Eva looked up to Saina who said they should leave that night, explaining there should be a boat leaving tonight as well. She had forgotten about that, she was about to agree with it when Alex came in and plopped a box of potions into Uricks arms. Telling them what was in it and hoping they used it well. "Where did you manage to find them?" Eva asked as she watched a not so happy Alex Glare at Urick before trying to rid the makeup on her face and undoing the braid. She was definitely a Tom boy.

She smiled slightly at her obvious distaste for makeup. She must have been mauled by some little girls who were fans of the tall woman. She the asked "You were attacked by a vicious pack of blood thirsty little girls weren't you?" She said with a smile as Urick introduced himself to another man with an eye patch. She knew how difficult it was for him to speak to other people but she was not blessed with the ability of interpreting for him. She looked into the box of potions and found an elixir. Opening the one bottle she drank it, replenishing her magic stores and instantly feeling better.

She sighed with relief and stood back up as Saina asked her which choice she would have. She nodded and said, "We shall leave tonight. But before we go I am going to help with healing more people now that I have my energy back."

She looked to Alex and said" Thank you for the potions you are very kind. " She bowed to Alex and then thought for a moment about Gippal and Urick, and how they always talked about Alex and Nai and wanting to get back to them. And now because of her she was dragging them away from them again.

"Alex... How would you....would you like to accompany us on our journey? I know you are a capable fighter and we could use all the help we could get fighting Thane. Also I wouldn't want to pull your friends away only when they just returned yesterday... "

She gripped her hands together in front of her and waited an answer, probably not the best with how much Alex hated Saina but maybe it will turn around.

"I was there at the stadium when the attack happened. As I made my way to where the bulk of the action was happening, I spotted you and another man fighting. And judging on the facts that not only did you yell at him and called him by his name as well as him trying to escape. I have concluded that not only was he the perpetrator but also you know of him." Kahl Responded.

He took a pause before continuing once more, "My proposition is simple. I wish to join you on the hunt for this man."

Alarm bells rang loud and clear in Saina's head as she listened to the summoner, her eyes slightly widening when she offered Alex to join them. A part of her wanted to pick up the summoner, throw the slightly larger woman over her shoulder, and run for the hills. Outwardly, she stiffened and narrowed her eyes. Suddenly, she felt the need to leave the area. The last thing she cared for was to actually hear the red head accept the offer. Since she had met her, the amazonian had only hurled insults at her, called her a bitch, an ice witch, insulted her beliefs and threatened to attack, if not kill her. Saina exhaled slowly as her brows furrowed, turning to the box Urick had.

She kept her composure, albeit as strained as it was, wishing nothing more than to encase the wretch in an ice coffin and sink her to the bottom of the--she shook her head, pausing as she reached into the box, her hand only extended half way.

"Keep it together..."

The words were spoken just under her breath, and were only to herself. At that range Urick was probably the only one to hear it anyways, and she didn't meet his gaze, her eyes unfocused, concentrating on something internal. At last she continued her motion as if nothing had happened, her face back to being emotionless and uncaring. She plucked a potion and two elixirs out to attach to her own belt, looking rather serene despite appearing so strained a moment ago. Satisfied, she nodded to Urick in thanks before turning back to Eva, spotting the mechanic not far off. With an excuse to depart she spoke up to let the gathering around her hear her this time.

"A splendid idea, m'lady. I shall tie up my own loose ends before we depart. "

She said this in reference to going to heal others. Her gaze swept over everyone in sequence, Urick and the stranger, Maximus, the mechanic and finally, Alex and Eva. She opened her mouth to speak again.

"Perhaps we should allow her ladyship and the newest potential guardians time to acquaint themselves better. However,"

Her pale blue eyes pierced the mechanic. One could almost comedically hear the sound of a bullet being shot off in the background by its sudden intensity.

"I particularly ask you... Sifen... to go with me and Urick. I believe there are some things you should understand about what you have pledged."

Saina began walking off towards the stables. Truly, she only needed the mechanic to come along for what he needed to hear before the journey began tonight, but she felt with a veteran guardian like Urick around it would hammer in the point of her words more. Not to mention she was eager to put distance between herself and the redhead. She would need to be careful. The amazonian women certainly had a way of making her come undone. Something she dreaded with all her heart.

Finally managing to rid of most of the make up, even if she was now all glittery, and undo the braid to return it to the long Crimson wave of locks it was, Alex gave a breathe of relief. She never particularly liked getting gussied up like normal girls do. Though she did make a few exceptions. One was Naisha whenever the black Mage actually felt in the mood for getting pretty and there weren't any other female friends around, and the other was children. Alex had difficulties denying either, even if she held great distaste over getting a makeover. It just wasn't her. Such things weren't made for big, tall, muscled Amazon women.

At the looks she was given by Urick, Saina, and Eva, Alex rolled her eyes before looking at Eva at the question. Glancing briefly to Urick as he managed to speak to a guy who came over to greet him and ask to join. Well, isn't he popular with talking with other people? Still, not like she could get too mad. Even if she felt a little jealous that she felt like she was the only one getting the shortend of friendly words, Urick always seemed to have difficulties with her the most. Maybe she just was too intimidating? He never really got too scared though otherwise he would avoid her.

"I live in the jungle since the ward kicked me out and the priests threw a fit about me in town. Since there are not many healers around and bothering Lady Yuna everytime I get hurt would be a nuisance for her, I keep myself stocked. I bought this box recently and was going to take it back home after the game." Alex answered the curious gazes she was given as she brushed off some glitter on her armor plated chest. Most of the people here probably wouldn't understand what she meant by 'ward' but Urick would probably understand that she meant the orphanage she grew up in. That place always felt more like a prison. A lonely prison with hardly anyone around. She forgot how many times she was locked in the closet for misbehavior.

At Eva's giggles and guess Alex gave a feigned terrified shiver and groan, draping her right arm over her forehead dramatically. "Indeed. Nai's parents were looking out for some kids. And they combo'd puppy dog eyed me. The deadliest technique ever invented." the red head answered.

Mildly listening to Urick's conversation with the man, her blue eyes looked to the summoner as the strawberry blonde drank a Elixer before bowing and thanking the tall woman. In which case Alex was slightly taken off guard, her blue eyes blinking before a slight shade of pink crossed her cheeks as a gentle embarrassed blush formed. Her right hand raising to the back of her head and rubbing it a little, eyes darting away.

"No problem." Alex responded before finally returning her gaze toward Eva as the summoner continued speaking. Body stiffening lightly at the words, blue eyes wide in surprise.

Did... Eva just as, her to join them on their journey? A summoner asked her to join the journey? For a moment, Alex felt numb with surprise before a growing warm filled her chest and energizing electricity sparked through her body. Excitment shinning in her eyes. Was she being asked to be a Guardian? She had to wonder if she was just dreaming or something or she misheard.

Glancing toward Saina, seeing the ice witch stiffen and although not too much changed, the ice Mage didn't seem pleased. In which case Alex stuck out her tongue in a childish manner briefly before slipping it back in and thinking. Too focused on what was happening to bother paying attention to the ice witch.

