Spheres of Influence

"First Tidus and I must visit our familes and inform them of what has happened..." Squall told the group.

"That sounds like a good idea..." Tidus added.

"Talking to your families will accomplish nothing, it is best that we keep moving..." said Cloud coldly.

"Our families have the right to know where we are and whats going on!" Squall said to Cloud in an angry tone.

"What difference will it make? It won't matter if they know whats going on or not. But if we don't get to the shaft soon we might not get there at all." replied Cloud growing impatient.

"We should tell them!" Tidus told Cloud in an agitated voice.

"Grrr! Who cares! What good will it do? They don't matter!" Cloud told them coldly. Squall grabbed Cloud by the front of his coat and pulled his face close to his.

"We... are... going!" He growled at him. "You're coming too! Even if I have to drag you myself!" he added, letting him go.

"Ha Ha Ha!" Cloud laughed quietly. He slapped Squall on the back in a friendly way. "Very well. If it truly means that much to you, we shall go..." Cloud said calmly to Squall as he started walking. "Better hurry though... It won't be a pleasure criuse. If we are to reach your families we must first pass through the Dark Zytch Jungle. I'm sure you all know of the kinds of things that lurk in those trees and marshes..." He added walking off towards the town exit.

Raifer

"Alright then fellas, we're going through the Dark Zytch jungle." He chirped while doing a small jig on the spot. "We talk to your parents, then we go kick some Council butt!"

They started to make their way towards the jungle entrance. Squall and Tidus wondering what they were going to tell their families, Cloud thinking how dumb this was and Raifer wondering what was going on at his home in the 6th shell.

They came to the entrance of the jungle, he peered inside. The trees seemed to be completely shrouded in darkness as if the sun itself feared to be in this place.

"Spooky." He said while shivering slightly.
"I suppose we have to go through. We have places to be." Squall commented.
"Alright ladies let's go." Cloud said in a brash tone as he moved past them and entered the forest.
"Okay, just a tad bit rude!" Raifer shouted into the forest as Cloud dissapeared into the dark. As he did, hundreds of bats, disturbed by the noise, flew out of the forest canopy and into the sky.

The rest of the group entered the forest with reservation, however they walked quickly to catch up with Cloud.

(Hi I wanted to join in i hope its ok post my char later)

A large feline man with white and black stripes wearing a cloak aproaches the party from out of the jungle. He carries a composite bow and a troubled look. "where are you off to," he asked, blocking the path in front of the group. He stood there waiting for a reply.


(ps please do not rp the reply of my char i want to introduce him to the group in my next post)

Raifer

"That's not really your business!" Raifer replied to the tall, slightly scary looking Feline man.

He looked at the Feline man and saw he looked troubled.

He made a huffing noise and said "If you must know, we are heading to the woodland on the 4th shell."

After several moments of silence, due to his chronic lack of hesitance and cheery attitude, Raifer put any niggling thoughts to the back of his head and walked up to him and extended his hand. "I'm Raifer Var'Jagedas, nice to meet you!"

Meanwhile...

"Counsilor!" The clerk was panting hard.

"Counsilor Eriss has important news about the contested group of testers." The messenger said in between deep breaths, his hands braced on his white robed knees. "She said she needs to see you immediately."

The purple robed man was quiet. Aknowleding the message with a nod, he turned and walked briskly past the clerk and through the threshold of a set of double wooden paneled doors that had been flung open. The flash of a silver star glinted on his chest.

---------------

Ronin entered the room. There was crystals and orbs or different assortments placed in random positions on the wall shelves on either side on the room. Eriss was already stepping towards him.

"Master Ronin, there's a problem with the group of testers."

"The group?" Ronin inquired.

"Yes, we lost contact with the representative sent to give them their medals this morning. He has just come back in touch, and it seems as if they know about the operation down in NML."

"What? How?"

"We're not sure, but supposedly they came across one of the messengers from Legador who had a letter for the Counsel president."

"The president has already recieved the last letter from Legador a few days ago. The messenger was executed."

"Right, but that probably isn't the only one that was sent."

Eriss paused.

"There's a possiblity that they are heading for the 6th shell right now. I have already increased security of the shaft."

"Good work, send out someone to try to convince them that the letter is fake. We can't have them on the side of our enemies."

Eriss nodded, and nervously fingered a silver necklace she had around her neck.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by Lomebririon
Raifer

\"That's not really your business!\" Raifer replied to the tall, slightly scary looking Feline man.

