Categories > Games > Final Fantasy XII > Claret Sky
12. That which is distant
Bal/Vaan - post-canon
Disclaimer still applies.
So yes, after it's all fallen apart, we begin to gather the pieces. I realize this story has been dragging, so speeding up will happen.
--
Balthier despises Hellhounds. They smell of blood, always, and the cold fire they wrap around their bodies freezes like the touch of fear. They shift like wraiths, and it is difficult to predict their movement pattern. He shoots one, but the rest of the pack paces around, glowing eyes trained upon him.
There is a wet squelch, and Vaan makes a raw noise in his throat before darting by.
Balthier turns in time to see him ripping a Marlboro to shreds.
Golmore Jungle is dark, and it is only the movement of the Marlboro that gives them away. Balthier shoots the other one, creeping silently toward Vaan, and it bursts like an overripe peach, splashing foul liquid on the narrow path.
Balthier hisses then, pulling his arm back and sending drops of blood splattering to the ground from the claw marks scored into his skin.
The Hellhound growls deep, tensing itself to spring.
Suddenly, Vaan is a pale blur, tearing through the beasts, and Balthier pulls back sharply so that the shot flies wide overhead and knocks free wide, dark leaves. Amid the yelps and snarls, Fran stops beside Balthier, her long bow looped over an arm.
The leaves hit the ground with wet plops, and the path is silent but for Vaan's ragged breaths.
Vaan turns, and his eyes linger on the scratches on Balthier's arm before flicking to his face. Vaan stares for a long time before abruptly looking away.
--
Mjrn's quiet greeting is positively jovial when compared to the distant gazes of the other Viera.
"I hoped you would come," she says, nodding to them, but turning her eyes often to Fran.
"Of course," Fran says.
"Your summons did sound rather urgent." Balthier tucks his hands at his hip and smiles.
Mjrn flinches, shaking her head slightly, and she presses long fingers to a temple.
"The Wood?" Fran says, sharply.
Mjrn nods. "She fears." Her eyes round quickly, and she raises her hands. "Not of you, sister!" she says. "Ivalice is tight, unbalanced. The Mist clumps."
"Where? Why?" Penelo says, frowning.
"I... cannot say," Mjrn looks to the ground. "I am only in training, and the voice of the Wood comes scarcely to me."
"She speaks to Jote?" Fran glances about. Wood warders surround them, watching silently.
"She speaks of preservation." The Wood warders shift to allow Jote passage, and the Elder steps past the bristle of arrow fletches. "The Wood Viera concern themselves not with the Ivalice of humes."
"War shows scant respect for borders, I fear," Balthier says, placing a hand on Mjrn's thin shoulder.
The child nods, leaning forward. "Sister..." she says, earnestly.
Jote regards Mjrn for a long moment, and she closes her eyes, her sigh mingling with the breath of wind through the leaves. "East," she says, softly. "The Mist seethes." She looks sharply to Fran. "Go with care," she warns.
It is a dismissal. Balthier follows Penelo's light steps, but he pauses when Jote speaks again.
"Slow it is, but the Green Word changes." She is looking at Mjrn. "Time alters all."
Balthier feels the intruder, and he walks away.
He nearly does not hear Fran's voice.
"Thank you."
--
"What lies east?" Balthier muses.
He leans the barrel of the Fomalhaut against his shoulder, and he watches Vaan cleave through the ribs of a Diresaur with a heavy, two-handed strike. Even Penelo has ceased to offer her help as Vaan moves forward, seemingly determined to rid the Jungle of every manner of beast.
"The Ridorana Cataract?" Penelo says. "Could the Sun-Cryst be reformed?"
"No," Larsa says, halting his steps. "I know. It is Mount Bur-Omisace."
"The Kiltias?" Penelo says, bafflement in her tone.
Larsa paces, and he waves his arm in agitation. "How could have I not realized? There was a pilgrimage. As a gesture of reconciliation, high-ranking members of the Archadian government were to travel to Mount Bur-Omisace to witness the aftermath of Archades' folly. I could not attend only because my leg had not yet healed enough to walk, and Vaan stayed with me." Larsa looks at Balthier, his face pale and blank. "Every member of the Council went to Mount Bur-Omisace."
"It is settled, then," Fran says. "We fly to the Mount."
Vaan does not hear Penelo's call until she pulls hard on his swordarm.
--
Balthier locks the controls of the Strahl, satisfied that when he looks out, he sees only the faint shimmer of her cloaking field.
The Rift is white with snow around them, and Balthier feels the chill in his fingers. The clouds begin to break, though, and he sees the light of the moon cutting through the sky. Balthier stands, stretching out his stiff back. He crosses his ship, and he has pulled open the door to his cabin before he sees the figure stretched out on the floor under the narrow strip of glass that arches over the Strahl's tail.
He halts, and he begins to hear the soft stream of words.
"...bet you would know what to do, huh? You always know what's right, remember? You were always there to tell me to put whatever I stole back. Especially after Mom and Dad died. You remember?"
There is a long pause, and Balthier thinks Vaan has fallen asleep. He wonders if Penelo is there to nudge him and send him to bed.
"I thought you would get better, I really did. I thought I would be a soldier like you."
Balthier realizes that Vaan is speaking to the stars. He pulls the door to his cabin shut behind him gently, so that it does not click.
Balthier does not sleep that night, and he blames the headache.