On one hand, she would have to deal traveling with that witch. The one who just busted into then simple with little to no good explanation, iced Alora, decided to throw religion into the mix unneccessarily, showed little to no care for people, and made a ice spike burst through Naisha's chest and almost killed her. Not someone she wasn't exactly happy with. And the thief wasn't on her good graces either after the way he treated Naisha like a rag doll.

On the other hand, this was like a dream come true with some bumps in it. She would get to travel and battle as a Guardian and protector, get to be with her childhood friends, and get to beat the ever living pyreflies out of Thane. Weighing the options, despite how much she detested the ice witch for what she's done, Alex's care for her friends overweighted her hatred. They always came first. Doesn't mean she'd exactly play nice if the ice witch did some more behemothshit but she'd at least try and tolerate.

So with the brightest of smiles, Alex hummed a little. "Only if you allow Nai to come too. I'm not leaving her. She'd fry my hair off." Alex said and paused to wait for a answer, despite her growing excitement, she didn't want to have Naisha feel like Alex also abandoned her.

Her excitement was quite different from her irritated demenor and was jittery like a child who had just gotten the best present. After hearing a answer, she started clasping her large rough hands over Eva's with a bright smile crossing her lips as the amazon looked at the summoner. "Just to clarify. You're asking me to be a Guardian... Right?" Alex asked, her blue eyes wide and shining and full of hope, like a oversized dogs silently begging for a treat.

„But of course!” Naisha stated with a faint smile as Gippal said she always chose the best gifts.” You and Urick may already communicate by telepathy, but I to have known you since we were children... besides how can I not chose a good gift for the person I like?... !!!” She casually threw in there that sentence before realizing she literary just confessed to Gippal. Hopefully since her voice was so weak right now, maybe he didn't completely realized what she said? A small part of her hoped that, but she mostly wished he heard her... She was red a a tomato despite the fact she was suffering from anemia right now.

“Let's not dwell on that anymore...” Nai said to Gippal as he apologized for his 5 year disappearance. He looked very distressed over the fact she got injured and in danger because he returned. That put a smile on her face... She made a gesture with her fingers and the blitzball laying around the room softly flew at the unsuspecting Gippal. It was a week ball, probably the same way a child would throw it for first time and it wasn't meant for anything more than softly touch him. Naisha quickly approached with her chair and reaching out with her normal arm she placed it on his cheek.” Seriously, you boys are always like this. Did you really think you would have protected us simply by keeping us in the dark?” She said softly.” It was bound to happen eventually, he is the type to hold grudges. Even if you didn't return, he would have found out eventually. Don't worry, about it. Remember we dreamed to explore the world, this time you aren't going out there just by yourself and Urick.” Nai continued with soft and gentle voice.” Do you know why I originally picked swordsplay when I was a child? I wanted to stay by your side in the future... now I may not be able to wield a sword, but I have power... power enough to stand by you.” The black mage stated still smiling softly and gently caressing his cheek.

"Damn, those things are fun." Sifen said rubbing the back of his head as the shop keeper informed him of what was up with the airships. He couldn't get the scraps form the downed ones either which wasn't ideal. He looked back to the group he had just joined, apparently within the group was another, more important group as the tall red head had just been accepted into it. Seemed like a big deal, maybe he would get into one day like her. For now, he was fine simply repaying his debts and moving on. Little did he know, he was already a part of it. He watched as everyone went about their conversations.

He learned he had something weird in common with the redhead, both didn't live within the walls of society, but just how deep did she go? Maybe he could repay his debt to her by bonding over homelessness and experiences like that. The one who scolded him, Eva, had just drank a potion to rejuvenate herself. He had to figure out a way to repay her but most importantly, the girl who he did the most damage too, the one with the floating chair, was his top priority. He entered into a deep staring contest with the summoner by accident, gazing not at her but seeming to be focusing on her, while in truth his eyes settled there before his brain took off, thinking without letting his body continue to function. he was zoning out thinking of that poor girl. He saw that the chair, before being thrown out, was machina but something was off about it. It was more than just that, so an upgrade to the chair seemed like an impossible idea. He thought of her long and hard thinking of ways to repay her, coming to no set conclusions. He couldn't move on to think of repaying the others for some reason. She intrigued him far too much.

A look pierced Sifen's soul and broke him of his thoughts, he wasn't even facing the short girl who looked at him but he could feel the stare through the side of his head. It was cold on a non-physical level. He turned to face her as she called his name. It was terrifying to look down at her eyes. "Wh-what" He said before she even started talking. She was asking him to go with her and the man who looked like he could do half the jobs his tools were for with his bare hands. "Um, sure? What is this about? What did I pledge to?" He asked, following behind her. He kept looking around at all the lights and the shops at things he couldn't afford. "Am I in trouble again? I think that one guy throwing me out of the house was punishment enough." He said with a grin.

Urick looked at Kahl as he explained he was fighting in the Stadium as well and that he came to the conclusion that Thane was a bad man, that he wanted to hunt him down as well. Everyone and their dog wanted to come with them. He looked back to Eva and then to Kahl and simply said, "Not...my Decision."

Personally he didn't' want anyone else to join, He didn't even know this man. Not that he knew Maximus or Sifen. Sifen just 'forced' himself into the group offering to make up for his mistakes. Eva was too kind to say no. Maximus well he was in same boat as Kahl. He didn't know the man, though he seemed keen on Saina. Maybe it was because they had the same name. He didn't know. But he did give a reason for trying to silence Thane. But still he asked Eva Directly, and she agreed readily. She was always too trusting.

He had glanced back again when Eva asked Alex to come along too, He saw the sudden changes in both Saina and Alex, Neither were happy with the Idea of being near each other, you didn't need to be able to read people well to see that. It didn't help when Alex did the childish tongue sticking to Saina.

Saina then agreed with Eva as it was a splendid idea to leave that night after she helped. She then made it clear she wanted to talk to Sifen and bring him along as well to explain things further. As much as he wanted to go with her he decided it was better to stay next to Eva, Of course Maximus was here and Alex, but they didn't know Eva as well as he did, he didn't want to leave her to fend for her self...though she would have probably be best friends with Alex and Maximus at the end of the night.

He motioned to Saina to go on with out him, and watched as the two left before looking to Alex as she was getting giddy like a school girl. he then looked back to Kahl and pointed to Eva. "She...Decides."

He looked to Alex, and was happy that Eva Asked her to come. That her dream was now being fulfilled. He smiled as she asked if Eva was saying she was going to be her guardian. He worked up the courage and said before Eva, "Yes." Simply and folded his arms.

----------

Gippal had not caught what she had said, as he was already thinking about what he was about to say to her, and didn't see her face as he was looking away. After he explained what little he did she then told him not to think on it anymore. He did notice a ball being launched at his face, sitting up he easily caught it in one hand. He looked down at the ball and was surprised when she came up next to him and placed a cool hand on his cheek. He looked to her, not moving from his position as she held his cheek and spoke.

She explained that even if they kept them in the dark it wouldn't have protected them. He could see the logic in it now but it never occured to him before. She then said that Thane would have found out eventually, even if he never returned... Then remembering what Alex said about it was better that he was here he started to believe it.

She then brought up their old dream they had about adventuring all together, and that Urick and him wouldn't leave alone this time. She then brought up her choice of swordplay as children. Back then he also had chosen the sword, and had used it till about 8 years before, where he switched to his daggers, as they were easier to maneuver around while he free ran. His cheeks did redden slightly as she mentioned standing by his side even now and how she held his cheek.

