“Well, THAT was great...” Locke said with a mischievous smirk on his face as he rode his Chocobo, flanking Edgar’s right, as the King was in the lead of the small group racing along the desert sands.
Lina smirked a little. “I have to agree with you there, Locke... seeing the look on that freak’s face after we toasted his only ride out of this place... that’s what you get for making me have to leave bed before sunrise!” she chuckled a deep, dark bout of gleeful laughter in her throat. Yes, Lina was feeling rather vengeful.
That caused the older make to shudder as he realized one should never make a woman wake up early unless you have to! And even LESS if you happen to find her nearly naked after a night of passion, or so he thought.
Edgar blinked his eyes as he looked back at the thieeerrrrr-TREASURE Hunter. Why was the man grinning like that? “Hey Locke. Is everything all right? You look like you caught some of the maids from the public sleeping quarters bathing.”
Hearing what the king said, Terra blinked at that. “Why would he grin if he did?”
Blinking his eyes as he heard the woman speak, Edgar nodded his head. He pulled back on the reigns of his Chocobo slightly, causing it to slow down. When he was right next to the woman, he told her, “Terra, there’s someone I’d like you to meet...”
The young woman blinked again, confused to that. “Who?”
“Yeah, who?” Lina asked as she butted in on the conversation, always ready to watch out for Terra. This girl was the only one she knew in this entire world who could use magic. The green-tressed woman was obviously important to the Empire, and it was best to make sure she stayed out of their hands!
Besides the fact she was too innocent for her own good. Lina realized Terra would probably help anyone that was even slightly civil towards her. In a way, Terra reminded her of Gourry, only not even half-as-annoying... she didn’t eat as much food for one thing, and that was always a plus when Lina didn’t have to fight for her meal.
“Our mentor and leader of the Returners, the priest Banon,” Edgar answered them honestly. “I think he would most certainly like to meet you, and Lina too..." he said as he slowly turned his head to look over at the petite redhead. “You see, ‘magic’ is going to be the key to winning this war...”
The green-tressed woman furrowed her eyebrows as she thought about that. “So you want to use me...” Terra made the rather accurate observation.
“Weel... yes...” Edgar admitted. At seeing Lina glare at him, the young king explained, “Lina, you have to understand. You and Terra have magical powers... but from what you told Arvis, and what he told Locke, and what Locke told me... the Esper at Narshe seemed to... react to her. Can there be some connection?”
That caused the redhead to frown. Edgar had a point there, she had to admit. The Esper did react to Terra’s presence in particular, and the Empire was after the Espers.
Still, Lina wasn’t about to just let them blind-side Terra into a possibly dangerous situation. “And what makes you think it’s a good idea to push us into helping you? Terra barely knows her own powers! We can take care of ourselves, but a small army of resistance fighters? This is magic we’re performing, not miracles.”
“Yes, but the fact is Terra DOES have Magic naturally,” Edgar explained to the two women, trying to get them to see his side of things. “And no HUMAN is born with the powers you two seem to have, and...”
The King of Figaro stopped when he looked at the bewildered expression on Terra's face, the woman having brought her steed to a full halt. She looked like she was about to cry...
Edgar sighed... damn, this was not a way to start off a relationship as comrades in arms. “Terra, I apolo-”
“INVERSE SCREW KICK!”
“Lina!” Terra cried in alarm as the smaller woman went into action.
Having stopped his ride to see what the fuss was about, the Treasure Hunter stared wide-eyed as the smaller redhead launched herself from her Chocobo with a flying kick. The ruler of Figaro took the attack full to the side of the head, being knocked harshly from his steed as he was thrown face-first into the sand.
The king of Figaro coughed up sand as he tried to pull his face free... only to find that he was now in a head-lock, the girl's arm wrapped tightly around his neck.
“Take it back!” Lina shouted as she kneed the ruler of the Figaro nation in the small of his back.
“ACK!” Edgar cried out in pain as he felt tears in the corners of his eyes.
“TAKE IT BACK!” Lina shouted, kneeing the king once again in the base of his spine and pushing his face back into the sand.
At the spectacle before her, Terra lowered her head, a heavy sigh escaping her lips as her locks of hair obscured her face.
Edgar’s arms went flailing off at his sides as he was being suffocated in the golden sand of his homeland.
“Daaamn...” Locke said lowly to Terra as he watched the one-sided fight before them. “She could take down the Empire all by herself...”
Finally, Lina pulled Edgar’s head back up from the sand. “APOLOGIZE!”
“I’M SORRY!” Edgar shouted, sounding like a small girl. “FOR THE LOVE OF THE HEAVENS, I’M SORRY, TERRA! I DIDN’T MEAN TO CALL YOU INHUMAN!!”
Smiling a devious little smile, Lina then asked the pony-tailed blonde, “And?”
“...And what?” Edgar asked. His face was then thrust back into the sand and he started screaming an apology to LINA as his face was buried.
Lina grinned, almost looking the very picture of a cherub and innocent maiden as she let go and stood up from him. “That’s better!”
The redheaded sorceress then stepped on Edgar’s downed head, using it as a stepping stool as she got back onto her Chocobo.
