Fandom FFX: Summoner's Pilgrimage [Closed]

[torakiji]

"Hmm? Have what in common?" Dorean inquired, though he figured he'd get the answer soon enough. He sat quietly, listening to Ari's life story, at least with regards to his father and the dreams he had wanted to accomplish as a kid, too. It seemed, to some extent, Dorean had been right in mentioning that Ari got to achieve some of his dreams, for the guy was positively beaming at the mere mention of Blitzball.

He could only guess that Sin destroyed that dream, though, and that in itself was disheartening.

Dorean smiled, despite this. "I feel like I've heard his name before. The Goers are quite popular, outside of the home team in Kilika and Besaid's team." Admittedly, he wasn't a big follower of Blitzball, but he did enjoy a good game here and there. He'd have to take Ari up on that one day, if they ever got the chance. At the very least, when they stopped in Luca.

Softening considerably as a more somber mood washed over them, the Guardian sighed and nodded. "Yeah, there's really no sense of normal after that, you know?" After one's entire life gets destroyed, that is. "But I'm with you there. I'd love for people to have what I had, too. Life in Kilika was so simple and propserous before Sin hit. I'd like to return it to that again."

Still, it was hard not to get caught up in the pain of it all.

So much so that Dorean was actually caught a little off guard by Ari's comment regarding the ale.

Blinking in surprise, it took a second to sink in before he ended up laughing a little bit. Slapping his hand down on his knee, he leaned forwards rather eagerly. "Now that's what I'm talking about - well, maybe not the me stepping on you part, but the drinking part is right up my alley." Looking around the room curiously, he muttered, "I wonder if they have any ale on this ship."

 

[Lucyfer]

Whether or not Dorean was just pulling his leg, Ari didn’t know, and didn’t care, when it came to hearing of Grava. He knew his father was semi-famous. The scandals and arguments alone made it obvious people knew his father’s name, but that didn’t mean everyone in the world knew of him.

It certainly wasn’t going to be how either of his children were recalled.

If Kyra was successful, Grava would just be a footnote compared to a High Summoner.

But, he didn’t dwell, taking the comment of ale on as far more interesting than dwelling on lives that were no longer possible, “I’m sure they do, it’s a ship, there’s gotta be ale, right?” He actually hadn’t even considered it on the trip over here, but he also didn’t have a drinking buddy.

Kyra wasn’t a very good drinking buddy. She would, but it was rare when she partook. Always had been, even before Sin. “Most of the travel’s pretty boring after you set sail. Not as much to do. I’m sure we could find someone with alcohol on board."

If not, well…Besaid would work! “Is ale actually your favorite kind of alcohol, though?” He raised an eyebrow, face holding a look of mock judgment as he looked down at the sitting warrior.

 

[torakiji]

It seemed that Ari was used to an infamous father figure holding some sort of stature in his life. Something they could relate to, for his own father was a great warrior, known by many. A man who'd destroyed many harmful and tremendous beasts, saving people and creating calm throughout the lands. Something to be admired. But he didn't think that sort of conversation would lighten the mood, so he moved on.

Pirate life meant that ale had to be stored somewhere on the ship. In the stores, likely, but in order to track something like that down, they'd have to venture around. It wasn't as if they couldn't drink, but it was the first night together...

Maybe that was all the more reason to indulge, actually.

"I'm sure we could," Dorean agreed with a bit of a sly grin. "I'm totally down for finding some and crashing over a pint, if you are. It'll likely be a long time before we're going to be able to indulge ourselves proper on something like that." Who knew where they'd end up while on the road, but with that sentiment in mind, at least they could enjoy the last of the spoils of their supposed normal lives before their journey truly took over.

Shrugging casually as he got to his feet, he brushed himself off and folded his arms. "Depends on the ale. I'm a sucker for a homebrew from Kilika, and you won't see me touch anything from up north, but I don't mind a good wine every now and then." He nodded his head towards Ari. "And you?"

 

[Lucyfer]

Dorean seemed game enough for some drinking, which Ari was not at all about to discourage. Alcohol had a way of loosening tongues, and getting people to relax. Given what they were both committed doing, it did seem like a great way to get to know each other. And they were on the safety of a boat.

He wasn’t going to will himself to remember that actually wasn’t terribly safe.