He looked at the Feline man and saw he looked troubled.

He made a huffing noise and said \"If you must know, we are heading to the woodland on the 4th shell.\"

After several moments of silence, due to his chronic lack of hesitance and cheery attitude, Raifer put any niggling thoughts to the back of his head and walked up to him and extended his hand. \"I'm Raifer Var'Jagedas, nice to meet you!\"

---

the cat man extends his hand as well and replies in a low grumble "Etheran's" he looks at the group of traverers "Traveling to the woodland without a druid?" he pauses and takes out a pipe "I must join you" with that he lights his pipe and waits for the group to continue moving

Squall

Squall extended his hand too, "I'm actually part elven myself. But you are welcome to travel with us through these woods. We are in need of a guide."

After introductions have been made, the group continued to advance west. Glimpses of sunlight occasionally caught the forms of the five travelers shaded by the leaves.

------------------

Eriss closed the doors behind the departing Ronin. Sighing heavily she slumped down on the comfortable velvet chair behind her desk.

She'll have to do a lot of work to trance down those brats.

A flash caught her eye. It was one of the many colorful crystals that adorned her desk.

Examining it closely, a small grin emerged from the corners of her mouth.

Hmmm, it looks like it won't be too hard to find them after all...

Tidus
It was 12:00 noon, and everyone was getting pretty hungry.
They stopped at a clearing that was decently bright, much like the spot they had stopped at in the Forest of Terrace.

Everyone had sat down and got out whatever they had brought from Bran.
"Haha! I got Deer Jerky, bread, and butter for my lunch!"Tidus said jokingly as he took out his pack.

The group had started to eat and were begginging to engage in some smalltalk.
"So, how much longer do we have till we reach Lancaster?"Tidus asked.
"Well, we are currently about two days away from it."said Etheran(Im assuming thats your name.Not sure.)
"Judging by the fact that I live about one and a half hours away from Lancaster, I would have to say these woods are pretty damn big!"said Tidus.
"Yes,they are"Squall spoke up.
"I have never been quite this far out from my house in these woods, I always took the road, but judging by how far I have been out, these woods extend very far.
"It is ashame we had to go through these woods, the road is such a wonderful way to go.But we have a high bounty on our heads Im sure"Said Tidus.
"Why do you have a bounty on your heads?"asked Etheran.

Tidus got silent and discussed wether or not he should tale what circumstances they were in away from Etheran.
The group decided it was best not to tell him for now.
"We..we can't tell you as of now but we may be able to later."

Then, they continued there lunch as if nothing had been said.
Suddenly there was a loud crash, and chaos ensued about 100 yards behind the spot where squall was sitting.

Squall

Squall had bought a sandwich and a bottle of roseberry meade off of one of the street stalls during their rushed leave of Bran.

He sat down now in the bright clearing, swigging out of the bottle to quench his thirst. Hey this is actually pretty good. He hadn't had this kind of drink before; it did actually taste like roses.

Carefully unwrapping his sandwich he told the others about their position. They were apparently in the same woods that his town shared with Bran. A huge stretch of intermixed pines, other evergreens, and a medley of broad-leaved deciduous trees between the two towns.

Just as he bit into his sandwich, there was a loud crash from behind him.

Squall sighed… This was the second time in two days that lunch got interrupted; he definitely wasn’t going to lose his meal this time. Standing up and picking up his sword that lay on the ground by his side, he turned and faced the commotion.

((Ooh, I dunno. If you do join CT, don't complicate things too much.))

Raifer

Raifer picked a nice spot in the centre of the clearing and sat down. He then proceeded to take his lunch out of one of his larger pockets. In his hand he held half of a delicious looking foot long submarine sandwich. He then produced from his pocket, a bottle of Varitis' Doublau, a rather expensive champagne. "It's funny what rich people just leave lying about." he thought to himself. He smiled as he opened the bottle and took a large drink from it.

"It tastes better when it's free." He said to Cloud as he offered him some.

He began to eat his sandwich when he heard an almighty crash and saw some commotion coming from behind Squall.

"Awww, not again!" he said dissapointedly as he quickly put his lunch down and unsheathed both of his large daggers.

Squall

Awww great, what the hell is this. That's the gayest thing I ever seen! Squall observed as what looked like a large, purple, walking flower lumbered towards him. Ivy tentacles slapping at the foliage in its way.

