d once been nothing but dirt and ash. He tried not to look too closely at anyone here. He could stand out in a crowd, after all, and he knew the rumors had spread into legends in this place. Stories of a band of heroes driving off that great, horned fiend from their greatest destruction -- of a knight with a resolution like the sun and a crimson dragoon with a fiery nature and tangled violet hair.
Faris didn’t look anything like that now, and he refused to wear that cloak they’d given him. Instead, he traipsed through the streets in his usual blue tunic and scarf, eyeing the look of this place just as a matter of curiosity. He’d never been much for building anything. Just come in, take what you can, and move on wherever the winds might take you. But there was something almost inspiring about the change only a year could make after complete disaster. It lit something in his chest that was warmer than the storms that had brewed there lately. Something pleasant. Hopeful, almost.
Or maybe he was just going soft.
As he left the ruined side of town, there was something almost cheerful to his step. He felt like doing something while he was here. Something brave and reckless all at once -- something he didn’t need to do but wanted to all the same. His eyes fell on passing civilians. That worn-down woman didn’t look like she’d want to hear his stories, and that man on the other side of the street didn’t look like the adventuring type. There were always bars, but he was sick of drinking and brawling all the time. There was a fire lit inside of him and he couldn’t contain it. He needed something to do. Something impulsive. Something crass. Something with…
Music.
He heard it several streets down. The sound of lyrics sung sweetly over lute strings. Faris paused for only a moment before charging straight towards it.
He didn’t know what possessed him to call on the crystals then. He didn’t know exactly what he was doing at all until he spotted the bard through the parting crowd and pushed his way forward, feeling the light of the crystals engulf him even as he walked. His blue tunic melted into olive green. Light twisted around his arms into flowing white sleeves. He held out his hand and a golden lyre appeared there in a flash of white.
He was going to challenge the bard to a battle of song.
His fingers tingled with magic as they swept their way across the lyre’s strings. The notes came like petals on air -- light, quick, and beyond his control. The fire crystal had taught him everything he needed to know about the profession, and his notes had a kind of power all to themselves. He knew ballads that could rejuvenate a broken heart, choruses that could turn away evil, and erratic melodies that could send enemies into a broken-minded fury. He felt all eyes turn on him as he took his place beside the common bard and showed the man a thing or two about the power of music.
He sang about the call of the sea and its dark, raging storms. He sang about the crystals’ call and the power they’d given him. He sang about the destruction on his world -- of wind, fire, water, and earth in turn and of the rise of a great evil from beyond space. His voice was its usual husky self -- not quite masculine but not womanly either. It was just him, and while he’d never had the best of voices, the crystal’s power held it in a kind of trance and his fingers carried it on the harp strings. He lost himself in his own tale -- not in a city far from home, but on the deck of a pirate ship or fending off the devilish fiends of another world. The fight of it all welled in him like the crystal itself -- courage. The crystal he'd chosen.
Once he’d finished, silence fell on the crowd around them. Faris glanced between them all before lifting his harp triumphantly. He offered them all a sly half-grin.
”And that, lads,” he said. ”Is how you play the bard.”
You've got a lot of brass, or mayhap you're just lacking in brains!
[attr="class","itsover"] The knight didn’t answer immediately. His eyes darted away as he busied himself in his beer, drinking far faster than Faris had given him credit for. When their eyes finally met again, his carried an oddly serious tone -- even for him. Faris tilted his head as the man appraised him. All he’d asked for was a name.
Then the knight smiled. ”Please, don’t apologize,” he said. “I’m afraid I’ve not a name to give you. I do not remember it.”
”Don’t remember it?” Faris blinked in surprise before it all hit him like the stern of a capsizing ship. ”By the gods, you’ve got amnesia!” His cry came as the man stated more or less that exact thing though in different, steadier words. He couldn’t remember his home, his family, or a single thing about himself if he was to be believed, and yet here he was as held together as anyone Faris had ever seen.
”Aye, I knew a man with the same rotten luck. He was a good man -- a great one, even -- but there was something lost between his ears. He couldn’t recognize his own granddaughter when she stood right in front of him, and he cared for her more than anyone in the world.”
Faris shook his head. To think he’d run into someone else who could barely remember a thing about himself. It had taken Galuf months to recover everything he’d lost, but how long would it take this knight? And how long had it been already? ”Amnesia. Aye, that’s the devil’s luck.” Faris made a low, clicking noise with his tongue. ”There’s not a man alive that deserves it.”
The knight didn’t seem too bothered though. He just kept smiling his small smile and told him everything he did remember. Another crystal. Another kingdom. Another princess. Faris laughed at it all and tilted his head. ”Funny what those princesses can bring a man to do. She brought out the best in me even if I was just taking her for ransom.” Of course, he’d only shown an interest in her because of her pendant. Fate was a funny thing sometimes.
The knight went on, telling him that the evil they’d fought ended up coming back to haunt him. Some fiendish man had gone about trying to harness some kind of power to destroy the world. It all sounded familiar, too familiar in a way that almost made him sick to his stomach. But there was another detail that quickly distracted him from the sense of deja vu. Just a single word.