He did laugh a bit as the warrior stated he wouldn’t drink anything from up north, “What, nothing from Luca?” He teased, not that he blamed him. Luca had alcohol in plentiful supply thanks to the Blitzball arena, but it was poor quality used to sell to a captive audience at higher prices.

The stuff from Mt. Gagazet, though, was usually pretty good.

“I actually like rum,” his sweet tooth was talking, there. He didn’t care much for vodka, gin, or the other sorts of spirits. They were too harsh, but rum was just right, mixed in with some other things. “Ale’s okay, but I can’t stand wine,” he wasn’t sure if it was his mind or not, but it always tasted rotted to him.

Knowing it came from rot certainly didn’t help him to like it any, either.

“But beggars can’t be choosers on a ship, huh? Let’s go see,” he stepped out of the room, glancing around the hall, before gesturing towards the ‘engine’ room. It was really the chocobo room, but that was where he’d know to find someone on staff who was keeping the chocobo working and could tell them about the alcohol possibilities.

 

[torakiji]

"I'm not terribly fond of some of the stuff from Luca, no," Dorean shrugged helplessly. "Mind you, everything I've had is imported, so the prices are jacked right up. Besaid's alcohol tax isn't exactly forgiving, at times." He'd have to give it another shot once they were in Luca proper, since the prices weren't probably so bad in comparison.

"Rum is also good. The only wine I like comes from Guado. They have some pretty neat brews that don't taste as rotten as one might expect a wine to taste." Tapping his chin contemplatively, he couldn't help but laugh upon this realization. "I think I just like most alcohols in general, I'm just apparently picky on where they come from. Such as it is for a small town dude."

But, Ari was right. They couldn't be too choosy when they were stuck on a ship. Alas, the search began.

Following Ari out of the room toward the engine room, he was quick to find out that it was in fact not an engine room, but a Chocobo room. There were birds all over the place in stables, some being groomed and others being fed. It stank something bird-like in the entire place, which he could easily ignore once he adjusted to the smell. Indeed, there were a couple staffers scattered about the room, doing various tasks with different Chocobos, so they sort of just picked one to approach.

"Ahoy, Ari," grinned the staff member, another Al Bhed similarly dressed to that of the earlier crew member who'd approached the captain. He stood up from where he was gathering up greens and wiped his brow. "What can I do you for?"

Dorean would've loved to be able to understand what the guy was saying, but unfortunately, he was speaking in Al Bhed. The Guardian blinked, glancing warily to Ari, because surely his comrade could also speak the language, right?

 

[Lucyfer]

Ari wrinkled his nose at the thought of wine from the Guado, as they walked out of the room. Given their interest in the Farplane and Death, he wasn’t too sure about their wine. “Maybe I’ll try it. Maybe. We have to go by there, anyways,” on their way to the temple in Macalania. And he just wanted to stop there to…well, see his parents again. One last time.

He greeted the Al Bhed with a smile, noting the chocobo in their wheel, keeping the ship going forward. The others all looked in good shape, resting and getting fed, so they could take over when it was necessary. “Aye, Pentea!” He greeted right back, no hesitation or shame.

He approached, lowering himself to whisper-speak a bit conspiratorially. Loud enough that Dorean would still hear him, even if Dorean had no idea what he was saying. “Me and Dorean are working on a, uh, bonding exercise that requires alcohol. Please tell me there’s some booze on this ship.”

Aside from the momentary slip, Ari spoke Al Bhed quite naturally, a benefit of learning it and practicing it consistently as a child, and still as an adult to that day. It was, after all, the Al Bhed who knew how to get the Blitzball Dome back up and running after Sin attacked. Ari envied them their machina knowledge.

The Al Bhed looked at Dorean, looked at Ari, and gave a wicked grin, “I have just the thing!” They quickly called back to some of the others, dismissing themselves for a moment as Ari went back to Dorean.

“We’re in luck!”

 

[torakiji]

There were many things he could have guessed about Ari, sure, but understanding and even knowing how to speak Al Bhed? That was not one of them!

Dumbfounded, the Guardian just sort of awkwardly stood there, watching this conversation go down, not understanding a freakin' word of it. He'd never bothered to learn another language, and a part of him regretted it as an adult that wasn't well versed in that sort of way. Brownie points were definitely shot in Ari's direction, though, and he'd be sure to make mention of it when they weren't doing something they, technically, shouldn't be doing.