Squall glanced at the others, they were wearing equally puzzled expressions on their faces. The group watched as the creature came still closer. A sour-sweet smell wafted towards them.

As the thing neared Squall noticed that three of the ivy branches had stopped flailing aimlessly. Curious, Squall watched as the tips of the mossy green tentacles opened up like a flower. There was something long in there. Sharp too. Hmmmm...

"Oh shit!" Raifer yelled as with a "ffftt!" the three holstered limbs of the plant thing shot out it's innards. All the members of the party jumped for cover.

There was three separate thwacks as hard needle-sharp thorns, each at least a foot long, embedded themselves into the trunks of some trees.

Squall had jumped for the ground behind the closest tree and inadvertently swallowed some dirt. Sputtering some bits of dead bark and leaves he raised his head back up to find a long thorn buried halfway at a tilted angle, a few inches from his hand. The thorn had small barbs along its length that were pointing backwards, perfect for catching onto flesh. ‘Aww man’ Squall whispered.

More tentacles were now becoming rigid and firing the nasty looking projectiles. It didn’t look like it was about to run out soon either.

Turning his head about, he spotted his sword in the clearing a few feet away where he had dropped it a second ago.

“Hey guys!” He called out, “Is everyone still there?”

Hollers came back to him. Everyone was unhurt. But they are going to have problems with the thing. The ground next to the tree line now had dozens of needle thorns littered about it, and a few trees were starting to resemble woody pincushions.

There was a pause in the thwacks of thorns. Squall sneaked a peek around his tree. The flower thing was turning towards one of the trees on the other side of the clearing. Taking the opening, Squall jumped out toward his sword.

Halfway into the jump Squall saw that he had screwed himself. The monster apparently had really good senses or had eyes on the back of its bushy purple head, as one tentacle took aim at his body.

Uh oh…

Reacting quickly, Squall hit the ground in a roll, grabbing his sword during the fall and raising it up. Just in time too. As a resounding “Ping!” echoed around as the hard wooden spike ricocheted off of the smooth metal of his sword. Squall was knocked back by the force, and managed a less than graceful dive into a clump of bushes. He knew he looked ridiculous, as he half bent and half crawled into cover.

Rolling away just in time as more foot-long spikes made short work of the hiding space, Squall made it to the cover of a large oak.

“OK!” He called out, “It looks like it can see behind it too!” Squall’s ears picked up some muffled laughter from around the third tree to his right.

“I heard that Tidus! Shut up! I’d like to see you not chicken out against those flying death spikes from hell!” Squall wanted to deck him one, but the monster did a good job for him by spamming spikes in the direction of Tidus’s muffled laughter and making him yelp in surprise. Heheheh, how do you like that? Squall thought, smiling to himself.

“Anyone got any ideas?” Squall continued as spikes thudded into Tidus’s tree. “We could use magic but we’ll need a distra--”

“Blast it?” Came Cloud’s suggestion from the left.

“Uh Cloud.” Squall added as an afterthought, “I don’t think it’ll be good policy to torch every forest we go into! By the way, it’s probably not safe to set fire to the places that is directly connected to my house…”

“Slice it?” Came a suggestion from the right. Squall could barely make out Tidus through the green leaves and tree trunks.

“I guess that could work.” Squall replied. “We’ll need some kind of distraction though…”

“Hey? Where’s Raifer?” He inquired.

“Dunno.” The other two answered.

As the trio watched, the tentacle monster moved around the clearing until it came to stop to where the lunches were.

“Oh no you better not f-ing…” Squall shouted as a tentacle dived into his container of roseberry meade. Great it’s eating our lunch!

Tidus

"Shit!!!"Tidus yelled in horror."If that thing touches my beef jerky I'll show it what it feels like to be sliced in half!"
The thing continued to shoot spikes at Tidus's tree and was moving slowly towards the lunches.Tidus heard Squall mumble something when it stopped at the lunches.
The thing bent over and picked up Tidus's lunch.

"You BASTARD!!!"Tidus screamed as he unsheathed his sword and began running towards it.Completely unaware of his surroundings, his mind set on dodging the spikes and killing the beast he jumped up right before he reached the beast and came down on it right through the middle.He killed it off right then and there.

Thank god I still have my beef jerky..Tidus thought.