--
TBC
Bal/Vaan - post-canon
Disclaimer still applies.
So yes, after it's all fallen apart, we begin to gather the pieces. I realize this story has been dragging, so speeding up will happen.
--
Balthier despises Hellhounds. They smell of blood, always, and the cold fire they wrap around their bodies freezes like the touch of fear. They shift like wraiths, and it is difficult to predict their movement pattern. He shoots one, but the rest of the pack paces around, glowing eyes trained upon him.
There is a wet squelch, and Vaan makes a raw noise in his throat before darting by.
Balthier turns in time to see him ripping a Marlboro to shreds.
Golmore Jungle is dark, and it is only the movement of the Marlboro that gives them away. Balthier shoots the other one, creeping silently toward Vaan, and it bursts like an overripe peach, splashing foul liquid on the narrow path.
Balthier hisses then, pulling his arm back and sending drops of blood splattering to the ground from the claw marks scored into his skin.
The Hellhound growls deep, tensing itself to spring.
Suddenly, Vaan is a pale blur, tearing through the beasts, and Balthier pulls back sharply so that the shot flies wide overhead and knocks free wide, dark leaves. Amid the yelps and snarls, Fran stops beside Balthier, her long bow looped over an arm.
The leaves hit the ground with wet plops, and the path is silent but for Vaan's ragged breaths.
Vaan turns, and his eyes linger on the scratches on Balthier's arm before flicking to his face. Vaan stares for a long time before abruptly looking away.
--
Mjrn's quiet greeting is positively jovial when compared to the distant gazes of the other Viera.
"I hoped you would come," she says, nodding to them, but turning her eyes often to Fran.
"Of course," Fran says.
"Your summons did sound rather urgent." Balthier tucks his hands at his hip and smiles.
Mjrn flinches, shaking her head slightly, and she presses long fingers to a temple.
"The Wood?" Fran says, sharply.
Mjrn nods. "She fears." Her eyes round quickly, and she raises her hands. "Not of you, sister!" she says. "Ivalice is tight, unbalanced. The Mist clumps."
"Where? Why?" Penelo says, frowning.
"I... cannot say," Mjrn looks to the ground. "I am only in training, and the voice of the Wood comes scarcely to me."
"She speaks to Jote?" Fran glances about. Wood warders surround them, watching silently.
"She speaks of preservation." The Wood warders shift to allow Jote passage, and the Elder steps past the bristle of arrow fletches. "The Wood Viera concern themselves not with the Ivalice of humes."
"War shows scant respect for borders, I fear," Balthier says, placing a hand on Mjrn's thin shoulder.
The child nods, leaning forward. "Sister..." she says, earnestly.
Jote regards Mjrn for a long moment, and she closes her eyes, her sigh mingling with the breath of wind through the leaves. "East," she says, softly. "The Mist seethes." She looks sharply to Fran. "Go with care," she warns.
It is a dismissal. Balthier follows Penelo's light steps, but he pauses when Jote speaks again.
"Slow it is, but the Green Word changes." She is looking at Mjrn. "Time alters all."
Balthier feels the intruder, and he walks away.
He nearly does not hear Fran's voice.
"Thank you."
--
"What lies east?" Balthier muses.
He leans the barrel of the Fomalhaut against his shoulder, and he watches Vaan cleave through the ribs of a Diresaur with a heavy, two-handed strike. Even Penelo has ceased to offer her help as Vaan moves forward, seemingly determined to rid the Jungle of every manner of beast.
"The Ridorana Cataract?" Penelo says. "Could the Sun-Cryst be reformed?"
"No," Larsa says, halting his steps. "I know. It is Mount Bur-Omisace."
"The Kiltias?" Penelo says, bafflement in her tone.
Larsa paces, and he waves his arm in agitation. "How could have I not realized? There was a pilgrimage. As a gesture of reconciliation, high-ranking members of the Archadian government were to travel to Mount Bur-Omisace to witness the aftermath of Archades' folly. I could not attend only because my leg had not yet healed enough to walk, and Vaan stayed with me." Larsa looks at Balthier, his face pale and blank. "Every member of the Council went to Mount Bur-Omisace."
"It is settled, then," Fran says. "We fly to the Mount."
Vaan does not hear Penelo's call until she pulls hard on his swordarm.
--
Balthier locks the controls of the Strahl, satisfied that when he looks out, he sees only the faint shimmer of her cloaking field.
The Rift is white with snow around them, and Balthier feels the chill in his fingers. The clouds begin to break, though, and he sees the light of the moon cutting through the sky. Balthier stands, stretching out his stiff back. He crosses his ship, and he has pulled open the door to his cabin before he sees the figure stretched out on the floor under the narrow strip of glass that arches over the Strahl's tail.
He halts, and he begins to hear the soft stream of words.
"...bet you would know what to do, huh? You always know what's right, remember? You were always there to tell me to put whatever I stole back. Especially after Mom and Dad died. You remember?"
There is a long pause, and Balthier thinks Vaan has fallen asleep. He wonders if Penelo is there to nudge him and send him to bed.
"I thought you would get better, I really did. I thought I would be a soldier like you."
Balthier realizes that Vaan is speaking to the stars. He pulls the door to his cabin shut behind him gently, so that it does not click.
Balthier does not sleep that night, and he blames the headache.
--
TBC
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