When the crew members darted off and Ari returned to him, Dorean smiled and lightly clapped the taller male on the shoulder. "Wow. I had no idea you could speak Al Bhed. That's impressive!"

It wasn't long before the fellow known as Pentea returned, holding a large jug with a cork plugging the neck. The other men that were with him quickly scattered back to the jobs they were tasked to, not bothering to follow Pentea. Eagerly, but somewhat stealthily, he approached Ari and extended it to him. "Should be just what you're looking for, friend! We got this stuff in Bevelle, so it's right fresh."

"Oh-ho! Looks like he's got the goods," Dorean beamed, catching sight of the large jug.

"Hope it's a good bonding experience, friend. I won't even try to tell you to save it for the whole trip." Pentea was winking as he handed the bottle over.

 

[Lucyfer]

Ari gave a kind of awkward shrug. He was glad that Dorean wasn’t upset with him for knowing Al Bhed. Some people were. “Well, I mean…there’s an Al Bhed blitz team, so…,” so he had picked it up, figured it out, and learned to converse with them. It had made sense at the time, though he realized a lot of other people didn’t think so.

Ari reached for the jug as it was handed off, “You are the best, man. We’ll have to repay you.” He couldn’t imagine it was cheap. And even if it was, to give it all away so freely on a whim? Yeah, he had to pay him back somehow. “Dorean knows some good alcohol in Besaid, we’ll hook you back up!” He’d get the information from Dorean and they’d repay this kindness, before they went their separate ways and he never saw Pentea again.

He tried not to think like that, as he took the jug, “I know where the dining room is, or, really, th kitchen,” not much use for an actual dining room on this boat, “We can grab some cups and go find a place to enjoy this brew!” He would once again lead the way out, waving to Pentea and the others as he left, happily holding the jug as he walked off to go find the kitchens.

This bottle would absolutely not last the entire trip. It would be lucky if it lasted that entire night, really.

 

[torakiji]

"You can't tell me that the only reason you picked up Al Bhed was so you could talk to the official team..." Dorean mused, looking Ari up and down with a wicked smile. "If that were the case, I'd call that some seriously mad dedication to your career. Totally worthy of admiration."

Somehow, though, he doubted that was the case at all. There had to be more to it than that...

"No worries, man. I'll hold you to the Besaid ale, though!" Pentae winked and waved as the two scoundrels made their way out of the engine room, off to enjoy some bit of bonding fun-time, or whatever.

Just like Ari said, they made for the kitchen area where they were able to grab a couple cups perfect for drinking ale. Then, the search for the perfect room to enjoy this beverage was on. Being on the deck could have them distracting the crew, so it was probably better to remain out of sight for the time being. Not that this was some sort of secretive business, just that it'd be better to stay out of the way. After all, they weren't here to drink their faces off, even if that's what they were doing now. Entirely besides the point.

Down the hall from their bedrooms, Dorean pushed a door open. Inside was a relatively empty room with a large window out to the water. There was a couple pull out chairs of sorts, a few wooden boxes scattered about, and some other things that were neatly stacked away. Probably a good space, he guessed, so he turned to Ari and gestured to the room. "What do you think of this?"

 

[Lucyfer]

Ari just shrugged at Dorean’s statement about Al Bhed. Sure, other reasons were involved, but it boiled down to the company around him, which was, quite often, other blitzball players and their families. It made sense to him.

They were able to get their cups in piece, and then it was finding a space. Thankfully, there seemed to be a storage space below deck, with a window, so they didn’t feel completely trapped in there. “Yeah, this should work out,” though Ari didn’t take a chair, he simply hopped up on a box, set his cup besides him, and then popped open the jug.

“Lemme see your cup,” he gestured, so he could start the pour by filling up Dorean’s, and then get back to himself, “and to think, I thought I was going to have to deal with some guy who had a stick up his ass the entire trip,” he said, “that would have been a nightmare!” Thankfully, that wasn’t the case.

And if Dorean could fight like he said, Ari thought they would have managed well with a chill guardian. He supposed they’d see soon enough whether or not he could, but if he wanted to be a warrior, even before Sin? Ari didn’t have too many doubts. “What were you expecting?”

 

[torakiji]

Dorean handed the cup over, eagerly watching as Ari began to fill it. Already, the smells of the ale filled the room, and he could tell just from that the brew was fresh. If the Al Bhed had said anything about that, he was right. He always loved a good ale that had been brewed nearly right off the tap. Whatever they'd found, it was probably good stuff.