Woah not so fast Ffx we need to make our battles longer

Squall

"Nice one Tidus." Squall examined the corpse of the plant. Prodding it with his sword.

"Mmmff Phanks!" Tidus mumbled through his mouthful of jerky, apperantly stuffing the thing before anyone else could steal his precious lunch.

Uh oh... The tentacles were still moving.

"Shoot!" Squall grabbed Tidus's unaware shirt and hurled him bodily into the foilage and dived in himself. Whirling tentacles barely missing him.

Cloud was waiting calmly for them, having never left the shelter of the woods.

"Hello." Cloud addressed them non-chanlantly as they caught their breath. Tidus was choking on his bit of jerky.

"You really should be more careful" Cloud bluntly told them as he watched the two halves of the monster pull themselves back together. "We need some kind of proper plan... We..." Cloud stopped to look over at tidus who had interrupted him with constant coughing and spluttering. Handing him his water bottle Tidus took a large swig from it.

"Thanks! That Jerky just didn't seem to want to go down the right pipe!" Tidus exclaimed as Cloud looked back into the clearing.
"It was like it had a mind of its own! It probably thought if I\'m going down I\'m taking you with me! Then it leapt up my esophagus and forced its way down my windpipe! Then it started punching me in the lungs!" Cloud could hear in the background, it was Tidus trying to justify his choking.

"Maybe I could blast it just a little...?" Cloud asked the group.

"Erm... No, I don't think so. We know what your definition of "a little" is." Squall reasoned with Cloud.

Nooooo! :o My beautiful RP! Sinking to the lower area of the forum! Don't worry! I'll save you!

Raifer

He crouched behind a tree a small distance away from his fellow travellers, waiting for the shower of thorns to stop so he could rejoin them.

"Bad day! Bad day!" He thought to himself as he moved his head to the right just as some thorns collided with the tree, sending splinters everywhere. The thorns stopped coming. The creature had lost sight of the group and was waiting for any hint of movement. A short time later, munching noises could be heard as the flower monster promptly resumed eating the group's exposed lunches.

Raifer, taking this opportunity to rejoin his friends, began to run full speed and leapt over to their area of the woods. Milliseconds later a large blast of thorns went soaring into the woodlands.

"Hi guys!" he said cheerily to his companions. "So, what's the plan?"

Tidus
"Hehe!At least he didn't get my lunch!"Tidus said aloud.
"Oh shit.."
The monster had heard him and sent thorns there way.
"Alright guys, this is it.What do you guys say about me sprayin him down?"
"Sounds good"they all agreed.
"And it doesn't sound near as destructive as Aphius's way."

Tidus moved silently behind some brush and was directly in front of the monster.
Well, here goes!-thought Tidus
Tidus motioned his hands into a ball and a beautiful clear bluish tented sphere formed in the middle of the of the ball.
In one swift motion Tidus stood up and yelled Sphere of Influence!At the same time he also sent a huge sphere of acidic water hurling towards the monster.

The monster had melted away upon impact.

Hmm nice, acidic water. :P

Squall

The group watched as the monster flailed around.

"Nice one Tidus!"

Tidus turned back towards them with a gigantic smile and thumbs up. An instant later he crumpled to the floor as one of the thrashing tentacles nailed him in the head.

The monster slowly stopped it movements and the group ran forward to check on Tidus. There was still a big smile on his face and Squall burst out laughing.

"Bwhahahaha! What a idiot!"

Dragging the fallen Tidus to the nearest tree and propping him up against it. The other two went back to examine the damages done to their meal.

Squall thought a bit, then went over to the dead plant monster and dragged the still mass over to the tree. Taking a few tenticles, he wrapped them lovingly around Tidus's shoulders and put the 'face' of the monster right in front of Tidus's face.

Then, smirking, Squall went to join the others.

Shaking his empty canteen bottle with disappointment, Squall turned to his sandwich. Unwrapping it, he took a big bite.

Raifer

"Aww man!" Raifer yelled sadly. "It drank my champagne!"

Cloud stared at him uncaringly.

"You know how expensive this stuff is?" Raifer said responding to Cloud's look.

"Why do you care?" Cloud replied. "It's not like you paid for it or anything."

"That's beside the point. I was enjoying it.At least it didn't get the other half of my sandwich!" He chirped. Smiling he took the other half of his large sandwich out of one of his pockets and began eating it.