A moment of silence went between him as he looked into her eyes and then took her hand with his and pulled it down, still holding it. "That was the reason Why i was gone...at least for the first two years.." He didn't want to explain any more at the moment, Luca he will reveal what he had planned on doing before he ran into Thane.

He stood up and coughed slightly and quickly made his way to the door of her room. He paused for a a moment at the door, with his hands on his hips. Truth was he did like Naisha, and always did growing up. She and Alex were the few who treated him like a normal person, not a Star or the son of the leader of Spira. He glanced back and said, "You...You better get dressed," A slight flush came to his cheeks as he exited the room, "Ill be out here...if...you need me that is."

----------

About 6 hours later the entire group will find themselves standing on the docks waiting for the ship to be loaded, before they were allowed on.

Eva was surprised at the sudden change of Alex's behavior when she asked her to join them. She did notice as well that Saina stiffened up at the question, apparently Alex did as well and stuck a tongue out at Saina.

Eva sighed. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. Saina then explained how she was going to get things ready on her end and also mentioned Eva should get aquatinted with Alex and Maximus more while she and Urick explain what it means to be a guardian to Sifen. She nodded in agreement to Saina as that would be a great idea.

Eva looked to Urick who shook his head and motioned for Saina to go on ahead. She smiled at him for staying, yes she was comfortable with him leaving but she still appreciated that he decided to stay. She always felt protected when he or Gippal were beside her.

Looking back suddenly to Alex as she moved forward and clapped her hands over Eva's, clarifying that Eva was asking her to be her guardian. She was still taken back on how exited she was. Her eyes were wide as her upper body leaned back slightly looking up at the tall woman. She was only 5'3" not much taller than Saina. "Ehhh..." she start to say when Urick said Yes. She saw the smile on his face and her right eye narrowed as she looked at the both of them. Obviously there was something she didn't know.

She smiled at Alex and confirmed that she was with a nod. She then remembered Alex condition of Nai being able to come with them. She put a smile on her face and said she could come as well. But on the inside she was not happy. Naisha was probably a nice girl and all but...

Eva pulled her hands away and said, "alright I'm going to go help the wounded. Your all welcome to come."

She started for the door and when no one was looking her smile went away. She didn't want Nai to come. She knew how much she meant to Gippal. She could see it in him as he spoke about her. But she wasn't selfish, she knew Gippal wanted to be with his childhood friends again adventuring.

Also how close he was and focused on her when she woke up made her feel even worse. She didn't have a chance...

A tear slipped from the corner of her eye and she wiped it quickly before the others could see it. She then quickly moved to the tent to start healing the wounded.

-----

On the docks Eva sat almost falling asleep. She had used two more elixer's that day, which was worth it because her cure and cura spells were able to heal many. But she didn't use another to get her energy back now, that would be wasteful. She would just sleep on the boat as it sailed.

Like Alex before she was now covered in glitter and makeup. Though not as prominent as Alex. As the girls tried to redo the makup on Alex, Eva stepped in and offered herself as a 'sacrifice' she was just finished cleaning herself up after helping everyone. She partly did it because she looked like a mess and didn't want to look like that in front of Gippal. She gave the girls a few pointers as they did hence not as bad as Alex's run in with them.

Her hair was braided, wrapped up and had a flower in it now. Hopefully Gippal would notice... Though that may be asking too much as he was with friends at the moment.

Alex stared at Eva, anticipating a answer though soon glanced to Urick as he managed to answer. Her blue eyes narrowed, studying him. Searching for any... Truth in Thane's words. She didn't want to... But he phrased her fears. Urick seemed okay now though, but it still made her wonder. Despite that she gave a bright smile before looking at Eva and watched as the summoner nodded and agreed with the condition. A smile on the Summoner's lips, yet something seemed... A little off about it and Alex couldn't quite place it.

Still, the red head lips upturned in a grin before promptly bending down on one knee. If she was doing this, she was doing it damn proper. Not releasing Eva's hands, the amazon's larger and rougher ones held them gently. Despite the uncontrollable power they held within them if she squeezed too hard. Always having to walk on eggshells.

"Then... I, Alex, vow to protect you with my life. Through sickness and through health... Through flame, sea, thunder, and wind... Defend you from any fiend that roam this land. As your Guardian. With everything in my power." Alex said in a serious tone before lightly kissing the back of her hands before standing up. Satisfied with her vow before humming a soft tune in her excitement. This felt... Oddly nostalgic. Such a weird feeling. Eva also made her feel.... Odd. Similar to Lady Yuna. Maybe it was just summoners who made her feel this unidentified feeling. She's only known one summoner which was Lady Yuna.

When Eva left to go help others, Alex watched before looking to Urick, snapping out her utter joy. Blue eyes looking at him, she thought for a moment. Right now, he didn't seem that different... But... He did change in a way. And with Naisha and Gippal... Perhaps they wouldn't be far behind. Which meant the end was soon. How terrifying. Perhaps.... This was their last adventure together. If that was the case, a part of her didn't want this new adventure they were about to embark on to end. Scary, how time seemed to move so fast.

If the end was soon, then she supposed she needed to try and make the most of it.

With a grin, the red head embraced Urick, wrapping her left arm around his waist while the right went around the rib while her right hand cupped the back of his head. Giving him a friendly embrace and ruffled the white hair. "Hope your ready to deal with the firecracker of the group. Hope I don't drive you too crazy Uri!" she chuckled before letting him go before following after Eva.

Both eager to guard her, and help with the villagers as well.



Alex spent her time around Eva and Urick, helping out people as best as she could. Which was carrying things, helping moving people, etc. Pretty much all the muscle work. When heading to the docks, the red head took a brief stop at her home. A old cave that Lady Yuna found during her sphere hunting days. Right beside the lake and hidden behind a old metal door now mostly covered in vines and leaves. The deep cave was her home. Filled with fiends. A reason why she insisted if anyone wanted to come in, she'd refuse them. The fiends oddly left her alone, but she was sure the instant anyone else came in, they'd be attacked. She didn't sleep too deep into the cave. She made a hammock between to rocks. Having a few blankets, and three chests. One for clothes/weapons/armor, another for food, and another for potions.

A lantern sat on top of one of the chests, just so she could have some light in the darkness. It was cold, dark, and filled with fiend's but it was a roof over her head. Plus, plenty of fiends to train on.

At the docks, she was about mauled by little girls again but this time Eva took the bullet. In which case Alex sat next to her and patted her back. "You are a brave kind lady. But you look much better than I did." she stated in awe.

When Gippal took her hand and pulled it away from his cheek, Naisha finally came to her senses of what she was doing and similarly to him also blushed. He appeared to have had another reason for missing at first he seemed to want to tell to her, but appeared to not be ready yet. The black mage closed her eyes, as she convinced herself to not press that issue until Gippal himself is ready to tell her.

"You...You better get dressed." The boy said as he walked to the door. "Ill be out here...if...you need me that is." He added before closing the door behind himself. Naisha stared at that direction for a time. She almost felt as calling him back...”Seriously what's whit that boy? A girl practically presents to herself to him on silver platter and he runs away.” She heard a voice inside her head. It sounded emotional and fiery.” If that cottonhead can't bring himself to do it, why not call him to help you get changed?” The voice then asked Naisha, immediately making her blush as red as possible considering the lack of blood.”WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SAYING!? How can I do such a thing!?” Naisha exclaimed, shaking her head.