While Ari poured the booze, the Guardian settled himself onto another box, uninterested in the chairs as well. They didn't look to sturdy. He could still see out the window from where he was sitting, so that was an added bonus. Gratefully, he took his cup back once it was full and held it in his lap, one hand holding the bottom while the other gripped the handle tightly so it wouldn't spill from the gentle swaying of the boat.

"You were worried about that, hey?" he mused. "Sadly, I know a lot of Guardians that have that sort of reputation. It's all business to them, which is all well and good, but there's nothing wrong with loosening up a little, you know?" The last thing he wanted was to come across as some stiff, crotchety old guy or something, and he was thankful that Ari didn't seem to feel this way.

At least some of his youth has been retained!

Ari's question had him casually shrugging. "I don't know if I expected much, to be honest." He raised the cup to his lips, taking a sip. Humming contently at the taste, he approved by taking another sip. "Maybe some sort of religious crack nut? What with all the aeon gathering and the prayers and... yeah. I didn't know what to expect. I think I was more surprised that Kyra already had someone with her. From what I'd heard, most Summoners started their journey alone."

 

[Lucyfer]

The drink seemed to have earned the seal of approval from Sir Dorean, just from the smell. Ari could see he was pleased with it even before that first sip. It wasn’t impressing him too much yet, but he’d probably be fine with it after a few sips of his own. “See? I had good reason to worry about it,” he chuckled as he started to pour his own drink.

He wasn’t at all surprised that was the reputation of a Guardian.

This was a job to them, and they had to be true believers in Yevon to dedicate their life to this. There was training even when Sin wasn’t around, after all. In preparation of Sin’s return. No doubt they were all very formal.

Ari took his own first drink from his cup, and decided it was good enough. It did have a fresh taste to it, which made it far more tolerable. He took another drink quickly after the first, “Yeah – she probably would have gone alone, too, but I couldn’t let her do that.”

A chuckle, a sip, “What kind of brother would I be, if I did?” Of course, Kyra probably wished he stayed. This journey had no guarantees, except her death. It would be hard. “Did you…do you have any siblings?”

 

[torakiji]

Vaguely, Dorean wondered what it would be like to be in the shoes of a Summoner. While a Guardian had to be prepared to put their life on the line for just one person, but a Summoner had to end their life for all of humanity. That is, admittedly, hard to swallow. Ari had to witness his sister making that choice, and it was probably very hard on him to accept that sort of decision. One could see it clearly in his eyes, too.

"Of course you couldn't," he said quietly, taking a sip of his drink, never tearing his eyes from where Ari sat across from him. How could anyone just... let that happen?

He felt, honestly, like he was beginning to understand this fellow. Probably a good thing he did, too.

Shrugging helplessly, Dorean looked down at his ale, sloshing it a little in its cup. "I don't have any siblings, no. Only child here. My ma always talked about wanting another kid, though. A girl." He paused to drink. "I think that would have been different, having a little sister following after me."

Not that it mattered. He was prepared to die on this mission, if he was being honest, so it wasn't as if anyone would really miss him all that much. Attachments like that were better to not exist for him, though he wasn't going to let on that he was having such cynical thinking.

"What's it like, having a sibling?"

 

[Lucyfer]

Ari wasn’t terribly surprised to hear that Dorean didn’t have a sibling. He wondered at Dorean’s friends, his family, but he just sipped down those questions for the moment. Dorean had likely lost much of that, to be where he was now. Not that loss was anything new, but people handled it differently. He and his sister had handled it differently.

He had wanted to just…try and go back to normal.

She couldn’t.

“I’ve never known life without one. I’m the younger,” he added. He knew they were fairly close in age, so it was possible that Dorean hadn’t figured out which was which. “But from my experiences, it’s the best and the worst thing possible,” he couldn’t help but say with a smile, that faded, just a little.

“I’ve always had her, you know? And we weren’t too far in age, so it was like I had a constant friend, someone who could understand, not like my parents. I mean, yeah, we annoyed the hell out of each other, and we went through some periods where we weren’t talking to one another, but even during that, I knew that if I needed her, I just had to go see her. Maybe apologize even if she was the one wrong, but,” a shrug, a drink, “it was…nice to have someone to rely on. Nice to know I had someone who always wanted the best for me, and who would be frank with me, too.”