It did not take long for the group to salvage what was left of their lunch. They sat in the clearing, waiting for the moment that one of them would let everyone else know that it was time to continue.

Raifer sat and pondered the events of late. He stared over at Tidus and the large pile of monster that would greet him when he awoke. He could hear the ear peircing yell that would eventuate in his mind already. As he stared at the monster, he remembered the mudmen, the condor and the council representative. Each trying to kill him and his friends. He realised that he was actually in real danger here, that there was a very real chance of dieing on this endeavour, no one he knew would know what happened to him.

Staring into the darkness of the forest, he took another bite of his sandwich as he was absorbed back into his thoughts. As he was he thought of his friends. He wondered what had happened to Akia, wether or not she passed the test. He also thought of his family down in the 6th shell, how they were doing.

He suddenly awoke from his thoughts with a jolt. His body felt as if it hadn't moved for a while.

Cloud and Squall stared at him. "You ok man?" Squall asked.

"Whoah. Yeah". He replied, surprised. "Just a moment of deep self contemplation there. Where did that come from?"

Etherans apeared from the edge of the dark forest caring a wolf by the scruff of its neck with one huge hand. The wolf looked humiliated, by being caught by a cat, and hung rather placidly from his grip. "Sorry for drifting off there, I had to go get a wolf." he sat down and light up his pipe.

[i][b]Come on people! Get back into the swing of things! The Adventurer's hall is looking like a ghost town! :?

Take the initiative!

Sorry I was gone for a while. :P But I’m back now!

Squall

Nodding at the interesting character, Squall was jolted to the weirdness of the situation. Here was this guy, Etherans, leaning back and smoking a pipe like the wolf next him didn’t exist. The animal itself looked scared out of its wits, apparently too afraid to make any sudden moves now that it was unrestricted.

The birds were chirping cheerfully again, as if nothing had disturbed them moments earlier. Squall again heard the babbling of the creek nearby and considered to refill his now empty canteen.

Turning back to search for his equipment Squall noticed something on the recently pummeled earth. “Awww man.” Squall groaned as he examined his leather pouch. It held, or rather, used to hold his personal belongings. Now a giant foot-long barbed spike pierced the worn material, pinning it into the ground.

He had been pulling food from pouch and had hastily dropped it when the monster showed up. He grunted as he yanked the stiff post out, careful not to further ruin his precious bag. “I hope nothing’s damaged.”

The spike had managed to puncture a few of the berries that he saved from the earlier testing trek. He had forgotten about them in the excitement of their recent discovery. Now purple juice was leaking out of the hole in the side of the bag. Squall grimaced, the detached berries have aged and now appeared to have taken on a darker shade; all of his stuff must be stained purple now.

On the other side of the small clearing, Cloud and Raifer, who had both finished their meals and cast apprehensive shadowy looks at the man smoking the pipe, were noisily debating on their next course of action. Tidus’s soft snores rumbled towards Squall from behind. Squall smirked.

Shuffling through his remaining items, he removed a small vial of green liquid, a piece of charcoal, and a flint: all intact, from his bag. He frowned as his fingers brushed a rough piece of Agnolia paper, and pulled it out. It was his map. All his years of gathering knowledge of the surrounding area had resulted in a precise diagram of his home continent. Since it had been folded up, the spike had managed to push through several successive layers of the yielding material, resulting in a number of large holes. Purple stains covered a portion of the yellowing material.

Great, just great Squall thought of the irony of the situation. The map had survived being dropped into a fireplace when he was seven, and later washed for half a mile down a creek, and now it was almost destroyed by a freaking-tentacled, spike-spitting plant, and has Yortlotberries guts all over it, but it still survived. Squall laughed at its resilience.

He tried to smooth out the holes and managed to get it flat enough to at least be able to folded it up again. There were smudged areas were he had hastily added in charcoal. Most of it had been done in ink. The edges were frayed and flaked, roughened from years of use. There were deep creased lines where it had been folded up over and over again. It would be necessary to transfer to a new leaf. The current one was too damaged to last much longer.

Sighing, Squall thoughtfully sweeped away a few damaged items and dropped the survivors into his shirt, by his money. The broken pouch went around his belt. He might have a change to get it fixed.

The trees were silent again. The chirping died out as a cloud passed overhead, dimming the clearing. Squall leaned back on his left hand and brushed back a few strands of dark hair that had fallen over his eyes with his right. He hardly saw clouds this close to the ground in his life, the ones he were familiar with were usually further up. This one seemed to brush the treetops with its lingering white foams.