And so the mighty King of Figaro was left to try and recover the shattered pieces of his dignity from the desert floor.
“...Vicious...” Locke mumbled lowly, having a new sense of respect and awe for the titless little bitch the petite redheaded woman.
Feeling the satisfaction of a job well done, Lina smiled as she looked over at Terra. “Feel better?”
“... Thank you...” Terra managed with a small smile tugging at her lips, her eyes still somewhat wet, but not quite crying.
The redhead’s smile widened a little more. “You’re welcome.” She looked around at the group. “So, what’re we going to do now?”
“I’m sure the Empire is going to come after Terra, Lina...” Edgar groaned as he picked himself up from the sands, (no thanks to anyone’s help). “If they get their hands on her, the world’s finished...” He climbed back up onto the saddle of his steed as he looked at the green-tressed woman. “Terra, you want to understand your own powers, right?”
Terra took a moment, but eventually she nodded. “Yes. I do.”
“Then I think we need to consult with Banon,” Edgar said as he started to race his Chocobo towards the head of the group.
Lina frowned as she stayed back with the slightly older woman. “Terra, are you sure about this?” Lina herself wanted to know more about magic, but what would a group that apparently didn’t have any magic know about it!?
“We can’t stay out in the desert,” Terra said and gained a little conviction. “Edgar is offering his help... we should take him up on it.”
Seeing Terra was serious about this, Lina nodded her head. She then looked ahead and called out, “HEY! Edgar! Where are we going?”
“Southeast,” Edgar called back. “There’s a hidden cave that goes through the mountains that leads to South Figaro!”
Considering that for a moment, Lina then nodded her head. That sounded all right.
“Lina?” Terra asked timidly.
“Hmm?” Lina asked as she looked over to the other woman as they continued to follow Edgar.
“You don’t mind this... do you?” She asked hesitantly, always afraid to upset her friend.
Thinking about it for a moment, Lina was going to give the woman a real piece of her mind about this whole situation... but stopped when she saw the look on the girl’s face. Shaking her head a moment, the redhead responded, “As long as I can make sure you’re safe, I’ll go. This is the only lead we have so far... we might as well follow it.”
The young woman nodded, obviously relieved. “I’m sure this Banon will help us.”
“I hope so...” Lina sighed, sounding really pessimistic.
“Is something the matter?” Terra asked with a small frown.
Lina shook her head. “It’s just I still haven’t had much reason to put faith in this group. Sure, Edgar has these useful tool and the know-how to make and use them, and Locke is obviously an expert thief-”
“TREASURE HUNTER!”
Rolling her eyes at that, Lina continued talking, “But besides these two... how do we know if the rest of this group is on the level?”
“Well... the castle maneuver was good, right?” Terra asked innocently.
Lina nodded her head to that. “Yeah, but that was obviously Edgar’s doing.”
(------)
Edgar smiled as he could see the base of the mountain range in the horizon. What would have been a full day’s journey to get across the desert from Figaro had only taken them an hour. “We’re here!” Edgar said as he pushed on his poor steed, causing it to sprint the final leg of the journey.
Terra kept a more sedate pace, feeling sorry for her poor Chocobo after running for so long in the desert.
Lina ended up lagging behind as well as she felt she needed to keep the young woman in her sights.
When the women arrived both Edgar and Locke were already on their feet and talking to the guard.
“King Edgar!” The Guard standing by a Green Chocobo shouted as he saluted the man who was his ruler. “Where are you headed?”
“Through the cave, and Eastward to South Figaro,” Edgar explained to the soldier. “Now return to the castle, and tell the others we’re safe. It should be in the Kohligen region now.”
“Yes, sir! Take care, sir!!” The Soldier shouted before saluting the King of Figaro once more. He then hopped onto the back of the Green Chocobo before taking off at a quick pace.
As Terra dismounted she looked at the king with a sad look on her face. “If I hadn’t come to your castle...”
“It’s all right...” Edgar told the young woman seriously. “It will come back to its original spot eventually.”
After a moment, Terra nodded slowly. Her eyes were bright with determination. “We’ll make sure it will.”
Edgar looked at the woman... before laughing lightly, “Terra, it’s all right. The Castle WILL come back.”
“It will?” The young woman asked bewildered.
Lina raised an eyebrow. “How is that possible?”
“Now that...” smirking, Edgar held up a finger, waving it at the two. “Is a secret!”
Lina stared at Edgar with a bewildered expression, her whole body twitching before the silence was ended with an audible ‘snap’.
“GONNA KILL YOU!!!” Lina shouted as she raised her pike high.
“AAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” Edgar screamed as he ran into the cavern, the redhead following behind him quickly and obviously out for blood.
A small sweat-drop on the back of his head, Locke sighed as his shoulders sagged in defeat. “C’mon, Terra. We better follow them. It’s easy to get lose in those caves.”
Terra nodded, more confused than ever. "... What did he do?”
Stopping in his tracks, Locke thought about it for a moment. Finally, he offered, “Maybe it was something he said?” He then started walking in after the duo that already made their way in.
The green-tressed woman blinked her eyes and then followed after the thie... Treasure Hunter.
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(Posted Tue, 13 Feb 2007 20:56)
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