Those voices inside her head were proving... a little problematic. The fiery one seemed to be acting and talking by emotion... and since they were part of the mage, Naisha herself was even more embarrassed that deep down she was probably agreeing with that voice. Forcing the voices which were buzzing inside her head, the mage tried to chose clothes to wear.

There was a small problem with her clothes now. Most of the tops she had were heavy and warm with thigh sleeves to keep even warmer. Due the monster hand she now had, she basically couldn't wear almost all of her tops. There was no choice. With her currently even weaker arms than usual, she reached for the scissors as she cut one of the sleeves of the top she chose. With some difficulty she managed to take off the men clothes she was wearing. Then took one of her own soft under-vests and put it on. Then proceeded to put on the now modified fur coat. Then she put on one of her long fur skirts. Her current clothing looked almost the same as the ones she wore previously, but at least she was warm. Using the chair to move over to the desk, she took the sphere that was on it and quickly recorded a message for her parents, trying to keep the horn out of the picture. She didn't want them to worry, but she also explained everything... She didn't want her own parents to hear some possible propaganda first.

“I'm ready, let's go.” Naisha said as she opened the door and saw Gippal. Aside the clothes, she also covered herself with a blanket to keep the hand hidden. On her lap was also a small plushie of Ifrit, along with what appeared to be a small hand sewn bag with well sewing equipement.

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6 Hours later
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They were at the Docks. Naisha quickly spotted her friends who were already there. Urick and Alex were sticking out as usual, though she also noticed the summoner who healed her. She was standing next to Alex, or maybe it was the other way around. The hairdo of the pale haired woman sure was different. A strange feeling irked the black mage... her intuition was telling her that woman seemed to have feelings for Gippal... 'Let her come! I'm not going to lose!' Naisha thought to herself. Though looking at this angle Eva looked so down... Naisha herself knew the feeling of wanting to be noticed and could imagine how that girl felt, even having the fact Naisha was around Gippal right now. Thinking things through, she even surprised herself at the decision she reached.”Gippal, go check Eva. She seems tired, maybe something happened.” The black mage said to the blitzball player and was somehow managing to keep an okey neutral face... probably because she too was deadly tired.

“Hey Alex! Are you okey? What happened around town?” Naisha asked her friend whom she approached. As a gesture for rescuing her life, Naisha was going to let Gippal go check on Eva alone without anyone in too close proximity to them.”Whoa... that's some willpower from you. Why would you do that?” The fiery voice appeared in her head, but she tried to ignore it. It was already hard trying to control herself to allow that to happen.”It's just this one time...” She mumbled very quietly.

Looking to see Uricks response and seeing his gesture to go on without him, Saina nodded in understanding before turning away. She walked with the mechanic in tow, listening to his questions. She had to chuckle under her breath. The curious man was... oddly amusing.

"No, You are not in trouble."

Sifen followed in tow, looking around. All of the not-desert around him was a nice sight to take in, after all. With the added bonus of being away from the group gave him the familiar silence of Bikanel island's vast desert he called home for so many years.

"Oh good, so what are we doing then?" He asked, kicking a rock into a nearby trashcan hitting it dead on with a loud bang. He pumped his fist once after the rock connected. They walked in awkward silence for a moment, almost as though the pale, snow-white style chick had forgotten about him or something. In reality, she was thinking about how to word what was needed to be said. Then, breaking the silence, she spoke up when the Besaid stables came into view.

"You seem to not understand the weight of what you have pledged to do. What exactly was your intention when you swore fealty to her ladysip?"

Sifen looked away from the ground and stopped his search for rocks when the question was asked. "I pledged to repay a debt for the damage I did. I just gotta do some odd jobs for you guys for a bit free of charge for a while and then I'll be on my way. Why?"

A troubled look fell onto the short womans face. Did he really not know? The legends of summoners are like a fairytale--a real one. Most children adore hearing about them... Though, perhaps, the man was not from the local area. If going by his tattoos or cloaked appearance were anything to go off of, she could almost say that she was... exactly like him. An outsider. Maybe even more so than herself if he didn't know what a guardian was. They walked into the stables, passing a few empty stalls, one of them holding a regular, golden chocobo which slept curled up in the corner of its confinements.

"What is your name?"

She stopped in the center of the walkway to turn and look up at him, putting off answering his question for a moment. She hadn't caught it with all the going ons of the group back in the hut. She'd been more focused on how funny it was to see everyone spring into action like they had.

"Sifen." he said, stopping as well. "And you?" He asked, looking down at her with a goofy smile. He still wasn't sure whether to be serious or to have fun at the moment, so the goofy smile was awkward, but still retaining it's goofiness. To which, Saina raised her brows... and gave a slight smile back. At last, someone was being pleasant with her, and being rather respectful. Perhaps Besaid wasn't full of complete fools afterall.

"Saina."

She pulled off one of her black gloves as she started walking again, talking on a she went.

"Listen Sifen, what you have decided to become apart of is something many people only dream of doing. You have become a guardian. And that means... you have signed your life away to protect our ladship, the summoner Eva."

An eyebrow raised on Sifen's face. "Noooo, i signed my next year or so to repaying all of you, not just her. Honestly, it's mostly for that poor girl I fell on." He lowered his eyebrow and looked at Saina once again. "I didn't sign up for anything else. If it means protecting you guys for a while I can handle that though. I've been a guardian of a warehouse before so it's not a foreign concept to-"

"It is not the same thing!"

She whirled around, her hands outstretched and fingers spread just as a blue chocobo poked its head out of the last stall on her left behind her, apparently the creature recognized her voice, letting out a happy "WAARK!" upon seeing her familiar blue and black hair. She exhaled, closing her eyes tightly almost as if she was experiencing a mild headache before taking a breath and stepping up to him again, seeming to regain her composure. When she spoke, it was in a firm, but hushed tone.

"Sifen, whether you knew it or not, you have signed your life away, and swore fealty to the summoner to defend her no matter the cost. This isn't a job that just ends on a whim. As long as her ladyship chooses to go on this journey and stays her course, we are to be there to protect her at all times."

Her throat was starting to hurt. She hadn't talked this much in... ever.

Sifen frowned a bit. "Dang. Do... Do we get food? Money? Or did I just sign myself into slavery?" He knelt down before plopping his butt onto the dirt with a slight jingle of metal throughtout his may pockets. "Because I had nothing before this, it's not like I can help fund this journey of yours."

Saina watched him sit down a moment, looked at Mercury, then sighed before going over to him and sitting down next to him. She looked at him and let the silence surround them for a moment save for the sounds of the blue chocobo scratching at the door in excitement to see her again.

"Nobody expects you... to help pay or... to help out much other than to defend the summoner from fiends. And, you should know, they drop gil anyways."

She spoke softly, using her hands to talk by gesturing to him now and then.

"You are not a slave... what you are Sifen, what I am, and Urick, and Gippal and... Alex,"

She grimaced at the name;

"We are Eva's knights... for lack of a better term. Summoners cannot fight on their own without the assistance of others due to their focus in life on things like healing and... well, calling down great god-like deities. It leaves little time for the study of blades. That's where we come in."

