Chapter 4
Terra and Locke started south away from Narshe in silence.
Locke was not very tired from his battle with the commander, for the moogles did
most of the fighting. Terra, on the other hand, was rather exhausted, having
just woken up from having a mild concussion.
"You know, I don't believe I know your name yet." said Terra.
She extended her hand in greeting, "My name is Terra."
Locke looked at her hand for a brief moment, and then took
it. "They call me Locke."
"Locke..." she said, seeming to try and fathom the very
depths of the word. "Mr. Locke, you...
Locke interrupted, "Please, just plain 'Locke'. 'Mr. Locke'
sounds too weird."
"I'm sorry. Locke, you said we were going to Figaro. Where's
that? I'm quite sure I would have forgotten about it, if I'd known of it
before."
"Figaro castle governs the whole desert region of Figaro,
which is to the southwest. The castle's where we're going, to see the king of
Figaro. He is a very good friend of mine, and I know he will help us. I'm sure
of it."
"Hmm... Do you know how far away it is?"
Locke replied, "It's not very far. Maybe four more hours on
foot. Are you tired? You banged your head up pretty badly."
"No, I think I'll be fine for a while."
They walked for a while longer in silence. Then, Terra spoke
up, "Have you... traveled... very far in this world? I don't know about anyplace
other than here where we're walking and that town back there."
"Yes, I suppose you could say that I've traveled around.
Truth is, in my line of work, there's not much else to do but travel around."
"Oh, really? What do you do?"
"I prefer the term 'treasure hunting', although most people
would call me... a thief."
"Well, since you've traveled around, you might say you have
worldly knowledge?"
"Yeah, I guess you could say that. Why? What's on your mind?"
Locke questioned.
"When I was running away from those soldiers in the mines, I
got some things from two wooden boxes. Can you please tell me what this is?"
Terra pulled the crystal orb out from her pouchel. "I try to think, but I cannot
think of any logical explanation."
"Huh... there's something I've not seen in a long time.
Probably 'cause I travel alone most of the time. These only work if there are
two or more people traveling together. It's called a Fenix Down. See those
feathers inside the crystal? Well, those have, what some call, 'magical' healing
powers. If a person traveling with you and is severely wounded, I'm talkin' to
the point of near-death, you shatter this crystal on the nearest hard object and
sprinkle the feathers over the person, and they will heal him or her to a
cureable point of health. Clearly, very useful. They sell these at shops around
the world. I guess I've just never gotten around to ste... er... I mean, buying,
one before."
"Oh, I see. I picked up one other item on my walk through the
mines... this..." She pulled out the blanket-bag from her pouchel.
"Aaahhh... now there's something I know more about. It's very
simple, really. Did you notice that the blanket is about the same length of your
body?" Terra unfolded it and held the top up to her chin. It dragged about three
of four inches along the ground. "Well," Locke continued, "people use these
bags, or, sleeping bags, for warmth and safety whenever they want to rest."
"OK. Thanks." She gave him a small smile, and they continued
on to the castle mostly in silence for about an hour. At that time, Terra could
see a speck on the distant green hill. As they approached it closer, she could
see that it was moving around.
"Locke, what is that thing moving over there?" she asked as
she pointed to the object.
"Probably just a Leafer. They're these little animals with
glowing red eyes and long ears. They're quite abundant in this area. Some may
intend harm, but most will just shy away. See, look. That one is hopping away
already."
"What if one might attack us?" Terra asked, a bit frightened.
"I said I wouldn't leave you, didn't I? These little coneys
are nothing to be scared of. Although, sometimes you may see a couple of Leafers
and a couple of Dark Winds accompanying them. We may have some difficulties
fighting four monsters, but even then, not very much. They are all pretty weak."