Chaos.
“Chaos, who we fought together here, and the Chaos that Garland became, are similar, but different beings. The terrible creature we clashed with in Torensten was not the knight from my world, however I ... ” The knight paused as though searching for words. “I know that Chaos, personally, as well.”
”You know him. Chaos.” For a moment, Faris could only stare at him while the words connected. ”That fiend. You’d fought him before?” It made sense in a way. No wonder he’d been so unfazed and so practiced at striking the beast down. Faris could only imagine his own reaction had he run into a demon from his own past. A demon made of wicked blue armor and twisted steel, perhaps.
”My apologies.” The knight’s words came quick, almost stumbling over each other. ”I should not have immediately jumped to such an abhorrent part of my past. I’ve much more lighthearted tales of adventure with my companions -- I have even met pirates before -- yet I…” His eyes dulled to something heavy and almost haunted. Faris look on with a dark look of his own, busying himself with his drink rather than dare interrupt the man’s thoughts. There was a time for bravado and friendly conversation, and this wasn’t one of them.
”Er…” The knight paused before glancing at him uncertainly. ”I’m sorry. If you’ve not caught on, I’ve a hard time with social know-how. Unless you wish to immediately speak about something like Chaos, I’d ask you to help me steer this conversation back to something more pleasant.”
Faris smirked faintly and shook his head. Even now, the knight was trying to keep himself composed. It was admirable even if the two of them were as opposite as sea and sky. Faris pushed a loose lock of hair behind his ear. ”We've all got our demons.” He could feel the weight of his own gaze as he glanced at the man. ”Why do you think the crystals chose their warriors in the first place? It wasn’t for the fun of it, I can tell you that.”
Faris paused to consider his options. Did the man really want him to direct the conversation elsewhere or was this the perfect chance to ask what was on his mind? He glanced at the man again before lowering his eyes back to his glass. He wouldn’t do it now. Not immediately and not when the man had such a weighted look to him. But he’d at least steer the conversation in that direction. It was easier to ask something heavy when the mood had already dropped.
”Where I’m from, there were these crystals. They were good for a lot of things, but one day they started shattering. We tried to save each and every one of them, but we didn’t do a lick of good. And with them all gone, something terrible came from the depths.” His eyes simmered on his drink. The last victim had been the king of Tycoon, a good man and...his father. They’d never gotten a chance to talk really. Not until the man was dying in front of him.
”Exdeath.” The name came bitter and harsh on Faris’ tongue. ”A warlock from beyond our world. He had a following of monsters and fiends, and he wanted nothing but ruin for his own sake. Turns out he wasn’t even human. Just a sea of evil locked in a tree and a wicked set of armor. And he just about brought everyone into the Rift.”
Faris glanced at the man before picking up his glass and swirling it moodily. He didn’t like to think about it, not between the dimensional tears and the lost friends and the many times he’d cheated death. But it wasn’t something he couldn’t talk about either. It was as much apart of him now as the warmth of the crystals themselves.
He took a long drink before setting it back on the table. ”So we’ve both had our demons,” he said again. ”I don’t mind listening to yours if you’re able. If not, then I’m sure you’ve got your own adventures to share. I’d like to know more about that princess when the mood’s brighter.” Faris chuckled to himself, but his heart wasn’t really in it. There was a storm brewing in his mind, and it would take more than his own willpower to calm it.
Post by Faris Scherwiz on Dec 12, 2017 13:23:32 GMT -6
[attr="class","oneword1"]
[attr="class","fromyou1"]@tidus2
Making progress. Faris is excitable.
You've got a lot of brass, or mayhap you're just lacking in brains!
[attr="class","itsover"] Faris had been expecting the boy to either laugh in face or throw his support behind him as enthusiastically as ever. Then he would have argued with him again, maybe given another half-hearted chide, and eventually let him do his part to help. But the boy didn’t laugh, and he wasn’t outraged either. Instead, his eyes flashed with recognition.
”Your knight didn’t happen to you this sorcerer’s name, did he?” He started before going on about “the first world he’d been to” and the first one after somewhere called Spira. Faris was about to remind him that no one knew what he was talking about before the boy silenced him with a single name. “Kuja.” The same one the knight had told him only weeks before. Faris sprung to his feet, eyes wide and lit with fire.
”Aye! That’s it! That’s the demons’ name!” He almost barked the words, exclaiming them so suddenly that he nearly missed the rest – that he was “plenty powerful” and a master of spells. ”You’ve seen him? You know that fiend? I know what he’s done and that he’s got a silver tongue like the sirens themselves, but not a thing more! You’ll have to tell me! To help! To-!” Faris paused as he caught up to his own tongue. There was so much to do. Far too much. He didn’t even know where to start.
”Nevermind the drinks. I’ll drown myself in liquor another time.” Faris sat back down, propped his elbows on the table, and leaned forward. ”You said you’d help? I think you have a fine chance at it. You’ve got a fighter’s spirit and a gut for trouble, and aye, you’re about as bright as a torch in a typhoon, but you don’t need brains to use a sword!” He laughed heartily, tossing his wet hair behind him with a grin. He’d been in a rut since his time with the knight, but he could already feel his old spirit coming back to him. It’d be a fight – an adventure – and he could feel the high of it all already.