The last few sentences she spoke had a positive, proud tone in her voice with an edge of humor as she looked at him, her gaze very much so softer than the one she had used to catch his attention before. She stood up at that moment, her back turned to Sifen.

"And in the land of Spira, there is no greater honor than to serve a summoner."

She turned back to him, and offered him her ungloved hand, her eyes determined. Sifen chuckled a bit. The whole speech he just received was all too dramatic and cheesy. But endearing at the same time, and so he took her hand, but quickly pulled it back and removed his own glove and giggled. "Whoops!" He said and grabbed her hand and shook it. "Seems I'm in over my head." He chuckled. and glared to his hand as it felt as though it were freezing. Sifen tried to stand, pulling himself up on Saina's arm but ultimately pulling her down instead, causing the dark haired woman to blink in mild surprise when she found herself in the dirt again. Sifen dusted himself off and stood up on his own before turning to help her up, which she gladly accepted. Once on her feet again, she put her black glove back on and opened the stable door, taking her large bird from his confines and was happily greeted with the blue chocobo nuzzling his massive beak against her exposed abdomen. As she stroked his feathers, she looked up at Sifen.

"I'm going to load Mercury onto the boat down by the docks and wait for nightfall so that we may leave. If you have something you need to handle, I recommend doing it now. Afterall, we won't be coming back to this village until the journey ends."

Saina allowed him his imagination to see when that may be.

"I'll go find work on the ship to get some Gil for myself, not too many fiends around here since you guys killed them all. Shouldn't be too hard to find some work on the ship anyways. Where are we going again?" He asked, grabbing for several pockets to check if he had all his things. Pants, tools, guns, all check. He understood his new job well enough. Protect the summoner, shouldn't be too hard.

"Luca,"

Saina answered him thoughtfully. At least, if memory served correctly. It had been awhile since she had heard the teachings. In one hand she held Mercury by the reigns, her other hand in her pocket as she talked, feeling once again the sphere that Thane had left behind back in the stadium.

Sifen's face turned as pale as the girl's. Luca. His hometown. "O-oh. Sounds like a, uh, really interesting place." He faked a quick smile that lasted maybe half a second. "Never been there. This uh, could be uh, fun. Yeah." He sheepishly said. Saina raised her brows at his peculiar change in behavior, but chose not to pry. Afterall, everyone has their secrets. She started walking out of the stables, Mercury in tow.

"I'm heading to the docks now. You may as well come with me since you are headed there anyways."

Sifen nodded. He was through with speaking for a bit, and simply followed with no expression or sign of complex emotion in his face, ironically matching the usually expressionless woman he walked with. Luca. This wasn't going to be fun. What if he was recognized by an old friend, or worse, his parents. What would they think of him? It had been 14 years after all.

The two went on their way in silence, interrupted only by the chirping of the blue chocobo beind them.

---

Sifen had taken to distracting himself with work on the ship, he had been helping load things mostly, as they already had dedicated engineers. He couldn't even count how many times he had walked from the ship to the dock, but after more than a few hours of work he had earned a nice amount of pay. The others started popping up as well, however he seemed to be the only one doing any work. The other girls seemed all dolled up, but he couldn't blame them. They weren't as poor as he and didn't need the work.

Meanwhile, Saina had spent her time loading her chocobo on deck and getting him settled in, much to the excitement of some of the workers Sifen had encountered. Blue chocobo's weren't exactly rare, but definetly uncommon and the ham of a chocobo had soaked up the attention. Confident the playful bird would be alright, she had taken the time to find a secluded enough spot to pull her hood up and rest. She didn't want to miss seeing the night sky while out in the open ocean. The beauty and serenity of the scene would certainly be something to write songs about. She had made it back a bit early and when Eva found her way to the docks, she approached her and bowed her head, pulling her hood down.

"You seem tired, m'lady. Once we are on board we'll have to get you situated in your quarters right away. We have a long journey ahead of us."

Having been able to remove herself from the public eye for the most part, albeit unintentionally, she heard a few murmurs here and there about her strange, apparitional appearance was from the gathered crowd. Though, whether they were bad or good, she paid them no mind enough to bring herself to care. It was then she noticed the black mage from before approach with Gippal. Her eyes widened slightly. Eva had chose her to go on their journey? She, who needed a wheelchair to go long distances? Saina would definetly need to have words with the summoner later.

"Might as well give me your things, I'm loading things anyways after all, and I don't want any help, you'll make me get paid less." He smirked and looked for the other two men but settled his eyes on Alex who had strength on par with Urick. "Please, I kinda need it for things." He walked to the summoner and Alex and looked at their feet. "Did you not pack anything?" He saw Naisha, the girl who he had fallen on (Saina had told him who each person was, but not much about them other than what they could do.). "Hey, uh Nai? Do you have anything that needs to be brought on the boat?" He walked over to her past the others on the dock and approached her. He had a debt to her that was deeper than the rest. Of course he bowed to the summoner before basically blowing her off. He could get her stuff on another trip from the boat.

Urick saw Alex's eyes narrow at him for a moment before she went to one knee, his eyebrow raised as he wondered if she was still mad at him for yelling at her in the stadium. She gave a short oath to Eva. He nor Gippal did anything of the sort for her. But Alex was the one who ALWAYS wanted to be a Guardian above everything else.

She rose and Eva said she was going to help with the wounded and He and Alex were left standing there watching her leave. She turned to him and for a moment he didn't know what she was going to do. She suddenly came in very close and hugged him. His face was beat red and he couldn't control it. She messed his hair with the hand that cupped his head, and before he could even hug her back still affected by the shock she pulled away. She then said she hoped he was ready to deal with her, and that she wouldn't drive him too crazy. Fact was she already did with her Angry glares and sudden mood swing. But of course he said nothing.

Looking to the man named Kahl he then said, "If you want to follow....Come to the boat then." He said softly before bowing his head very slightly for a farewell and left the building.

----------

Maximus was brooding by himself and seemed to look like he missed mostly everything. He had heard they were leaving on the last ship tonight and Decided to follow the three still because he had nothing better to do. Seeing how Saina was now gone with Sifen...he will have to talk to her on the boat now. Sighing he nodded to Kahl and moved out of the shop.

------------------
As soon as Gippal walked out of the room he heard a knock on the door to see Urick popping his head in. Urick quickly told him that they were leaving tonight on the last boat also that Alex was now a Guardian, and Nai was also allowed to come along as a requirement. Gippal was surprised at the news. He thanked Urick for letting him know and Urick popped back out.

Gippal leaned outside against the wall, banging the back of his head against the wall gently. He was wondering why he 'ran' from the room himself. He always liked Nai, even growing up as kids. Why now when she was holding his cheek did he freak out? He let out an irritated sigh/growl. Stupid.

He then suddenly thought of Eva, and how she was doing. Through the world wind of the last day he didn't even get to talk to her too much. Beside's in his room before they went to bed, but he needed to fall asleep for the game. She has basically been with Urick the entire day while he was off doing a million things. Eva had been with him for two years basically They had been together through a lot, she had clung to him like a security blanket for many months, with the ordeal she went through he was surprised she has coped so well over the years.