Tidus’s girlish screams broke the peace.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE HELL!?!”

Hint hint, ffx make a post. :)
Sorry about the long description of the map, just wanted to fill up some space with a little fluff. Who knows, it might become important later on. ;-)

Tidus
"Ahhhhhh!!What the hell????"Tidus screamed as he woke up from his slumber.
Tidus took out his pocketknife and started slashing the 'thing' all the while thinking it was trying to kill him.
Then, Tidus heard the fit of laughs that was coming from behind the creature.
He figured out what happened and through the thing off him.
"You think thats funny????"asked Tidus angrily.
The group stopped laughing and looked at Tidus.
"Yeah!"answered Squall sending the group into more fits of laughter.
"You just wait, I'll have my day!"said Tidus half angry and half laughing at his own stupidity.

Everyone gathered their belongings still sniggering off and on.
Tidus' pack was at his side, in good condition, infact, he still had some beef jerky left.

When the group was ready, they headed out towards Squall's house.

Quote:

---

Originally posted by ffx-dreamz
Tidus
\"Ahhhhhh!!What the hell????\"Tidus screamed as he woke up from his slumber.
Tidus took out his pocketknife and started slashing the 'thing' all the while thinking it was trying to kill him.
Then, Tidus heard the fit of laughs that was coming from behind the creature.
He figured out what happened and through the thing off him.
\"You think thats funny????\"asked Tidus angrily.
The group stopped laughing and looked at Tidus.
\"Yeah!\"answered Squall sending the group into more fits of laughter.
\"You just wait, I'll have my day!\"said Tidus half angry and half laughing at his own stupidity.

Everyone gathered their belongings still sniggering off and on.
Tidus' pack was at his side, in good condition, infact, he still had some beef jerky left.

When the group was ready, they headed out towards Squall's house.

---

obviously not being part of the group Etherans wasn't laughing, in fact he was focusing on a spell. His fur rippled as a wind picked through the trees, and then his spell was done. "I don't think it is whise to ridicule your companion for his basic instincts." he said while picking up the wolf by the scruff of its neck. "It is hard to break a being of its habbits" he said looking the wolf in the eyes. he then muttered something in its ear dropped it to the ground and as he walked towards the trail it padded allong by his side.

Squall

They were making good progress. Squall glanced upwards towards the leafy canopies that shielded the sun from view. They would make their schedule and arrive at the outskirts of the forest at around evening of the second day.

Looking around he saw that he was not the only of the group that was meditative. Cloud seemed to be deep in thought about something, the collar of his cloak shielding his face from interpretation. On Squall’s left, Raifer’s eyes barely registered the trees to avoid them. At the beginning of the journey, the man with the wolf had taken the lead with his pet and distanced himself from the rest of the group. Squall could catch glimpses of the duo through the foliage every hour or two. Tidus seemed to be a little more carefree. He had found some more berries during their 4-hour walk and was now attempting to hum a tune while munching on them, nonchalantly swinging his leather bag with his free hand.

“Hey Squall!” Tidus noticed his friend looking in his direction. “Want some of these? They’re pretty sweet, not like those other ones we found yesterday.”

Squall was about to shake his head. But, amused by the trickle of crimson juice now currently dripping from Tidus’s fingers and mouth, and thinking what his reactions might have been under different circumstances, decided to try some out.

He received a few of the rotund spheres and bit into one. It was pretty good. He wondered about the fact why there were no pits when he noticed tiny seeds embedded on the surface of the fruit. Hmmm kinda like strawberries.

Aloud he asked, “What are these called Tidus? I’ve never seen them before.”

“I don’t know either.” Tidus replied, popping another red sphere into his mouth and swallowing it. “They remind me of strawberries though.”

Squall had been about to spit out the unknown innards of the berry when he’d heard that Tidus didn’t know what they were when he realized that there probably wasn’t any danger from eating them. Squall decided to trust Tidus’s instincts. After all, Tidus’s had grown up eating more wild vegetation then he had.

Chuckling at his unnecessary insecurities he finished off the rest of the berries. He then pulled out his map from his pocket. Checking it he confirmed their destination, a small, unlabeled dot in between two splotches of purple.