”If you’ve got a past with the madman, you’ll have to tell me all you know. Then we’ll go looking for him together. You and me and that lass you keep talking about. Then maybe…” he trailed off, thoughtful, before nodding his approval. ”If we’re to take him on, we’ll need to make a team of it. I know some good people around this country, good fighters too. That knight was the best of them all, and if he fell by that wizard’s hand, we’ll need more than a few to take him down. I’ll seek them out. You can get started on asking questions. Then maybe…” He laughed again before shaking his head. ”Sorry, lad. I got to droning on. You asked a question, didn’t you?”
Faris tapped at his chin, considering the ceiling thoughtfully. ”I haven’t a clue as to why we’re here. For the longest time, I thought I must’ve been shipwrecked! Just washed ashore on a new land no one’d ever seen before!” He laughed again, though quieter this time. It wasn’t exactly a funny topic, but it had its own dark humor to it. ”Your guess is as good as any. A dark wizard, maybe. Or a dream. I’ve even heard tell that it’s got something to do with gods if you can believe that.” Faris shook his head again before giving the boy a knowing look. ”We’ve all got our own answers, and we’re all dullards if we think we have a clue. I try not to think about it much, and that’s the best advice I’ve got. Worrying’ll drive you mad. I’ve seen it before.” Faris nodded to him. ”The best you can do is let it be.”
Post by Faris Scherwiz on Dec 7, 2017 10:34:43 GMT -6
[attr="class","oneword1"]
[attr="class","fromyou1"]@tidus2
A new quest has appeared
You've got a lot of brass, or mayhap you're just lacking in brains!
[attr="class","itsover"] Tidus chose to sit, but he didn’t look happy about it. ”Who says I’m bragging?” he said, crossing his arms irritably. ”I was introducing myself since you just shouted me down in the street. I still don’t even know your name!” He leaned back in the same haughty manner that Faris had done only minutes ago before inexplicably brightening and leaning forward.
”Look, you told me a little about your story so I told you about mine. So c’mon, first question is what’s your name?” Faris gave him a cautious look, but the boy kept on blabbering like his mouth was run by an airship’s engine. He mentioned his friend again, how tough they both were, and how they’d both love to help before finally asking, ”So what’s the dangerous mission all about?” like it came as an afterthought.
”It’s all going out the other ear,” Faris muttered again. No matter how many times he said it, no matter how he told the boy to listen, Tidus hadn’t taken a single thing he had to say to heart. No matter what the boy said, Faris had never seen anyone who needed “the lecture to go with it” more. ”I didn’t go after you to ask for help, and you never said one word as to who I was. But have it your way.” Faris looked up to meet Tidus’ gaze, eyes still as sharp as ever. ”It’s Faris. Captain Faris Scherwiz if a name be so important to you.” He tossed his hair over his shoulder, eying the fire moodily. ”One of these days, you’ll be throwing your bets behind the wrong man and he’ll use you for it, but that’s none of my business. If you want to help then so be it. I won’t stop you from throwing yourself into the fire.”
Faris let out a breath and blew his bangs from his eyes. He hadn’t thought this might be an option, but he supposed he’d lived through weirder. There was that business with the monk in the forest, for instance, or every time he’d run into that dragoon woman. In many ways, this world was even more unpredictable than his last. As long as Tidus didn’t end up a liability, he guessed there was no harm in letting him help.
”You’ve likely seen the dragons lurking about, causing trouble and scaring the people stiff. If you’ve been around long enough, you’ll know they weren’t always there, but you’ll not know why.” Faris’ hands clenched at the thought of that night – the one he’d spent with the Warrior. He’d never seen a man so broken. ”A friend of mine was there. Aye, he took part in it, but not because he wanted to. A devilish sorcerer fed his head with lies and led him into a trap. When the night was done, the fiend had unleashed a horde of dragons without a care for what kind of danger he’d wrought. He left my friend – a knight, the noblest man you’ve ever met! – for dead. He lived, but he’s gone his own way now. The guilt’s too heavy for him, I suppose. But he’s certain the madman won’t stop at that, and I’ll not let the devil get away with it!”
Faris was shouting now, the crystal burning hot with his passion. He didn’t know if he’d drawn attention, but he didn’t care – not now that he’d gotten it off his chest. His cheeks warmed with color, and for not the first time of the day, Faris longed for a drink. ”The knight, he told me the fiend got away on the back of a dragon and an odd one too – silver. He said he’s clad in royal colors and dressed like a woman with hair like moonlight and eyes like a snake. Someone like that can’t be hard to find.” Faris glanced towards the bar and wondered if they’d serve him. He couldn’t remember if he’d been banned from this one or not.
”And that’s my tale. I’ll find him and I’ll put an end to him, even if I have to do it myself.” Faris glanced between the bar and the boy before tilting his head decisively. ”How about a drink? It’s been as tense as a sail in a monsoon in here, and it doesn’t feel right without a pint in my hand.”