Sighing he looked at his chest as he thought of Eva's ordeals and placed his hand over his heart, he could feel the massive scar even through the shirt, it was obvious he was forever marked by his own trials. It was something he received three years before, something that changed his life forever. Horrible memories of screaming in agony flashed through his head. So much it caused his head to hurt with imaginary pain.

He should say that he was surprised HE was sane after his ordeals, Something he never talked about. Not Eva, and not even with Urick. They knew things had happen, but not what.

His thoughts were dragged to the present as Nai opened the door announcing she was ready. He put on a smile and nodded, getting behind her he pushed her through the door of her house. As they walked they received strange looks from people who saw Nai's horn, some gave mean, disgusted, looks only to receive one back from Gippal. But no one said anything surprisingly.

------
Six Hours later

AS they made their way to the docks they quickly found the group as Alex and Urick stood above everyone else. As the grew closer he saw Eva sitting with Alex who was speaking to her about something. He stopped when Nai looked up to him and told him to go check on Eva, He thought that was kind of weird she would say that...especially after the night before. He then said, "Alright?" He moved from behind her chair and looked at her again. Her face was semi neutral so he couldn't get a read on her. He was planning on talking with Eva anyways, it was just weird that Nai would tell him to.

Walking over he passed Alex, He gave her a smile and said, "Welcome aboard." Slapping her arm as they passed. He walked up to Eva and stopped as the setting sun reflected near them, Gippal finally saw that Eva had her hair done and had makeup on. He was taken back on how she was sparkling in the reddish orange light.

He glanced over to see Saina standing by her and nodded to her. He then squatted down on the balls of his feet so he was eye level with Eva. She was looking extremely tired, he smiled at her and placed a hand on her elbow gently, squeezing her arm slightly. "Hey... how are you doing?" He asked softly.

Urick looked to Eva and Gippal as they began to talk. He looked to Saina who was standing there and made his way over to her, looking at the sky as he did. He got her attention by tapping her shoulder gently. Once she looked at him he motioned with his other hand to follow him to the end of the Dock.

Once they were there, he cleared his throat and sweat started to come down again on his face. He struggled with what he was going to say and how to word it. He then pointed to the horizon where the sun was setting directly in front of them. The sky was a multitude of shades of reds and oranges, which mixed in with the ocean below. The air had a gentle breeze and the sea was calm.

He let a moment of silence go by, his eyes closed taking in the last of the warmth of the sun. Despite the sounds of the men moving cargo onto the ship, the sounds of the waves calmed him. It didn't even seem real that the events that happened today really happened...if it was just a bad dream. He focused on the scene before him and acted like he was only speaking to himself or Gippal. He finally spoke in a low voice. " Both are beautiful and powerful in their own way. Only together though can they complement each other and make a masterpiece."

He let out a breath of air as he looked to his right and down at Saina with a smile. He then realized he was able to speak to another person, a woman in fact with out freaking out. But as soon as he realized that he turned red and looked away, clamping up like he did once more.

Eva looked at Alex as she patted her on the back Saying she was brave but looked better than she did. Eva cocked her head to the side and said, "Thank you.. but you didn't look bad with make up even if the makeup was over done. You can pull it off I know you could. "She said with a smile. She then leaned in and continued with a wink. "The trick is to teach them how much to use and how to do it while they do it. It only makes them more excited." She giggled

She then heard a woman call for Alex and looked over to see Gippal pushing Naisha's chair. It was Naisha who called to Alex. A knot formed in her stomach as she saw the other woman. She had been Six hours alone with Gippal... though she had her own time as well during the two years still it was the fact it was Six hours... What did they do during that time?? She got her self slightly flustered and realized she was being childish so she calmed herself.

Saina appeared and mentioned she looked tired and once they get on the boat she would help her get settled. Smiling at her Eva nodded and said, "Thank you Saina. I would appreciate that. I am a bit tired from all the magic I performed today." She looked at her for a moment before adding. "I know you are very serious about being my guardian, but I also want to be friends ok? So please don't call me M'lady Call me Eva." She said with warm smile.

Sifen came up and asked if she had anything for the journey. She shook her head, most of her things were in Luca, she only was coming here for a day or so in search of Gippal and Urick. "No thank you though Sifen. Most of my things are in Luca at the moment."

After that she noticed Gippal walking over, She immediately sat up straighter and her face flushed slightly. He looked so handsome walking towards her, but she noticed right away his new Bracer, gloves and belt, along with the second pair of Knifes on them. Did they go shopping? Gippal never really buys himself new things. Was it a Gift then?

She didn't have time to think about it as he came up to her and lowered himself as he squatted on the balls of his feet in front of her. She blinked a few times as he asked how she was doing. She then said, "Well... I am a little tired. I spent all the time helping out with the wounded."

Gippal nodded and smiled at her, it was one of his genuine smiles that always made her heart flutter. "I see. You always do over exert yourself." He looked at her face and hair for a moment. "Despite being tired you look amazing."

She smiled even more and blushed. "Thank you.. it's not my doing. I was saving Alex from getting mauled again from a group of young girls." She said as she pushed a free strand of hair over her ear.

Gippal laughed imagining Alex grumbling as a group of girls surrounded her and applying Makeup. he wished he saw it. "Was that the glitter I noticed on her armor from?"

Eva Giggled and nodded. "She didn't look bad. But she apparently doesn't like makeup it seems."

They both looked to Alex and Nai, and Gippal nodded. "Yeah she's definitely not the girly girl type." After thinking for a moment Gippal then said in a soft tone. "Thank you for accepting Alex as a Guardian and allowing Nai to come along as well." Looking to Eva again their eyes met. "It really means a lot to me, and to Alex. She always dreamed of being a Guardian. Nai did too..."

Eva smiled, but on the inside she knew she was going to have to ask Nai to be her guardian as well. She nodded to Gippal. "Of course, it wasn't a big deal... I know how much they meant to you, I've kept you from them, it's only right to allow them to come along. She suddenly realized she was leaning in ever so slowly the entire time she was speaking with Gippal, Her eyes went wide and she pulled back again and blushed looking away at Urick and Saina who were at the end of the dock.

Gippal raised an eyebrow when she pulled away, He had noticed her moving closer but didn't do anything because he thought maybe she was just tired and sitting up straight would be very uncomfortable when tired. He knew it was for him. He stood up and looked over at the captain of the ship who announced they were ready to board. LOoking down at Eva he offered a hand to her. "Come on, lets get on."

Saina's eyes widened slightly when Eva requested for her to call the summoner by her name rather than the title that she had recently placed on her. To this, Saina smiled slightly.

"As you wish... Eva."

At that moment, she felt a tap on her shoulder and looked over it to find Urick gesturing her to follow him. Saina blinked, surprised, but followed him nonetheless. As they stopped at the edge of the docks, she stared out at the sunset kissing the horizon, causing the water to sparkle and dance with different hues of light. The wind gently blew her hair behind her, caressing her skin ever so softly. She appreciated the moment of silence the large man beside her granted, and even more so with the slight distance between the two of them, could feel his warmth radiating off of him.

"Both are beautiful and powerful in their own way. Only together though can they complement each other and make a masterpiece."