Deciding to snap the rest of the group out of their stupor, Squall cleared his throat loudly, “Hey guys, we’ll be arriving at a small town in a while where we can spend the night. It’s halfway between Bran and Lancaster.”

“Hmmm…” Cloud commented, while Raifer scratched his head while nodding. He yawned like he had just awoke. Squall replaced his map safely among the folds of his tunic.

The mood soon lightened. Small talk pervaded the void of the previous silence. Squall was glad for the change in the atmosphere. Two hours of hearing nothing but birds and the incessant crunch of the leaves were becoming tiring.

The four made fun of the Council as they walked.

“I hope you didn’t kill that representative.” Raifer remarked. “That was a pretty hard hit, and I don’t think that guy had much combat training.”

Cloud grunted curtly, “He deserved it.” But a trace of a smile appeared on his stern countenance. “Though you are probably right Raifer, he didn’t lean away to soften the blow any. In fact I thought I saw him lean into the blade.”

Their footsteps rustled among the fallen leaves as the sky darkened.

--------------

“Are you sure Etheran?” Squall asked again. They had reached the small town just after sundown. The man had been waiting for them at the edge of the woods, saying that he opted to spend the night with the trees.

After a few more exchanges, the four left the leafy covers and made for the small wooden dwellings of the forest-bound village while the fifth person headed turned back towards the dark shadows of the canopy, a panting wolf at his side.

“I don’t know about that guy.” Tidus cast an uncertain look towards the disappearing pair.

“Come on,” Squall replied, also glancing towards the treeline and lowering his voice. “He hasn’t done anything that tells me that he intends to hurt our cause. If he wants to guide us through these woods then its fine, we need all the eyes we can get. I don’t doubt that he might want to leave us after we reach Lancaster.”

Patting Tidus on the back, Squall hefted his sword-bearing shoulders and turned back to the village. He was uncomfortable. He had never before needed to travel such a large distance while armed.

As they progressed among the ten or so dwellings that comprised the town, Squall noticed several watch towers situated on the perimeters of the village. Another nagging feeling was confirmed when Cloud casually observed: “There’s no inn.”

After wandering around for a while, the group increasingly grew disconcerted at the staring looks they attracted. Finally, a middle-aged man approached them.

“Greetings travelers. What brings you here to our small town?”

Seeing that the others looked towards him for a response. Squall spoke. “We are mercenaries hired by the government of Lancaster for the protection of the city. We are currently on our way towards the great city and are looking for a place to spend the night.” Squall pulled out the small metal badge inscribed with the Council insignia and showed it to the man.

The group was glad to see that the villagers around them relaxed and went back to their business. The man facing them smiled and nodded. “I see, there should be no problems for you to stay here for the night. In fact my own son left for the testing for Lancaster Guard just three days ago.”

Squall stiffened a little but the man didn’t take notice. “He’s room is unoccupied at the moment, all of you are welcome to stay in it.”

The group thanked the generous man and followed him towards a wooden house in the middle of the town. Squall looked around and spotted several similar buildings around in a circle formation. A mossy stone well stood in the middle of the clearing. Some type of tiled stone covered the ground they were trending on.

“Yes, I see that you have noticed our well. I would have the moss removed but the others of the town, including my wife see it in a different light. They think it’s artistic.” The man smiled again.

They reached the house and the man opened the door. Beckoning the young men to follow him when he noticed their apprehensiveness. The five stepped in and the door shut behind them.

Squall

As Squall stepped over the threshold he cast his eyes around the homey surroundings. The room they had entered appeared to be a comfy den, which struck a sharp contrast with the darkened streets outside. A small fireplace protected a blaze of flickering flames. There were several intricate landscape woodcarvings that hung from various positions. A pair of them framed a window, which’s smooth glass panes revealed a darkening cobbled town square on the other side. The walls inside were covered with a pleasant tan-colored wallpaper, which seemed to absorb the dancing light from the fire, glowing with a rosy hue.

The furniture consisted of a large vacant couch along the side of the room opposite the fireplace. A dark wooded rocking chair stood in the furthest corner from the doorway. The latter was occupied.

A woman in her late thirties sat knitting. Her shoulder length dark hair amber in the firelight. A slumbering white cat with black spots was curled up at her feet. As the group stepped into the room and the man closed the door behind them, the clicking of needles stopped as the woman looked up. Her expression did little to conceal her surprise at the five men who had just strode into her house.