He didn’t know of life without a sibling. Imagining it was hard. He could only imagine making up for it with friends, but then again, those without siblings didn’t know to make up for anything. “I guess I don’t really know how it would be without one. What was that like?”

 

[torakiji]

Considering how big Ari was, Dorean was quite surprised to hear that he was the younger of the two. Of course, size didn't dictate that sort of thing, but... well, he didn't imagine it any other way, really. It was news to him, but he found that it was rather suiting. He did have to wonder exactly how old this fellow was, though. Somehow, he doubted he was in cohorts with underaged drinking, but he did feel compelled to ask anyway.

A sip of his drink got him started. "Just how old are you, anyway?"

With that question out of the way, he listened, quietly, to the description Ari offered him and used it to try and imagine what life would be like with a sibling. From his understanding, it was like a part of yourself that you could always have around, in the form of another person. Someone to rely on, to turn to when things got hard. In all the madness that Sin had put onto Luca, he was certain that those two were all they had, and that meant everything to them. That, in itself, was incredibly lucky. Not everyone had that sort of thing, and Dorean could only smile over his ale as he contemplated this.

"That's strangely poetic," he mused. "Kinda beautiful, too, in its own way. I could never have imagined having a sibling being something like that for someone. You're never truly alone when you have one, huh?" At least, that's how it seemed to work for him.

Considering Ari's question, Dorean held silence for a few moments before responding. "I guess... the only way I could describe it is just... being alone, but not missing any presence there? Like, if you could imagine your life not having anyone to rely on, no one that was there for you around your age that wasn't your parents. You just... did things as you wanted to. You didn't have to share what was yours. I don't even know if that makes sense."

 

[Lucyfer]

Ari chuckled at the question, “I’m 21, Kyra’s 23,” he added, so that Dorean would know the age difference, and understand how close that had helped to make them. Only a couple years apart.

He still pulled a bit of a face at his description being called poetic. He almost immediately wanted to deny it, but just laughed and shook it off, drank a bit more of the ale. It always did go down easier after a few sips, and he knew now he’d be well on his way to finishing his first cup and then downing the next.

At Dorean’s explanation, he shrugged, “As much as it can. I mean. I guess you don’t know what it’s like to have a sibling, so you don’t know how it is to rely on someone like that…and I don’t know how it is to NOT have someone to rely on. We were gonna go our separate ways, but…we were still gonna be there for each other.”

No matter what.

They hadn’t planned to build their lives around each other, before Sin. “I was gonna be a blitzball player, and she was going to be a songstress.” Not anymore. “But yeah, the sharing thing…sometimes that sucked.” He admitted. “She’d steal my clothes. I had this awesome shirt, and she stole it from me, and mom said I had to share, but it was my favorite.”

 

[torakiji]

Dorean raised his eyebrows somewhat playfully, though there was a hint of slight sorrow in his eyes as he recognized just how young these two were. How young Kyra was to be sacrificing her life in order to remove Sin from their world. It truly was going to be a sad thing to bear witness to, although the entire thing in general was just sad. They all had so much life left for them, but here they were, making the journey to the ultimate sacrifice.

"I'm with youngins here," he mused instead of focusing on the somber side of their reality. He said this, but he was only a few years older than Kyra, but that was besides the point. He had to throw in fun little jabs where he could.

He sipped some more ale, his shoulder shrugging somewhat casually. He figured the normal for them would have been those chosen careers, but naturally, Sin had to do away with such choices. The fact that they were building their lives together like this instead of parting was endearing all in its own way. Dorean couldn't help but smile, just slightly fond of the idea of relying on someone else like the siblings could. It sounded nice, honestly, and a part of him wished his mother had that second child, though she really couldn't when his father wasn't around at all.

Regardless, he was chuckling at Ari as he listened to the little story. "See, I definitely didn't have to worry about anyone stealing my favourite clothes. That's totally a sibling thing," he smirked. "Does she still have it?"

 

[Lucyfer]

Ari let out a bit of a laugh at the comment on his youth, doubting Dorean was that much older than either of them. He didn’t look 40. Not even 30. Ari wasn’t about to dwell on how sad it was that they were so young. They were the ones capable of this kind of journey. Couldn’t send a group of 80 year olds up Mt. Gagazet!

“Yeah, she does,” he chuckled. He didn’t know if she had packed it or not. “It’s too small for me now, anyways,” but it still fit her. It had been during those awkward teen and pre-teen years, before he hit his growth spurt, and when she’d finally stopped growing all together. “So I GUESS it went to a good cause, but still.”