After he had spoken, she looked at him at the same time he looked at her. as she realized that he had at last answered her question from earlier that day. He had listened. He had thought about her words... and he had given an answer. A powerful one at that. In that moment before he looked away, blushing, she admired how the sun made his tan skin glow and how the light in the water was reflected in his deep green gaze. It was at that moment that she decided she wanted to see just how deep they actually went.

"Urick..."

She surprised herself at the sound of her own voice, which was breathy and awed. She turned towards him completely, enraptured in her need to hear more of what he had to say.

"Which is easier to lose your way in... the forest... or the mountains?"

As she spoke, the breeze blew the locks of hair framing her face across them, her eyes wide and her lips pulled up into a slight smile as she looked up at him. If anything, her expression would tell him that she wasn't going to stop pursuing his words, or his answers, but she would wait until he could tell them to her, no matter how long the wait. For a few seconds she stood like that, silent, and looking up at him. At that moment, the captain called for everyone to board. She turned and began walking back towards where the boat was docking. She stopped part way to the boat and spoke over her shoulder back to where Urick was standing.

"Let's go."

Alex blinked a little at Eva's words, a soft Crimson color staining her cheeks at them before scratching the back of her head in embarrassment. "Nah, someone like me can't pull off that kind of stuff like you or Nai. Plus I don't know anything about that sort of thing. Probably would do worse than the kids." she said before perking as she saw Gippal and Naisha. Chuckling a little as the white haired man smacked her arm in which she returned.

"Glad to be here Cottonhead." she said before looking to see the thief. Her eyes narrowing suspiciously as he asked if they had any bags. She glared at him for a moment, but despite her hostile demeanor, she did slip her bag off her shoulders before holding it out to him.

"Don't steal it. It's for the whole group." She said, but let him have her heavy bag. It was filled with equipment and accessories to prepare for different sort of type of enemies. As well as some food supplies, fresh water, and some personal belongings. She didn't exactly trust him, but she wouldn't exactly deny a thief possibly doing honest work. Even if she could carry her own things just as easily.

Watching Gippal and Eva speak with one another, she turned her gaze toward Naisha, hmphing a little as the thief spoke to the black Mage. "Hey beautiful. No need to worry about me, I bounce back quick." Alex said with a reassuring confident grin before thinking on how to answer the rest of the questions.

"Well Eva managed to help heal some of the injured while I helped rebuild some buildings. Your parents were helping some of the lost children and they seemed alright. Worried about you but I reassured you are okay and not to worry." she answered before she quirked a eyebrow at the mumble.

"What?" she asked before glancing to see Urick talking with the ice wizard. Alex narrowed her eyes, watching him manage to speak to her. Great, he seemed fine being able to talk to her. Wonder if that meant something. The thought made her blood boil. The familiar feeling of rage.. With panic, fear and the dreaded sensation of... Loneliness.

He couldn't have waited until after the journey? And why her out of all of the bloody women in the world?

Alex didn't want to ponder on it, feeling the sickening feeling of blood in her throat. Choking. Drowning. Yet there was nothing there. Turning her eyes away, she focused her attention on Naisha. Naisha was at least not hitting on anyone.

"I'm now officially a Guardian though! It's really awesome! And you get to come too! So we can adventure together along with Uri and Cottonhead! It'll be great!" the Amazon cheered happily, switching her mind to focus on the subject that currently made her happy.

"How about you? You been doing well? Do you need anything? Or did Gippal take care of you? Hope you two manage to catch up a little." Alex said before standing and moving being Naisha and gripped the handles of the chair before started following the others onto the ship.

The black mage raised and eyebrow as the man whom she vaguely remembered from falling on top of her earlier on the bed, approached her and awkwardly asked her if she needed something to be carried on the boat. He seemed to be feeling uneasy about what happened earlier, so maybe this was his way of trying to apologize?” Yeah, you could call me Nai. Everyone who knows me, does that.” She told him with very slight smile. She wasn't exactly opened up towards him yet, but it was common manners to be polite.” And yes, can you help me with this?” She asked and pointed at the big bag that was hanged on the side of the chair.

“Excuse me for asking if you already said it before, but what was your name?” Naisha asked with calm and collected voice.” Around the point I woke up, I was kind of in confused state so I may have missed it back then if you said it.” She smiled as she at least wanted to know his name since they were appearing to be traveling together.

Naisha smiled at Alex's reply, though her smile was partially darkened when she remembered the hand she kept hidden and the horn that she could always slightly see.

“That's good to know...” Naisha muttered about the thing with her parents. She dreaded that maybe she injured them in her rampage with gravijas in the stadium. It was one of the first real good news she got since the incident.”If they are fine, it's all good. I couldn't face them... not looking like this. That's why I left them a message on a sphere that I'm leaving and I explained why ...” The black mage stated with a slight smile. Truth was she didn't know if she was going to return from this trip... deep inside her she didn't know what she will do in the future if they met Thane again.

“Ahh yeah, I heard about that. I guess we will be traveling together since we deal with...” The mage was about to say 'Thane', but stopped as a knot appeared in her throat. Just the mere mentioning of the name made a certain mix of emotions to surge inside her. Taking a deep breath she continued.”... that man. I originally planned to travel with you guys at least till Luca if I didn't join as guardian. From there I was going to join, Auntie Rikku, but that's in the past. I will be with my friends still!”

“Well... we caught up on a few things... I also finally managed to clear that box I kept all his birthday gifts that were piling up.” Naisha said with a weak smile... She was getting sleepy from fatigue... and the pain in her chest that was constantly acting up, wasn't helping.” Ahh no... I don't need anything, but I think I will take a little nap after we depart from port... It has been a long day.” The frail girl replied as her friend was pushing her towards the ship.. She would probably fall asleep right now if she relaxed a little, but she forced herself to witness the departure... she had to.

Sifen grabbed the bag handed to him by Alex with a grunt. He didn't expect it to be as heavy as it was, and it was easily the heaviest thing possible for it's size. But it wasn't impossible for him to carry it so he continued and grabbed the bag Nai had given him as well. "Thanks, I'll be back soon, or I might just see you all aboard! Next stop is uh... Yeah." He smiled, pretending the bags weren't heavy and that he was happy about the trip to his hometown who's name he couldn't even choke out at the time. His face sure was happy, considering what was going through his head at the time. He had six hours to think about what he would do, what could have happened in all of those years.

Luca. It had to be Luca, of all of the places to drop anchor. Sifen made his way slowly passed the group once more, once fully past them his head dropped and he looked to the ground with no emotion on his face. The happy go lucky childish mechanic wasn't ready to deal with his past, and in fact never planned on going back to Luca despite the opportunities he could have in the city with his skill with machina. A tear fell from his face and made a little wet spot on the dock, and upon seeing this he hurried to the boat where any wetness wasn't so visible. He just hoped the drop was assumed to be the water in the overly heavy bag Alex handed him. No need to draw attention to his own problems.

Once on board he made his way to the rooms of Nai and Alex and dropped their things off and went to his own bunk and laid down with the bot pieces and a few tools. Maybe work could take his mind off of things. He began fiddling with the engine and found a few bits of scrap he managed to have on him, and considering the rest was left in the house he broke into earlier, there wasn't much to work with so he was kind of just fiddling with the engine with his hands. Avoiding problems was harder than he'd hoped.