“I’m sorry,” The man began, chuckling and scratching his head. “We haven’t made the proper introductions yet. I’m Patrick and this is my wife Elizabeth.”

The woman had overcome her initial reaction and now stood, nodding at the four strangers. “Hello travelers.” Squall guessed she had drawn the conclusion from the worn clothing that the group wore. “What brings you young warriors to this town?” Her eyes flickered over Cloud, Tidus, and finally settling on Squall. (Raifer I believe your weapons are concealed at the moment? I might have remembered wrong) Squall shrank a little under her gaze. She reminded him of his mother.

“They’re soldiers Liz,” Patrick corrected his wife. “The Council hired them to be part of Lancaster’s guard. They were passing through this town and couldn’t find a place to stay so I invited them here for the night. I hope you don’t mind?”

The woman’s eyes softened. “Oh! The Council? That’s fine. Of course they are welcome to stay.” She turned back to them. “You guys must be hungry from traveling through the forest, I was just about start cooking and it looks like we’ll be having guests for dinner then. We hadn’t had visitors in quite a while.” She smiled and turned towards her husband. “Can you make sure May gets to bed early for me? She’s going to need to be up early tomorrow.” The man nodded.

The group thanked the couple profusely as the woman turned and left the room through a hallway opening. Squall turned to his friends, in time to see Raifer relax his face from the most disarming smile he could manage. They thanked Patrick again but he waved them off. “Lets find you guys a place to sleep, follow me.”

The others fell in step around him. Squall was stunned that they were allowed to carry their weapons further into the house, but didn’t comment. The man led them through the room, and then through the short hallway, turning left at the end into a doorway. The opening gave way to a small room with a staircase to the right, with which they ascended to the second floor.

The wooden ceiling of the ground floor creaked below them as they stepped into a medium sized bedroom. Patrick lit an oil-lamp that rested on a counter by a twin-sized bed.

“This was our son’s room. We still haven’t gotten it cleaned out yet even though he’ll be living in the city now.” The man enlightened them. “You guys can stay here. I’ll leave you guys to settle in, dinner should be ready soon.”

After Patrick had left the room, the four were silent for a moment while they examined their surroundings and relieved their bags from their bodies. The three sword-bearers slipped off their bulky weaponry, uncomfortable already at been allowed to bring the arms upstairs.

Leaning his blade against the closet door. Squall turned to see Tidus hopping across the room. “The bed’s mine!” Tidus yelled, jumping onto it with a smack, making the springs groan under the unfamiliar weight.

Raifer smiled evilly at Tidus. “Are you sure you want to sleep in that bed?”

Tidus frowned, “Why not?”

“Cause if you do... something… ahh, unfavorable might happen tonight. You better let me sleep on the bed so I can deal with it.”

Tidus caught on. “Oh hell no! I haven’t gotten to sleep on a soft bed like this for ages! Back off, I claimed it first! The bed’s mine!”

“I haven’t slept on such a nice bed for six months!” Raifer rebutted. “That’s way longer than you left your home. Three days ago in fact!”

“So? That doesn’t mean that you deserve it more!”

“Oh come on Tidus! This bed is so much better than you! I bet you won’t even get laid…”

“Don’t bring my sex life into this!”

“What sex life? You’re special humping tree?”

“Aww you little…”

The two bickered back and forth throwing threats and insults at each other, until, to Squall’s relief, Cloud interrupted. “Neither of you will have it tonight.” Then with a smirk, he added: “The bed’s mine.”

Silence.

“I never slept in a real bed before.”

The other threes’ jaws dropped. Then Raifer laughed out loud. “Oh jeez you serious?” Cloud nodded. “FINE! Haha, Cloud should have it then.” Raifer finished, a bit edgy. The others nodded, still in a bit of a shock.

“Well Tidus? You heard it! Get you dirty little ass off of that bed!” Raifer sneered at his friend. Tidus sent back an icy glare and moved his stuff to the floor. Cloud started to settle down in the vacancy, a smug expression on his face.

“Don’t get too comfy.” Squall spoke, grinning. “We got to go downstairs for dinner soon.”

“Oh yeah!” Tidus piped up, forgetting the bed incident in an instant. “I’m hungry!”

Raifer raised an eyebrow at Squall at Tidus’s sudden change of demeanor. Tidus interpreted it differently. “What? That beef jerky I had for lunch wasn’t too filling!”