He still couldn’t help but feign holding onto the grudge, even if he’d let that go a long time ago. “At least she could never steal my shoes.”

The one perk. And he’d never fit into hers, either.

“So this warrior thing," he gestured out with his cup, "there that many fiends around Kilika?”

 

[torakiji]

"Not that I'm much older," Dorean shrugged. "I'm 26, so really, we're not that far apart in age."

Which also meant he was a little older than them when Sin attacked, and probably could understand it all a little better. The implication that his whole world was destroyed, and able to adjust better since he could comprehend what the calamity had done to his people. He was also fully able to comprehend the fact that his mother was dead, whereas if he were much younger, he probably wouldn't have clued into that fact. At least, not right away.

Pushing those thoughts to the side, though, he chuckled as he polished off his cup of ale. Reaching over, he uncorked the bottle and poured himself some more, all while commenting with, "I guess that's the perk to you two being so different in size, though I imagine your shirts drown her now." Ari was kind of a big dude, after all.

Sitting back, he nodded in response to Ari's question. "There never used to be, but now the island is swarming with them. We've been trying to rebuild there for a while, but with the number of fiends, it's been kinda hard. There's only so much I can do as a Guardian, you know?" He set his cup on his thigh so he could look down into the cup once more. "They've really taken a liking to the wood structures and docks. We'll have to be careful in the villages, if we go through any."

 

[Lucyfer]

He was five years older than Ari, and three years older than Kyra. Ari nodded, making the mental note, and grinning a bit wider as Dorean reached for the bottle. He wasn’t holding it any longer and had no qualms letting him pour some more into his cup. “Yeah, they pretty much do,” he agreed.

His sister could probably use his clothes as like, nightshirts or something, but they were far too big.

“You ought to see me in her clothes, though,” he couldn’t help but joke. He would, obviously, ruin anything he wore that was hers. Even if he wasn’t so tall, he was still broader than she was. If he got anything to fit, it would be ridiculously tight.

“Maybe you two can share,” he added, before paying attention on the fiend bit, and nodding. “You’ll have to help, probably. I don’t know where the boat is going to take us from Besaid, so far as dropping off points. I just know from Besaid, to Kilika, to Baaj, to Luca, then I think we’re done with boats.”

He hoped they were done with boats, anyways.

“We gotta figure a more convenient way to travel.”

 

[torakiji]

The mere image of Ari in Kyra's clothing nearly had Dorean spitting his ale out in laughter. Luckily, he managed to avoid such a disaster by pulling from the cup to let that merry sound out properly. It was pretty funny to think about, honestly, considering how much bigger Ari was than his sister. Shaking his head, he continued to chuckle into his drink, eventually taking a sip.

"I think that would be the greatest thing to witness of all time," he said, still feeling a little giggly even after saying something like this. He'd probably pay to see it, honestly, and he'd have to say such when the moment rose for it.

Thinking now about what he remembered of Kilika, since it'd been some time since he was there, he vaguely had to recall the more safe ports to land at. There were a few that came to mind, but it really was a roll of the dice, so to speak. They were taking a chance either way by landing there that they'd run into some pretty nasty fiends, but either way, he'd do his best to guide them there safely. Shrugging, he sipped more ale. "Besaid will be easy in comparison to Kilika. It's also less fiend-infested, for the most part, so we shouldn't run into too many problems getting to the main village. It'll be Kilika we'll probably have more problems with."

Judging by Ari's expression, though, the guy just did not seem keen on being on a boat longer than they had to.

"I take it you're not a big fan of traveling by boat?" Dorean asked, tilting his head curiously. "What would you prefer?"

 

[Lucyfer]

The reaction from Dorean about Ari in Kyra’s clothing was exactly what he was hoping for, and it kept a grin on his face as Dorean left that subject, in favor of speaking about Kilika. Ari knew what it was like to deal with fiends, of course. Luca had its fair share, especially after Sin, but even before then the path to Djose was never clear. They always had to be on guard, and be sure to travel with guard, too.

“Glad to hear Besaid won’t be too bad,” that much was a relief, anyways, even if there might be something to be said for helping out with the fiend problem. As well as just getting more experience behind them.

Then again, who was to say? It didn’t really say that a summoner needed combat experience.