Urick looked to Saina as she said his name, her tone different from her normal emotionless one. He could see her expression was filled with wonder and awe. He tilted his head to the side, confused on why she was like this after his simple answer to her question. She turned to him completely and asked another question.


"Which is easier to lose your way in... the forest... or the mountains?"

Urick pulled his head back at the question. What a random one. He never had anyone ask such philosophical ones to him randomly, He had received a few while training with the Ronso, but that was to focus his training... This...this was different. He blinked a few times, staring into the distance for a moment as he thought about it. Logically it was the Forrest, in his book. But that wasn't what the Question was about. He hummed as he thought about it.

He looked back down to Saina to see her still looking at him with wide eyes and a smile on her face while the gentle breeze blew the hair around her face. She stood like that for a few seconds, He could tell by her silence and the way she looked she wasn't expecting an immediate answer. realizing this he gave a tiny smile back, but his face blushed even more. No one...no woman... has talked to him like this... it was a strange feeling.

The Captain called for everyone to board, she turned and started walking, stopping and calling back to him to come with her. He nodded but took in a deep breath as he did. A bigger smile came on his face when Saina wasn't looking, and made his way towards her, and walked with her to the boat.

---------

Eva looked at his hand before smiling and placing hers in it. He helped her up and walked with her to the ramp. He looked over at Urick who was looking at Saina while she walked towards them. He noticed the giant, even though silhouetted by the setting sun behind him...looked a little taller. Not in a literal sense. He smirked and shook his head as they walked up the ramp behind Nai and Alex, Saina and Urick would follow up behind him then Maximus bringing up the rear.

As soon as everyone was on board the ramp was shoved off and ropes were untied and tossed into the water while the crew pulled them up to stow them away. Gippal stopped at the side of the boat and leaned against the railing, looking to the island as it slowly moved away, the large paddles on the side of the ship began to move, This ship was still ran by chocobo power, Gippal remembering talking to the Captain many years ago asking why he didn't move to Machina engines. He had said he didn't understand them and seemed to break down all the time. Chocobo's though he understood and there were few problems with them. He also rather be slower but never be late, than be faster and risk the ship breaking down.

The group was silent as they watched the island grow smaller and smaller, a dim light from the sun was still visible but no sun was visible.

Gippal allowed Eva to sit on a crate next to him while he plopped himself on the rail to look at everyone there. The only one that was missing was Sifen, who he figured someone will let him know soon enough, maybe even himself. Gippal had decided this was the best time to inform everyone who Thane was...at least to his knowledge.

"Three years ago..." He started to say, loud enough for all of them to hear and know he was speaking to them. " Urick and I were investigating the disappearances of people in Zanarkand, seeing if it was Fiend related or something worse. A few weeks of searching brought up nothing. Nothing that was more than a normal Adventure or person living in Zanarkand couldn't handle. We were about to pack it up and head on to something else when I ran into Thane the first time. He was too strong for me, as Urick was off buying tickets for the transport out. I was quickly defeated and knocked out. Only to wake up in some Ruins somewhere in Zanarkand, Till this day I still don't know where.

Apparently Thane was the one behind the disappearances. He snatched people who wondered to far off and was using them for some Experiments, all of the experiments were related to Summoning's and Fayth's among others...." Gippal paused as he rubbed his scar over his heart. He shook his head and began again. " For a year I was forced into slave labor, doing what ever, saying he would Kill Urick if I defied, Apparently Urick spent six months looking for me, only to get nabbed as well. But Thane made it sound like he had Urick all along. Six more months of this, both of us told the other would die if they misbehaved. I finally found Urick by luck as we were being shuffled into a new dig site he wanted to start. Upon seeing each other we both went into action, freeing ourselves from our chains we made our way through the the ruins to Find Thane and kill him."

He looked to Eva and said, "That's when we ran into Eva. She was next in line for one of his sacrifices in his experiments, I've seen this happen a few times before with the others. Thane had just killed one poor girl just before Eva, and as he moved to her Urick and I swept in, Urick fought Thane while I grabbed Eva, who was coming to as I held her in my arms. It was clear even with our surprise attack Thane was still too strong for us. So we ran. And have been ever since, Thane close on our tail. I tried going back there but I can't find the entrance, and my father...well he doesn't believe me." He finished with a sour tone. As he looked away for a moment. "That's what's happened to us in the last 3 years. Why we didn't return home. Because Thane promised he would hurt you guys if we did. Six months ago he suddenly stopped pursuing. We thought he simply gave up. Apparently not. "

Looking to everyone. He waited to see if they were gunna ask anything or not.

"Well see you there." Kahl said the kid as he disappeared into the swirling crowd of passerbys. He then walked to the hotel to get his stuff since he figured he wouldn't be on this island for a good while. Plus not like he'd have the cash to pay or rep to have some sort of tab. His luck was far from good as there were simply too many people in town clogging the streets which made going to and from the hotel simply a nuisance. At the rate he was going several hours passed until he made it to the docks.

He would then be lose more time shuffling around the docks area as tried to find the boat. Moments later he'd find that man and several others standing around the boat. Looks like they were talking or something. In his rushed state of mind he merely boarded and sat down his rucksack and told them he was ready.

Alex frowned as she watched thief ignore Naisha's question before promptly leaving. Perhaps his head wasn't really focused on what the Mage was saying. The red head rolled her blue eyes, watching him carry the bags before looking to her friend as the black haired woman spoke. Thinking for a moment, Alex chuckled and patted her shoulder.

"Well then I would have to follow you. You almost get into as much trouble as me when no ones looking. Your parents would defiantly rip me a new one if I just let you go off adventuring with just Lady Rikku." Alex joked with a carefree grin. Though she probably would be disappointed in having to give up being a Guardian, she'd shatter that dream if that dream costed her the number one dream.

As Naisha explained her time with Gippal, Alex smiled and nodded a little. "He should consider himself lucky. I ended up not getting either anything after the first year. But my gifts usually sucked anyway." she hummed before glancing to Naisha as she said she was tired. Nodding, Alex pushed her friend on top of the ship, near the railing do they could watch the ship depart a d their home grow smaller and smaller.

The red head's gaze then snapped to Gippal as he started explaining what happened. A deep frown crossed her lips and her eyes narrowed in a seething glare as she listened, but did not interrupt. When he finished, Alex gave a mixture of a sigh and growl. A attempt to control her temper. She hated herself. She always got so angry. It was really annoying.

"You should have contacted us. What made you think someone... That sick wouldn't do something to us anyway? It doesn't take much to find out that we are friends since most Blitzball fans know. Just mild research and he easily could find out where I live and what my relationship is with you. Kind of odd he'd bother playing cat and mouse when he could of just gone straight to us and use us as blackmail from the beginning since his blackmail was apparently effective. From a sadistive point of view, it be a nice way to torment you. Choose between your childhood friend or your summoner you swore to protect. Suppose sadistic people like him always have some sick twisted plan." Alex said, her voice sharp and angry, but her anger wasn't exactly directed at her friends. It was mostly Thane.

That sick bastard.

"And your old man is still a dumbass." Alex muttered before gripping her fists tightly on the wheelchair handles as she tried to control her temper. Having to shut her eyes and focus intently.

"I'm going to kill that.... Sick, twisted.... Monster." she gritted her teeth as she thought about Thane. What he did to her friends.... He was going to pay. No matter what.