They said nothing for a while, until they came to the edge of
a forest. Terra seemed reluctant to go in, but Locke assured her, "You'll be
safe with me. Trust me, please." She trusted, and together, they made their way
through the forest. When they were almost out, and could see the light at the
end, Locke's acute ears picked up the sound of leaves rustling and birds' wings
flapping. "Do you know how to use that sword?" Locke asked as he gestured
downward towards her belt.
Terra replied, "It seems I do, but only reflexively. I think
I might have been a soldier or some sort of warrior before I lost my memory."
"Good. I don't mean to alarm you, but draw your sword. I can
hear some Leafers and possibly some Dark Winds," Locke said as he pulled his
dirk from his belt. Sure enough, they could see them now very clearly on the
path. Two Leafers were blocking their way on the path, and two Dark Winds were
perched in trees above them. Locke and Terra approached slowly, seeing how close
they could get before either group attacked. They walked closer, closer.
Finally, there was only about one foot between the humans and the beasts. With
no warning at all, Locke charged at the rightmost Leafer, slicing it's head off
with his small knife. He turned left, hoping to kill the other one whie he was
there, but it was too quick. It had already circled around behind him and was
gnawing at his back. Locke stood upright with pain, screaming to get it off.
Meanwhile, a Dark Wind had swooped down to get Terra, but just then, her warrior
instinct kicked in.
She jumped up and cleaved the bird in two pieces, from beak
to talon. She ran over to Locke and stabbed the Leafer in the side. It gave a
screech and fell off his back onto the ground, where it did nothing more.
What Terra hadn't seen is that the second Dark Wind was now
diving right for her. She winced, dropped her weapon and covered her face, but
right before it could scratch at her face, Locke's dagger decapitated the bird.
Both parts fell to the forest ground. Terra uncovered her face, stooped down to
pick up her weapon, and resheathed it.
Both stood there panting heavily for a few seconds, until
Locke suggested that they move on. They exited the forest, and Terra told Locke,
"You might have just saved my life. I'm not sure if anyone's ever done that to
me. And whatever my past may be, I'm pretty sure that no one has ever saved my
life twice in one day."
Locke shrugged and said, "I guess I owe you one, too. You're
a pretty good warrior."
"I'm not sure whether I'm grateful for that trait or not."
"Well, I can certainly see where it can be useful," Locke
said.
Terra needed to think about this some more, so she said
nothing. They walked on.
After about a half an hour, they reached the edge of a
desert. There were signs, reading: 'Figaro Castle: 2 miles'.
"Looks like we're almost there. Another hour or so, and we're
there," Locke stated cheerfully.
"Hmm...? Oh, good. I'm getting really tired... are there any
enemies in the desert?"
"Yes, and we may meet one or two. I'll keep a sharp eye. The
enemies here are fairly weak, according to our standards of combat. They're
about at the same level as the Dark Winds back there."
"That's good news, I suppose." and they continued. Locke
seemed to be light on his feet, and showed hardly any signs of fatigue.
After about a quarter of an hour, Terra was getting
uncomfortable under the heat. She was wishing she had some shade, or some water,
or...
Just then a scorpion-like creature, called an Areneid,
approached fro behind the duo and dug his sharp tail-stinger right into Terra's
right leg. She fell to the sand in pain, and Locke pulled his dagger out of his
belt and thrust it right into the Areneid. "Here, take this," Locke handed Terra
a small vile with some green liquid in it.
"What is it?" Terra asked.
"It's a healing liquid called a 'tonic'. You'll feel better
after drinking it." Locke responded. She took it, popped off the cork-lid and
drank the whole vile full. She felt better immediately.
"Ahh... Thank you, Locke. I feel the best now than I think
I've felt since waking up and realizing I remembered nothing."
"No problem. I have a few of these on hand in case anyone
needs one."
They walked along the scorching desert, but now, both of them
seemed to have found new energy. After about one half of an hour, they could see
a large grey figure in the distance.
Terra inquired, "Is that..."
"...Figaro Castle." Locke finished for her.