He took the last of his own drink, and then began to refill it, “I mean, we don’t really have any options besides boat, do we?” He shrugged, “though the Al Bhed have told me that there used to be machina that flew through the skies. I could get behind that! Can you imagine it?” He plugged up the bottle again, grinning at the thought, “Soaring through the skies…now that’s what I’d call traveling. But I guess Sin doesn’t like that, or whatever, so we can’t have nice things anymore.”

He huffed, took a sip.

“Damn Sin.”

 

[torakiji]

"I think it's because people in Besaid are much more outspoken and aggressive in some ways than us in Kilika. It was a major change from what we were used to. The fiends don't really stand much of a chance if they're caught wandering too close to the villages, especially by someone with a blitzball," Dorean grinned. "I've seen someone just outright chuck one at a fiend once. It was hilarious."

And probably would be right up Ari's alley, for Dorean wouldn't put it past him to do something like that if given the chance.

As part of some of his training as a Guardian, Dorean had learned much about how people did things in the past. He'd heard of these strange machina, even saw some pictures of them, and the mere mentioning of this had him lighting right up. Ari seemed really interested in the prospect of this, so he couldn't quite help himself. "It's totally true, what they say about the machina." Leaning forwards rather excitedly, he went on to say, "I learned about that stuff during my training. They used to make these massive ships that could soar for days, and they were equipped with all sorts of neat weaponry. The Al Bhed were particularly good at running them, too."

Scratching his head, he sat back in thought. "It probably made traveling so much more convenient, honestly. Being on a ship is good and all, but there's something to be said about flying high in the sky."

Because, of course, why wouldn't it be? Sin wouldn't allow for it, but it was still neat to think about.

 

[Lucyfer]

“Hell yeah!” Ari couldn’t contain himself when Dorean mentioned the ways of things in Besaid, and how people would chuck blitzballs at their foes, “I’ve done it, but magic is a bit more effective. For me, anyways,” he was still chuckling a bit, though. He knew that throwing this ball definitely hurt more than any regular blitzball, but he still needed to work on his skill a bit outside of the water.

But put some spikes on it?

Oh yeah.

He was more eager to hear about the machina and hear it confirmed, too. His eyes lit up, but there remained the fact that it just couldn’t be allowed. No matter how awesome it seemed, “I almost wonder…why we don’t just do it. I mean. Sin happens every time, no matter,” he knew he shouldn’t think that way, but, “we’ve had calms that have lasted for a hundred years though. We could build this kind of stuff up…Sin destroys what we have, anyways.”

He sighed, shook his head, “I guess it’s just wishful thinking, either way – that we’ll repent enough and Sin will go away, or that we can have machina and just…repair it when Sin destroys it, like we do everything else. It’s probably not good to think that Sin’s inevitable.”

But that seemed to be how it was.

Eventually, no matter what, Sin seemed to keep returning.

He took another long drink from his pint. “Do you think it really could be possible, that this time, Sin won’t come back?”

 

[torakiji]

Ari's proposition was indeed an attractive one. To be able to build machina like the old days would be so revolutionary for their world right now, and it would be something he'd consider venturing into... once the journey was done. If they all survived it. Sin couldn't destroy everything forever, right? They had to have some luxuries in life, and being able to travel by air should be one of them.

"I don't think it's wishful thinking. There's plenty of old resources still kicking around that a person could use to rebuild machina," Dorean explained, half-folding his arms over his chest. "Sin can't keep us from living our lives. It's unfair to think that we should just... yield to it because it'll suddenly come back again, you know?"

Though, it was a valid concern, because history did prove that Sin returned again and again, even if hundreds of years lingered between its return.

"I think we should just do it," he stated firmly, smiling at Ari rather confidently. "This journey is the perfect opportunity to pick up anything we can find across the world to help do it, and when this is all said and done, we can go build machina. I think that'd be badass."

Still, Ari seemed unable to let go of his thoughts, and soon they lingered back to Sin. Dorean's first response was to take a long sip of his ale, because he honestly didn't know the answer to that sort of question. They could do everything right, and Sin could still come back... He didn't want to think like that, but damnit, it was hard, given history. He couldn't allow himself to get sucked into it, though. There had to be a way to make sure Sin didn't return.

"We can do it, Ari," Dorean looked to Ari with determination. "We can make it so Sin won't come back ever again. I... I don't know how yet, but we will."